Self-publishing service iUniverse offers a handful of packages varying in price and benefits to aspiring authors looking to publish their work. Established in 1999, iUniverse is under the Author Solutions umbrella along with Xlibris and AuthorHouse. Notable New York Times Bestselling Author Lisa Genova used iUniverse’s services to self-publish her novel Still Alice in 2007. Once published, word of mouth spread to Simon and Schuster, who offered Genova a six-figure deal and an opportunity to republish the novel in 2009. The decision to self-publish led to a 40-week stint on the New York Times Bestselling Author list and an Oscar-winning film adaptation starring Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, and Alec Baldwin.
While this testimony sounds promising, it is one of the few and rare high-success stories that iUniverse can boast of. Otherwise, the service appears to be riddled with red flags that yield disappointing results.
You may not get what you paid for
Overall, iUniverse’s quality of service is reportedly inconsistent and insufficient, making the high price tags and low payout not worth the hassle (75-90% of royalties per book is put in their pockets).
From the average unhappy customer’s perspective, the publishing company charges excessively for services like editing and marketing even though these services are not adequately executed. For example, many authors still found grammar and punctuation errors in their final copies despite having paid for quality work.
Instead of correcting their mistakes, iUniverse charges their customers $300-$500 to fix the issues that their editors either cause or overlook in the first place. Customers also experience undisclosed expenses following their initial payment plans or fail to receive a notification that payment is either imminent or has already taken place. One customer even described being heckled with nickel-and-dime phone calls despite paying for every installment on time. If a company is going to advertise high-quality and professional work, they must uphold that standard with every paying customer.
Clear communication is key
In addition to high-cost packages with mediocre services, many customer reviews on iUniverse’s website report that communication between iUniverse and its clients is severely lacking. Book publishing is a process that requires attention and communication. It shouldn’t be that difficult to access services for which you paid.
Additionally, customers frequently comment on the issue of being tossed from one iUniverse employee to the next, making the publishing process more painful than necessary and not as personable as it should be. iUniverse’s inability to consistently and effectively communicate has left many clients feeling dissatisfied with the process – self-publishing should bring feelings of accomplishment and pride, not exhaustion and defeat.
The reviews are in…
When it comes to positive customer experience, most point to the quality of iUniverse’s cover art and binding as well as their quick turnaround time. Other authors reported friendly, professional and efficient interactions with iUniverse personnel despite it being otherwise complicated or inconsistent. Similarly, customers emphasized iUniverse’s patience with new authors inexperienced with the ins and outs of self-publishing.
However, upon deeper investigation, alarming patterns start to emerge among many reviews: Less-than-satisfactory services and insufficient communicative efforts despite high prices should set off many alarms for authors looking to self-publish their hard work. If you’re looking to self-publishing, rolling the dice on iUniverse feels like a big risk.
Don’t give up. MindStir Media is a great alternative.
If you’re looking for a company that does right by the customers, I recommend MindStir Media. MindStir is the top-rated self-publisher in the world for a reason: it cares about its writers.
In an effort to be unbiased, this post was written by Jesse Haynes, an independent reviewer, not J.J. Hebert.
iUniverse Review
Summary
iUniverse is one of the oldest self-publishing companies but its service quality and customer service are inconsistent and, in the end, the cons for using iUniverse tend to outweigh the pros.