Ben Galley ALLi's Self-Publishing Services Watchdog
The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is concerned about the email approach being made by Archway Publishing to a number of our advisors and colleagues.
Archway is a new joint venture between publisher Simon & Schuster and Author Solutions (AS) an umbrella company operating self-publishing package brands such as AuthorHouse, Xlibris, and iUniverse. Several of these regularly bring forth serious complaints from writers (see below).
The new Archway imprint, though backed by a trade publisher, exhibits the same model widely employed by AS and is almost indistinguishable across the various imprints.
Like the others, Archway's products are designed to provide a “360-degree solution” (from cover design to editorial assessment to ISBN and eBooks) for authors wishing to self-publish. And also like the others, the price tag on Archway's packages is far from cheap: beginning at a handsome $1,999 and reach a — staggering! — $14,999.
“What's causing concern is not the cost per se,” says Orna Ross, Director of ALLi, “but the value to authors in how their book will be packaged, presented and promoted to readers. An expensive service that delivers may sometimes be better value than a more reasonably priced one that does not. Sadly, Author Solutions's houses are infamous among writers for their failure to deliver — and worse — and so far, even more sadly, we are seeing no evidence that Archway is handling the self-publishing challenge differently.”
Desperately Seeking Self-Publishers
Archway is currently engaged in a mass marketing drive, contacting industry professionals, bloggers, and organisations, inviting them to join their new affiliate scheme. The “Archway Affiliate Program” enables partners to earn a $100 “bounty” for each author that buys a self-publishing package from them.
This is a smart, if not slightly worrying, move by Simon & Schuster and Author Solutions. There are plenty of publishing package providers in this industry and, as many of you already know, ALLi is keen to root out the flaws that these packages can often exhibit — overly high price tags, questionable quality in offerings, misleading information about publishing potential and vague promises that are not, often cannot, be delivered.
The argument for the package model is that it allows authors a one-stop shop for all their needs, across the spectrum of publishing. The counter argument is that an overly large initial investment by the author is financially risky. The inclusion of a middle-man, especially one that is overpriced, makes it very difficult for the average author to break even, never mind make a profit.
And many package providers fail to deliver in key areas, such as cover design, due to the mass-production, conveyor-belt-style way they process their customers. Often promotion and marketing promises do not follow through. And some go so far as to require exclusive rights, when instead of offering an advance on royalties, an author is being asked to pay to be published.
Given that Archway now has the power of a major trade publishing house behind them, it is more important than ever that writers are clear about what precisely is being offered in exchange for sizeable fees.
Opportunity or Opportunism?
In their email approach, and on their website, Archway is keen to tell the author that “Simon & Schuster, always on the lookout for fresh, new voices, will monitor Archway titles that perform well” This is of course very attractive to authors. Do we dare say it sounds like a lure, to draw more authors in to purchase self-publishing packages?
Combine this with the tack Archway are taking with their Affiliate Scheme, and asking leading industry figures to include links on their websites, and it is easy to see that this is an all-out, heavyweight grab to attract as much new business as possible.
These promises will remain unfulfilled for the vast majority of authors who, going on past performance, could be falling into the trap of a dubious package model. Complaints that ALLi, and other writers organisations and concerned representatives like Victoria Strauss, David Gaughran and Emily Suess, regularly receive about Author Solutions companies include:
- non-payment of royalties
- inaccurate royalty information
- misappropriation of rights and breach of contract
- harassing sales calls
- not returning phone calls and in other ways ignoring complaints or service issues
- excessive markups on review and promotion services
- selling formerly out-of-print works without author consent
- overcharging for and/or failing to deliver marketing services promised
- overcharging for and/or failing to deliver distribution services promised
- telling customers add-ons will only cost hundreds of dollars and then charging credit cards thousands of dollars
- shaming and banning writers who go public with their stories
- verbally insulting their writers.
Says Orna Ross: “When Penguin's parent company bought Author Solutions last year, ALLi hoped they would fix the editorial issues that gives the company such a poor reputation and make its activities more author-focussed and transparent. We still hope that might happen — but have yet to see any indication of it. Archway describing themselves on their website as ‘a passageway to becoming a published author', for example, is the sort of misleading language that is very unhelpful.”
