CrossBooks Authors Being Misled by Author Solutions
It’s been two weeks since CrossBooks announced they were closing up shop.
The email announcing their closure was sent in the name of CrossBooks was actually from secular self-publishing conglomerate Author Solutions, and it went to all CrossBooks authors in process and in print.
As you can see below, they suggested authors move to WestBow Press to continue selling their books at no additional cost and that is misleading and deceptive. Why? Because Thomas Nelson’s self-publishing imprint has been outsourced to Author Solutions, a secular vanity press that takes advantage of Christian authors and their passion to tell their story. If you do your homework, you will see that Author Solutions has multiple lawsuits against them for deceptive practices.
Here’s what the email said (in part):
Distribution – CrossBooks will cease selling your book on April 30, 2015 but there are other options to consider for continuing distribution of your book. One option we’d like to recommend is WestBow Press. CrossBooks has arranged for WestBow to continue distribution of your book at no additional cost to you for updating and resubmitting your print and ebook files. If you are considering this option, contact WestBow Press at (866) 928-1240 to discuss and LifeWay will cooperate with you and WestBow to help in every way possible.
Ever heard the saying, “pay me now or pay me later”?
Well, that is what will happen if you go with WestBow.
On top of that, a former CrossBooks author called WestBow to follow up on this email and was told they “didn’t know anything about CrossBooks closing and referring authors to them for free services.”
This is not at all surprising, knowing how Author Solutions does business. No integrity.
Below are a few comparisons I make between how WestBow charges authors compared to our rates:
This next one is a doozie. WestBow promotes that your book trailer will be presented to ThruLine Entertainment, getting your hopes up that it will be turned into a movie, which is obviously their justification for charging so much. When I Googled them to check them out, all they have is a landing page for a website. That’s it. Really?
So, an extra $4,000 for what?
And then there’s the real reason why they will let you move over to WestBow Press for no charge…take a look at their profit margins when you purchase copies of your book…and how much of the revenues they keep! That’s the “pay me later” end of things.
These slides come from having addressed the shortcomings of the WestBow (Author Solutions) model in my webinar, The Publishing Jungle, and I would encourage you to pass this along to any authors who’ve been displaced with the closing of CrossBooks.
Click here to see what we can do to help CrossBooks authors.
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Meet the Publisher
I've been around Christian publishing since 1987 when I helped our ministry self-publish an important resource for Vietnam veterans and their families. That book went on to be picked up by a royalty publisher and has since sold over 250,000 copies with a million in print.
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