iUniverseReviews of iuniverse.com

The representative that worked with me was amazing. I rated iUniverse with four stars because the communication with others could have been better. I must say that everyone was very nice but I value being heard and some people didn’t pay attention to detail which added time to the process. My project was finished early but I also came with a nearly finished project so I expected iUniverse to have very little work to do. I am happy with my final project. I published two children’s books with iUniverse simultaneously. Overall I am pleased with the production process. The books I received are beautiful. The partnership from this point remains to be experienced so I am unable to comment on sales or marketing assistance.

The quality of the printed book satisfies me. Unfortunately, a mistake was made: the copyright page states that the book was published in 2021, and on Amazon, the publication date is December 29, 2020. This is an unfortunate mistake!

Christine and James were big helps. They are a credit to your company

IUniverse editorial services are why I publish with them. The editorial screening is most useful. Graphics and book design less important to me. They are sometimes slow in responding to questions and when the book is ready it’s more prudent to just go to print than deal with unanswered issues. But quality is very high. One other problem is trail book pricing based on page count which is not good for marketing.

The editing process is the strongest part of the experience. I was very happy with the initial content editor's suggestions for improvement. The line editing service was also fantastic. My only issue with it was that I put much effort into avoiding passive voice, only to see the passive voice placed in many sentences. I would have liked it if I had a 15 minute conversation with the line editor - just to explain the reasoning behind the editing. The cover design team did a good job, I wish there was an option for me to purchase the rights to the cover as it was very difficult for me to market my book without a high definition image of the cover. This brings me to the marketing issue which I think is the weakest part of the service. I never had a comfortable feeling with the marketing team. At times, I felt like I was on a used car lot. The price tag was very expensive even with my author learning center membership. In the end, the social media guide was very fundamental, not telling me how to do anything that I wanted to learn. I believe that I could have conducted a more effective marketing campaign on my own using the money that I gave to the marketing team. Kudos to Tiffany, Tami and Mark Frances - I hated to see him go.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, or so they say. In 2020 I increased my book count to 5 with the additions of #NorthernECHO and #GipsyMOTH as I continue my writing journey. I first engaged with iUniverse with my first book #OperationARGUS, I found the packages appealing in as much as it was clear what was included and what was not. With each book and through #BikiniBRAVO and then #ColdCOURAGE the process got a lot easier. My editor and Book Doctor has been the same for all 5 and he has been wonderful - guiding my writing, making constructive suggestions for change, and ultimately taking the pen to finesse the final product. The books themselves are nicely designed, and the actual books printed and presented to an exceptional quality. The iUniverse global network means that the books are available through not only their own online bookstore, but also with most of the major online retailers which makes marketing, distribution, and availability easy and accessible, globally. I aim to continue with my writing, and would have no hesitation in continuing to publish my next book, #SSIndigo and future titles to come with iUniverse.

Professional and solid throughout the process. Slow in getting books after the publication.

I’m terms of the Chapters Indigo package I was pleased with the efficiency and swiftness of the process. I wasn’t a Tun or how many different people I spoke to, as there were roles where the representative wasn’t aware of something because they weren’t previously updated, and I also prefer to be speaking to the same group of people. I would have liked if iUniverse had asked me if I had a date in mind to upload the books online before doing so, as I had an external marketing plan in place that was contingent on a date and my books had to be taken down so it could happen. I also felt like there were a lot of a la carte options introduced to me during the process that were necessary to me, and had I known about them beforehand I would be able to know all of what I needed to publish my book to the best of its ability and the full cost. Otherwise I appreciate iUniverse and the package suited me just fine.