As always, ALLi urges each author to be shrewd and to put services under a microscope before parting with your money. Analyse what that service could cost elsewhere, if it’s worth it, if it’s possible to be handled by yourself. Compare what you're getting with offerings from companies like KDP, Kobo, Bookbaby, Smashwords, Createspace and Lightning Source.
Under such scrutiny, more often that not the price tag for a publishing package quickly goes from appearing like good value, to looking very extortionate indeed.
Watchdog Watchout 1: Known AS brands and partnerships include: Author House, iUniverse, Xlibris, Trafford, Palibrio, Publish in the USA, Abbott Press, Balboa, WestBow, Inspiring Voices, Legacy Keepers, FuseFrame, Pitchfest, Author Learning Center, WordClay, BookTango and AuthorHive.
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Watchdog Watchout 2: If you want to know more about which provider is best for you as an author, or want advice on the plethora of providers out there, ALLi will be launching its first publication — SELF-PUBLISHING SERVICES FOR INDEPENDENT AUTHORS: A COMPARISON GUIDE — at this year’s London Book Fair. Written by Ben Galley, the Guide will examine every inch of the most popular providers and all of their services, allowing you to make complete and informed decisions. More news about the Guide coming soon.
I’ve been contacted by at least 10 Publishing Co.’s and Swindled by Two ! Did contact Archway only because they are the ‘Doorway’ to Simon & Schuster.’ Their Prices are ‘High’ and I didn’t like what I read from this Blog. Today I was contacted by Vanilla Publishing. Will check on them. Might just go to Amazon Publishing. This is very ‘Disheartening !’ Who can you ‘TRUST ?’ R.W. Caldarone
Was Vanilla Publishing any good ? If not Archway Publishing then could any one recommend where I can submit my manuscript fiction – thriller book and get a fair and affordable printing contract ?
[…] to complaints about Archway Publishing HERE. And, the Alliance of Independent Authors issued a WARNING about Archway […]
Archway Publishing intitated a monthly billing of my credit card for $9.99 for the “Author Leanring Center” without my consent. Despite multiple calls and letters, they continued to bill my account for months until my credit card company issued a stop payment. My credit card company reversed all charges but it was headache. This is not the company you want to help you self-publish.
[…] Indie Authors ALLi Watchdog Warning: Archway Publishing […]
I submitted a story to a contest Simon & Schuster had, I didn’t win so I thought that was the end of it but yesterday I received a phone call from a representative from Archway wanting to know if I was writing any original fiction. I told him about my story thinking he was legitimate but after I received his email with the link to Archway website, I nearly chocked at the prices. I suspected this was a scam and did a Google search where I read your article, thank you, you saved me from dealing with them. I’ll either try to get my book published the old fashion way or I’ll just put my story online for anyone to read for free.
Kennith, there are plenty of ways to self-publish your book without using Archway or similar companies! ALLi has an excellent guidebook called “How to Choose A Self-publishing Service” which will help you find your way – as well as over 1,000 advice posts on this blog. Here’s the link for more about the guidebook: https://selfpublishingadvice.org/how-to-choose-a-self-publishing-service/
I’ll right away grasp your rss feed as I can not in finding your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service.
Do you have any? Kindly let me recognize so that
I could subscribe. Thanks.
Has anyone on here actually had a one on one dealing with Archway? Have you actually researched them through the BBB and done your own investigation or is it that you are going on pure here say and smear tactics?
I have noticed that there are a lot of blogs they attack every self publishing company out there. So with that being said who can any of us trust? I personally conducted my own investigation with the help of an attorney friend and found that all of the companies have pros and cons. Granted there several that are scams, but others are not. I have found that Archway has been up front and hidden nothing from me. I have checked the author’s works at the book stores that they claim to use. I have found the books there as Archway claimed.
Personally, I have not had a bitter dealing with them and have found them very hands on and willing to work with me each step of the way. Getting a manuscript published is in itself like starting a business. In order to make money you have to spend money. each of you should do your own research. Remember even the best known authors were at one time self published authors. In reality it is very rare that anyone gets the big publishing contracts with first paying their dues.
Your statement about the best authors were once self published is not true. Stephen King and Tom Clancy were never self published which makes me suspect your entire post.
But Kennith, actually Tom Clancy could NOT get published and through a friend had a Navy publishing company that never printed fiction, publish him. I can get the particulars, but he definitely did not start with a major publishing company.
Wow… It pays to do your homework. As the old addage goes, “Never assume or you make an ass out of you and me”.
