PubbyReviews of pubby.co

A Confidence Trick Masquerading as a Review Platform Pubby promises authors up to 5 to 10 book reviews a week. That is a blatant lie and a breach of advertising standards. The truth is quite different: you're lured into a system where you must spend hours reading and reviewing other members' books — often purchasing them out of your own pocket, in exchange for "snaps", their internal reward tokens. But what you don’t realise is that this isn't a fair trade. There is no guarantee anyone will read your book in return. In fact, they limit the exposure of your book to just a couple of hours a week on the “Get Read” page, meaning your chances of being selected are slim to none. If you raise any concerns or complain, as I did, your book effectively vanishes into a digital black hole, never to be seen or reviewed again. It feels like retaliation, pure and simple. The whole setup appears to be a cleverly disguised confidence trick, designed to milk your time, energy, and money while giving very little back. In short, Pubby is not a helpful tool for authors; it’s a manipulative system that exploits the goodwill and desperation of writers trying to gain visibility. Don’t waste your time or money. There are better, more ethical ways to grow your readership than getting caught in this dishonest trap.

I've been using Pubby for two years and up until the last few months this platform was good. It was a great way to get reviews on your books and sales had gone from 10 books to about 50- 60 on average a month. Weekly reviews coming in on Amazon, and I found tons of new authors to follow because of Pubby. They used to have good customer service, where you were actually talking to a person not a bot. However, in the last few months there's an influx of A.I. books, poor customer service and nobody is reviewing books at all. I thought I was the only one this was happening to but judging by all the other reviews lately I can see this is a problem across the board. My books have all been sitting on 'looking for reviewers' for weeks where before I was getting between 7 - 10 book genuine reviews per week. What a huge disappointment and waste of money!

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ (1 star) As an author who poured over a year of work into a deeply personal, non-AI, biographical book, I am writing this review with great disappointment and a sense of betrayal. I joined Pubby to help generate honest reviews, trusting their claim that the platform is fully compliant with Amazon’s guidelines. I paid monthly fees in good faith and followed all their rules. Here’s what happened: 🔹 1. Pubby Keeps Your KDP Sales Revenue Pubby encourages authors to make their books free on Amazon (via Kindle Unlimited or pricing tactics) to generate reviews. What they don’t make clear is that when other authors “borrow” your book through KU to review it, Pubby keeps 100% of the revenue — not you. Authors like me receive nothing, even though we are funding the system with our own books. 🔹 2. Amazon Permanently Removed My Book Despite receiving genuine reader praise and being part of a successful series with hundreds of 5-star reviews, Amazon permanently removed my Book 2 (ASIN: B0DNF1VDQ8) from sale, citing vague “community guideline” breaches — but offering no explanation. After weeks of appeals, Amazon confirmed the decision is final. The only variable? My recent use of Pubby. Amazon’s systems likely flagged the book due to Pubby’s structure — where authors review each other in a closed loop — which triggers suspicion of review manipulation, even if you followed the platform’s rules exactly. 🔹 3. Pubby Ignored Me I contacted Pubby to raise the issue, not once but multiple times. I received no response. No accountability. No apology. No explanation. 🔹 The Result • I lost a book I spent over a year writing • I lost access to readers and revenue • I paid Pubby monthly for the privilege of being flagged and silenced • I received zero support ⸻ Bottom line: Pubby presents itself as a safe, compliant platform — but in reality, it exposes authors to enormous risk while quietly profiting from their content and effort. If you value your Amazon presence, your creative work, or your peace of mind, stay far away from Pubby. I write this review not out of anger, but out of duty — so other authors don’t fall into the same trap I did. – Randolph Andrew Fenton Author of No Short Cuts: Life Journeys Through Music & Film

The issue with Pubby.com is that the readers don't actually read your book, they lead themselves to read the Amazon book reviews others have left for you, then give you a review based on that which is unfair. Pubby should try and change this by making sure readers really do read their chosen books. Your book could be great, but unfortunately, readers don't read it, they go straight to already posted reviews on Amazon, then decide. That's cheating

When I first tried Pubby last fall, it went very well. I had a monthly subscription that I cancelled when I no longer needed it, so I decided to join again on a monthly subscription basis. I read books and submitted reviews, but my book has not been reviewed once. It still says it is looking for readers. I wasted my money. I reached out to them for support but didn't get anywhere. I'm not sure what has happened to them. I want my money back!!

Update July 2025: I maintain that I was misled by a YouTuber who was paid by Pubby for promotion (affiliate/sponsorship), and it made this service look far more established than it is. It was advertised to me as a one-stop-shop for all my book review needs, but it turns out there just aren't that many users on Pubby. That being said, the customer service did refund my payment, and they are showing a concerted effort to improve their services. Their business model can be effective in theory, and if they play their cards right, they'll get to where they want to be. ----------------------------------------------------- The only reason this company exists is because slimy YouTubers recommend this to their ignorant subscribers. I thought this would be an actual way to get book reviews, but it ISN'T. My book has been sitting in the looking-for-reviewer queue for days and days. I did receive one review, but it makes my book look bad because it's generic and comes off as a clearly fake review. And I'm struggling to get a second review despite the fact that giving reviews doesnt cost anything. The business idea is great, but the problem is there might only be like 100 people using the platform.

When it wanted my credit card for the trial and didn't make the account because it couldn't validate the card, I knew I was in trouble, because my bank messaged they'd verified. Without an account, there was nothing to cancel, and I'd approved my card for recurring payments! So I emailed them, and my account was soon approved. I should have used the access to shut it down then, but stupid human, I thought since I'm in the 10 day trial, I might as well try. I listed my books. They give a joining bonus that let's you order one review, which sounded great in theory. I could see if the reviews were legit or not before confirming/cancelling. The notice said it would be approved within four hours. Almost twenty-four hours later, it was saying it would be approved in two hours - this time is being lost from the free trial period. I ended up buying one book to review, submitted the review to Amazon, then discovered they will accept reviews only from specific stores and mine wasn't on the list. I'd just wasted money, got scammed into a review that I couldn't redeem. I cancelled the book I'd checked out, since I couldn't redeem it. On the plus side, the book got approved and picked up for review almost instantly. Great, right? Wrong. Now it was no longer available to any other reviewers, and the one who picked it up hadn't accessed it at all - there were neither sales nor kindle reads in that period. So any review I'd get was guaranteed to not have read the book. Still, a person could write a great review that could help my book, right? Even if they hadn't read it? Even if it was generic, at least it would be a review? Wrong. The due date for the review came, and there was no review submitted either. I cancelled my account before the trial ended and learned a lesson for the price of one book purchase that I'd never have touched otherwise.

Joined this site in 2023. all was great, until this year 2025. I dont know if they have change their software, or their management style.......however i can no longer get reviews for any of my books. i haven't had any reviews in 3 months-not even 1. im just paying for nothing. i have emailed them so many times, and its the same copy and paste reply on how to get your book noticed and reviwed. many of their subscribers are telling them, there is something wrong with their system, this year 2025, however they dont care. they want to take the money, and provide nothing in return. i will be cancelling my subscription and finding a alternative. There is no point, to pay for a service, if it dont work. It's so fustrating, because it used to be a good website and very efficient until this year. They have really let themselves down, and alot of their loyal paying subscribers down. I have been with them for over 2 years. I dont recommend pubby, in its current state.