Dorrance Publishing is a paid, author-funded publisher: you pay a custom-quoted fee, and it edits, designs, prints and distributes your book. It has operated since 1920 and produces real books. It also publishes no prices, controls much of the process, and charges far more than doing the same steps yourself.
It suits authors who want a guided, hands-off experience and care more about holding the book than selling it. For most other authors, the money goes further elsewhere.
In this Dorrance Publishing review, you’ll learn:
- What the Standard, Plus and Prime packages include, and why there is no price list
- What Dorrance reviews on Trustpilot, the BBB and complaint sites actually say
- Where Dorrance genuinely beats us, and who should walk away
Here is the honest assessment.
What Dorrance Publishing Actually Is
Dorrance Publishing — a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania company that publishes books for authors who pay for editing, design, printing, distribution and promotion services.
Wikipedia’s Dorrance entry says Gordon Dorrance founded the company in Philadelphia in 1920, and it classifies Dorrance as a subsidy publisher. It moved to the Pittsburgh area around 1989. Its imprints include RoseDog Books, Red Lead Press, I-Proclaim Books and Whitmore Publishing Company.
The Dorrance website calls itself a hybrid publisher and claims more than 58,500 authors published. It also says plainly that it reviews manuscripts for content, not commercial potential, and that it does not guarantee sales.
That honesty matters. Dorrance is not pretending to be a traditional publisher that bets its own money on your book. Our guide to hybrid publishers versus vanity presses explains why that distinction affects your contract.
What the Dorrance Packages Include
Dorrance sells three main packages, listed on its publishing services page as of October 28, 2026. Each tier adds more promotion on top of the one below.
| Package | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Dorrance Standard | Editing for the mechanics of writing, interior and custom cover design, ISBN, copyright registration, Amazon and Ingram distribution, 25 author copies, bookstore outreach, press release, a Dorrance Bookstore feature |
| Dorrance Plus | Everything in Standard, plus an Amazon promotion campaign, social media book review outreach and an audiobook trailer |
| Dorrance Prime | Everything in Plus, plus an author website, a podcast promotion campaign and a video book trailer |
Two lighter options, called Print Ready and Expedite, are tailored in a consultation. Optional extras include audiobook production, ghostwriting, a writing coach and a paid Pre-Publishing Report.
The site says authors retain full rights to their work. Read the contract itself to confirm that, along with the term length and how you can exit.
How Much Does Dorrance Publishing Cost?
Dorrance does not publish a price for any package. Its site says every project is custom quoted, based on binding, trim size, page count and illustrations, after a free manuscript review and a call with a publishing consultant.
That makes comparison shopping hard, and it is the first thing to push back on. Ask for a written, itemized quote before you commit to anything. One author’s ComplaintsBoard breach-of-contract complaint sought a $4,696 refund, which gives a sense of scale, but it is a single unverified account.
For context, you can publish on Amazon and IngramSpark for free, and a professional cover and copyedit often cost less than a single paid package. Our cost to self-publish a book breakdown shows the line items.
Royalties are also unpublished. The site says buying through the Dorrance Bookstore earns you the “highest royalties,” but it gives no percentages. Before signing, ask for the royalty rate on Amazon sales, in writing, and compare it to the 35% or 70% Amazon KDP pays when you publish directly. Our book royalties explainer walks through the math.
What Dorrance Does Well
Dorrance delivers a finished, distributed book without asking you to learn any publishing tools. For a certain kind of author, that is exactly the product.
It handles every technical step. Editing, layout, cover, ISBN, copyright registration and distribution all happen for you. You never open a formatting program or a KDP dashboard.
Staff get consistent praise. On Trustpilot, recent reviewers repeatedly name individual project managers and describe them as patient, responsive and professional. First-time authors in particular say they felt guided through each step.
It is transparent about what it is. Dorrance says outright that it does not select books for commercial potential and does not promise sales. Many paid publishers blur that line.
It has a long track record. A century in business is not proof of quality, but it does mean the company will likely still exist when your royalty statements arrive.
What Dorrance Does Not Do Well
The weaknesses come from the business model, not from any individual staff member.
There is no public price. Custom quotes after a sales call put you at an information disadvantage. You cannot compare Dorrance to a competitor without going through its process first.
The money flows the wrong way. Author advocates such as SFWA’s Writer Beware warn that when a publisher earns from authors rather than from readers, its incentive is to sell you services, not books. Our vanity press warning signs guide lists what to look for.
The marketing add-ons are hard to measure. Press releases, bookstore outreach and video trailers rarely move copies on their own. The upper tiers mostly add more of these.
Complaints cluster around the same issues. PissedConsumer and ComplaintsBoard reports mention print and layout errors, royalty and sales-reporting disputes, and extra charges for editing. Even positive Trustpilot reviewers sometimes mention slow timelines or wanting more thorough editing.
