BookFuelReviews of bookfuel.com

If you are thinking of asking Bookfuel to publish your book, then I feel I should warn you against it. Bookfuel-whose American holding company was at one time struck off the register at Business House-are disreputable in that they lack transparency when it comes to informing you of the costs. They will string you along. Yes, they say, they can publish your book, but you will need to pay 800 pounds sterling, a sum you consider reasonable. So you send off your MSS and pay the money. They will then tell you that to take your book forward they will need to employ an editorial team and that will cost you a further 2500 pounds sterling. If you are stupid (or desperate to see your book published) you will pay up. They will then ask you to pay yet more money for the ISBN numbers. You will by now have the distinct sense you have been conned, and rightly so. Bookfuel appear intent on fuelling their bottom line by means less than reputable. I rue the day I ever heard the name Bookfuel. Isuggest you publish your book with Amazon KDP. They will do what Bookfuel allegedly do but won't charge you a penny. Should you find that this post has been taken down, you will know that my request to be reimbursed the 800 pounds I paid has been successful.....something in Bookfuel's nature I suspect will prevent.

I paid BookFuel $899 for their Standard Publishing Package, which included editing, formatting, cover design, and publication by a agreed-upon date. Unfortunately, my experience has been extremely disappointing and unprofessional. Missed Deadline: The company failed to meet the confirmed publication date of August 31, 2025. When I followed up, they incorrectly claimed they were never given this deadline. Upselling Instead of Delivering: Rather than providing the services I paid for, their communications shifted to repeated attempts to upsell me on additional services (ISBN registration, barcode creation, marketing packages), blaming the delay on my refusal to purchase these extras. Failure on Basic Services: They insisted I needed to provide my own barcode, a task that is a standard, integral part of cover design and takes seconds to complete with the ISBN I had already provided. This demonstrated a shocking lack of basic publishing knowledge or a deliberate attempt to delay. I have now had to formally request a full refund due to this fundamental breach of our agreement. Their failure to deliver the core service has left me without a published book and out of pocket. Prospective customers should be very cautious. Ensure all deadlines are in writing and be prepared for upsell attempts for basic services. Order Number: # INV-000026

Wrost experience with this service. Please don't go with it

Very good design and production, but horrible otherwise. Charged outrageous $15/month account maintenance and out of the blue shut down distribution of my book. They said mandatory transfer to KDP, Ingram, B & N, Kobo, etc. was a quick and easy process. VERY misleading and file transfers are complex and sometimes expensive ($100+ at Ingram). The only bright spot is Connie in author services. She’s tried to help me, but the relationship with BookFuel otherwise is unacceptable.

" And on May 17, 2016, you sent BookFuel an e-mail that stated all errors had been corrected in the final version of the edit and you were “happy”. You subsequently signed off on the edit and we moved forward through the publication process." Actually, I found MORE errors in the book after the initial publication. The errors were from the fourth round of editing, this included the free round because the second round was so messed up by your editor. If you want to try and talk your way out of that, I will start to copy and paste the emails. The truth is that I listed errors that were supposed to be fixed and never were. I got a PDF back and didn't see the issues, but when I got the printed book they were still there. Onto the fifth round of edits. I spent more money to fix what errors that Bookfuel failed to fix before, and not all of those were handled either. At this point, I was just done with your company. I signed off on it because I didn't want to deal with Bookfuel ever again. I was done giving your company money only to get terrible service. My expectations were for your company to be professional and to not screw up my manuscript at every turn. Assist me in any way? Sure, give me my money back. I got garbage service.

Let's just say they finished the printed product by the due date and it could be my fault for not checking the editors work. The ebook was final 3 months later which could have been lost in emails. And their website and process needs to be improved. You pay and get very little.

I'm upset I have to give a single-star at all. I wrote 3- full length manuscripts and turned them into 300k plus word novels through authorhouse. I decided to give Bookfuel a try and in January of 2016, I was completely amazed! Scott was amazing. That of course is when they were a young company. By the second book, I decided to refer a friend (not for any kick-back whatsoever) but later I was told I would get a month of a payment paid for me by Julianne. I said wow, that's great! That was later changed to 10 free books. That was fine. I didn't care. I went ahead and had my editing done through them to try them out. Once it was no-longer Scott at the helm, it became disastrous. Of course, Bookfuel is a 3rd party to createspace and you can cut anywhere from 200-420% markup off by going through Createspace directly. As busy as I am, I was okay with giving them a shot because I'll pay more for convenience. Sadly, this has been anything but convenient. Authorhouse was expensive but I understand why now. Moving forward, I'll never go through anyone except authorhouse and/or Createspace. Due to the size of the manuscript my monthly bill has been around $339.00 a month. There has been a constant miscommunication. They double charged me one month and then it was only brought to my attention by my own eyes. I had to dispute the charges, contact them once again. That same week, I was sent a print layout. I was told by my professional consultant (that i paid 200-400% markup for) that I was finished and the next step was to go live. So now, i'm being told that I'm not finished and there's another step. This is fine of course but not at such a high markup. I could have just went to createspace and avoided the headache, loss of personal time and the inconvenience. So finally, I speak to Scott again and explain the situation. He's not officially emailed that he doesn't wish to speak to me on a phone for fear it might be recorded. Why? Bookfuel has recorded lines, not me? I was told he would not speak to my attorney and would only communicate through email from here on out, as to create a paper trail. I admittedly agree with having a paper trail which is why i'm shocked they're willing to contest this. This is not the first financial issue we've had. Though, let it be noted i've never not paid a bill on time it isn't about the money but rather the convenience. I recommend going to createspace first as their print layout page is literally copy and pasted. I offered simply "Listen, i've paid 2,572 dollars. I am due to pay 339 i believe through october if my memory serves me correctly, it may be a bit sooner or later. I said "Look, constant communication issues for over a year this time, failing to give promised discounts, constant financial issues on your end, and the best you can do is say misfire once again on communications. Look, just cancel future billings to me. produce this book. My friend Marc P. also went through the same issue with the same publishing consultant and is now going through createspace directly. He wrote "Sir Torgus Bluestone and the Troll Wars." The same week I was double billed some 670 ish dollars, I was sent that print layout email. and admittedly more focused on getting the financial issue resolved once again, I must've honestly overlooked it. but after I didn't reply for over a month, there wasn't a follow up, no update, check-in "hey where are you did you get our email" etc etc. So. when i offered the opportunity to them to square up, they suggested we continue as promised will full payments still due. Alternatively, we can part ways as is. I'm not sure this is acceptable at all so i told them I would have my legal time look at it. Which they are and the information and emails are currently under review. if you'd like any of these unique emails, feel free to ask. they will be available upon request.

Did NOT see my book advertised 4 times as promised this year. Never again will I choose this service. Thanks