All I can say is a big “THANK YOU” for shining the bright light on this scam. I was seriously considering Archway publishing for my novel as well as some other works.
I carefully read their entire site, and it all sounded good. I’m not easily wooed or fooled. I’m a fairly shrewd professional and I can cut through the bull very easily. So as for slick marketing ploys and promises, I really didn’t find any, as they worded everything very clearly. One red flag is they do not offer potential clients the testimonials of their customers on their site. Hmmm… I wonder why? So I began looking, and here I am.
The clear problem is, as many have said, they simply are not delivering. People are paying thousands and nothing is getting done.
Aside from this, one concern I spotted immediately, which was a HUGE red flag, was the payment of their royalties. Everyone knows that a self-published author wants maximum royalties – at least 50% of every sale. Their royalties were extaordinarily LOW for a self-published author because they took a 50% cut, leaving the author with pennies! They offer the same royalties as a traditional publishing company to a new author!!!! They do take the upfront exorbitant fees AND then a healthy cut of the royalty as well. Talk about SCAM! If there are people who have never seen a check, then this is clearly a fraudulent company! There is no way I’d trust them with my work.
So long Archway. I’ll be looking elsewhere.
Shame on you, Simon and Schuster.
[…] Schuster has teamed up with Author House to charge the marks up to $15 grand to be published by “Archway” their new self-publishing brand. Paying to be published has nothing to do with “vanity.” It […]
I’m so glad that I decided to research Archway Publishing before calling them back to start the process of publishing my anthology of poetry and my Irish Lit research papers.
So for now, I’ll focus on typing the poems as they’re all hand-written and go from there. The essays need to be revised into Chicago Style unless MLA is still acceptable considering they’re English lit research papers.
Would like to become a member of this site as it seems to have a great volume of useful information and links to self publishing, how do I become one? Also, what would be the best low cost self-publishing site considering this budding writer of (51) may become unemployed in the next few weeks.
[…] that get writers and authors to pay them for being published. Check out this great article of the Alliance of Independent Authors covering the newest […]
It’s already begun, Ben. I read about Simon & Schuster’s grand idea to publish memoirs for seniors through AARP and Huffington Post (of all people). But the rules were ambiguous and, to a experienced author, a tad threatening. S&S wants all rights to your material, even if you don’t win.
I sent an email to the contest people at AARP to clarify and received a bland repetition of what was written down. So I went to S&S. About the same time, earlier this week, S&S announced their deal with its supposed partner, Archway, to publish your book. They make all kinds of promises about high quality and great service — but neither the website nor the free booklet (to download) mentions actual costs.
When I woke up this morning, all seemed clear. This was another one of those “publishers” who want to publish anything you write — and will do it through dubious means. One of my clients recently had a nightmare publishing experience with Westbow, costing her a fortune as they sold and sold and sold and harassed her to buy, buy, buy. When I interceded for her, giving my phone number but not my real name, I began to receive calls to “help me publish”. That was 8 months ago — they’re still calling!
Soon after I arose, my telephone rang. I knew without answering, it was Archway. A friendly voice identified himself as from S&S, then rattled off a message of help for a struggling writer and asked me to call them. I suspect I’ll be receiving their calls for months before they give up.
Oh yes, I opted out of the memoir publishing contest! Immediately!
Please add S&S’s Archway Books to your Beware List!
Well, I’m waiting for a reply as to why no one read my book–no reply all of a sudden. I am into this for about six months now.
Well, it seems as though you began to bash Archway Publishing, before their first publishing. I like Archway & you seem to be scheming so that you lure people your way. It’s a dirty game & you seem to be just a dirty.
It’s very easy to find out any matter on net as compared to
books, as I found this piece of writing at this
website.
You have to ask yourself why in the first place successful houses like Penguin and Simon and Schuster would wish to dabble their toes in the still murky waters of self-publishing. I mean, what’s in it for them? They’re already booming. Are they honestly looking for that delicate flower that’s otherwise born to blush unseen? Are they charitably disposed to the young talented but stifled author? Do they really expect to rescue gasping talent from the slushpile? If you live in the real world you know that these mega companies are savvy enough to lend their name and cash in on the exponential growth of the self-publishing industry. .
Good for you, Mr. James. I agree with you 100%. Everything is about the bottom line and so it should be in this case.