Dorrance Publishing Reviews: BBB, Trustpilot and Reddit
Dorrance’s ratings depend heavily on where you look, so read the sources rather than the scores.
- Trustpilot: 4.6 out of 5 from 45 reviews as of October 28, 2026, with 38 posted in the last 12 months. That is a small sample, and most reviews are recent.
- BBB: Wikipedia reports an A− rating with 70 complaints as of May 2022, and BBB accreditation since 1995. Dorrance’s own site now claims an “A” rating. Check the live BBB profile, because these figures change.
- ComplaintsBoard: a 1.2 reputation rating built from a couple of dozen complaints.
- Glassdoor: employees rate the company 2.7 out of 5 from 26 reviews.
- Reddit: we found no substantial Reddit thread about Dorrance specifically as of this review.
A BBB letter grade mostly reflects how a business responds to complaints, not how happy its customers are. Read a handful of the actual complaints, and weigh them against the volume of books Dorrance produces.
If you want the scam-or-not question answered in depth, our companion piece asks is Dorrance Publishing legit and covers that separately.
Where Dorrance Beats Chapter
We make Chapter, so here is where Dorrance genuinely does something we do not.
Dorrance publishes your book. Chapter does not. Chapter helps you write a complete manuscript. It does not print copies, assign ISBNs, register copyright, design a cover, or distribute to Amazon and Ingram. Dorrance does all of that.
Dorrance gives you a human team. You get a publishing consultant, a project manager and an editor. Chapter is software, so if you want a person on the phone guiding you, Dorrance offers something we do not.
Dorrance hands you physical books. The Standard package includes 25 author copies. Chapter delivers a manuscript file.
Dorrance offers audiobook production and human ghostwriting. Chapter does not produce audiobooks, and it is software rather than a hired writer.
Who Should Use Dorrance Publishing
Dorrance makes sense for a narrow group of authors:
- You have a finished manuscript and no interest in learning publishing tools
- You want printed copies for family, a church, a memoir legacy or a private audience, and sales do not matter
- You value a human project manager more than the thousands of dollars you could save
- You have a written quote and royalty schedule and have read the full contract
If you are writing a family history, our guide on how to write a memoir covers the writing side before you pick a publisher.
Who Should Not Use Dorrance Publishing
Walk away if any of these describe you:
- You want to earn money from sales. Paying up front plus an unpublished royalty rate makes profit hard to reach.
- You are on a tight budget. Self-publishing directly through KDP and IngramSpark is free, and an ISBN costs far less than a package.
- You expect promotion packages to sell your book. Our guide on how to market a self-published book covers what actually moves copies.
- You have not written the book yet. No publishing package helps until the manuscript exists.
Comparing paid publishers? Our AuthorHouse review and BookBaby review cover two common alternatives with published prices.
The Alternative We Built
Dorrance solves the problem after the book is written. Many authors who search for Dorrance are stuck on the step before that: finishing the book at all.
Our Pick — Chapter
Chapter is AI book writing software that takes you from an idea to a complete, structured manuscript in your voice. More than 10,000 authors have used it, and it has been featured in USA Today and the New York Times. You keep 100% of the rights, then publish wherever you choose, including free on Amazon KDP.
Best for: Authors who have not finished their manuscript yet Pricing: $97 one time, 2 books included (fiction or nonfiction), 30-day money-back guarantee Why we built it: A publishing package is worthless without a finished book, and writing it is where most authors stall.
Chapter has honest limits too. There is no free tier or trial, it does not print or distribute your book, and you still review and edit what it drafts. Our Chapter review covers what it does and does not do.
The total cost is the headline. One Chapter purchase plus free self-publishing on KDP costs $97, and you set your own price and keep the full direct royalty.
If your manuscript is still unwritten, Chapter for nonfiction and Chapter for fiction write the complete book for $97 one time, with no subscription and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
FAQ
Is Dorrance Publishing a good publisher?
Dorrance Publishing is a legitimate subsidy publisher that has operated since 1920 and delivers printed, distributed books. It is good for authors who want a guided, hands-off process and printed copies. It is a poor fit if you want low costs, control and real sales income.
How much does Dorrance Publishing charge?
Dorrance Publishing does not publish prices. Every project is custom quoted after a free manuscript review, based on binding, trim size, page count and illustrations. Ask for a written, itemized quote and the royalty rate on Amazon sales before you sign anything.
Does Dorrance Publishing pay royalties?
Dorrance Publishing pays royalties on book sales, but it does not publish the royalty percentages on its website. It says sales through the Dorrance Bookstore earn the highest rate. Get every rate in writing, and compare it to the 35% or 70% KDP pays directly.
Is Dorrance Publishing the same as RoseDog Books?
RoseDog Books is a Dorrance imprint. Wikipedia lists RoseDog alongside Red Lead Press, I-Proclaim Books and Whitmore Publishing Company as Dorrance imprints. One complaint summary mentions unexpected RoseDog distribution, so ask which imprint your book will carry before signing.