Another rip off self publishing pariah uncovered – Draft2digital scam
It was an awful shame I had hoped that Author Solutions would be transformed when acquired by Penguin’s parent company. I investigated both BookTango and a self publishing ebook grinder called http://Draft2digital.com. I tried D2D’s ‘free’ services for three months and never received a cent. Reading their terms it states they hold your money for 60 days but even after those days passed I still never received my royalties. I know at least 20 people who my book through them but nothing was paid – thank god I never gave them my bank details. Sadly I realized I was never going to see this money and pulled my book from them. I uploaded my e-book to KDP and have never looked back.
That’s why ALLi’s here, Anthony, to show the way. It’s not confusing, really. You just need a writing/publishing plan and to choose the path that’s right for you. Many of our members are finding their way to a great deal of success: https://selfpublishingadvice.org/alliance-of-indie-authors-members-on-member-benefits/
This is getting frustrating!!! I was actually excited to read about Archway and foolishly felt that it was a real solution. I thought that writing the book would be the hard part but here I sit a year after I finished it and nothing but confusion…
[…] Indie Authors ALLi Watchdog Warning: Archway Publishing | Successful Self-Publishing […]
Archway is, flatly, another scam in the same line as the rest of the Author Solutions scams. Using that term advisedly: Webster’s defines “scam” as “a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation”. While whether or not Author Solutions and Archway’s actions constitute fraud or not is up to the courts to decide, these companies are incontestably deceptive operations.
Authors should avoid these operations at all costs.
My general guidance about publishing methods is simple:
It is OK to partner with another company for publishing. If that company is taking ANY up front money, then the finished work should be uploaded to the *author’s* accounts at retailers/printers. No exceptions. It is OK for a publishing partner to take a percentage of sales in exchange for editing, cover art, distribution, or other services rendered. But it is flat out bad business to work with a company which both takes up front money for those services and a percentage of sales.
I published my e-book on Amazon Kindle and did it myself, at no cost. If you do not feel up to the task then there are conversion companies such as the one operated by Diana who will do the job at reasonable cost. Marketing and promotion is a very specialised area and what many non-fiction authors fail to realise is that the best person to do this is the author himself.
Non-fiction by definition will encompass specialist areas and the good author will know his subject and genre better than anybody else when it comes to identifying target readership.
There are also many authors out there who seem to be bombarding us with self help books which are little short of brainwashing – presenting in a paid-for format large chunks of chapters which offer nothing more than plain common sense.
My advice to everyone is – before getting caught up in any “paid-for services” from flash looking companies just stop, take a deep breath and ask yourself “can I do this myself, or with the help of other less expensive options ?”
A timely reminder of the horribly familiar. Perhaps Ben’s Guide could collate a lot of dis-illusioned authors’ information. It is not so much that these Companies overcharge, but over-promise, particularly on the promise of marketing, and if one falls for that, and overpays for the other (which may be rather ho-hum) in order to achieve marketing, you lose on both. The same applies to the suggestion that if you use a publisher’s (like Thomas Nelson’s) self publishing arm ( Westbow) you are likely to ‘picked up’. If you have written 50 shades….maybe but she certainly had succeeded first, and did not need the ‘respectability’…if indeed that is the appropriate word conferred by Random House.
Thank you Diana. The way ALLi handles this is to invite good service providers to join as Partner Members: http://allianceindependentauthors.org/joining.html. Once joined, they are vetted and once passed, free to let our author members know about their services. This allows us to highlight good providers and gives us funds to do our campaigning and other work on behalf of indie authors. Thank you for your interest — when the view is good, there’s nothing we love more than taking a closer look. 🙂
Many thanks, signing up now.
As eBook conversion and distribution specialists, we are recommended by Waterstones and have many clients and referrals from the Society of Authors. Since we began converting and distributing eBooks in 2010, we have been clear that we do not offer promotion of eBooks within our services. This is simply because it is a specific and challenging area and needs focus and constant attention from the author along with help from expert marketers or enthusiastic and knowledgeable contacts at the very least!
We have ‘inherited’ many disillusioned clients from other companies who promise the earth and deliver little, and I am pleased that you shine a spotlight on shady practice. I encourage writers and publishers to ask as many probing questions as they can think of and to go through our Terms and Conditions carefully. This results in some lengthy telephone calls, but happy clients and referrals.
Please add us to your list of companies to examine closely 🙂