Is Author Solutions Legit? Lawsuits, BBB & Red Flags (2026) 🔍

Yes, Author Solutions is legit in the legal sense. It is a registered Indiana company, accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 2010, and authors who pay get real printed books. It is not a scam that takes your money and vanishes.

It is also one of the most criticized companies in self-publishing. Two class actions accused it of deceptive sales practices, author advocates have flagged it for more than a decade, and its complaints follow the same pattern year after year.

In this legitimacy check, you’ll learn:

• What the Author Solutions lawsuits actually decided, and why a repeat is now much harder
• What 70 recent BBB complaints say, broken down by type
• How to spot an Author Solutions imprint behind a different brand name
• A red-flag checklist to run before you pay any of its imprints

Here is the evidence, piece by piece.

Is Author Solutions a Scam?

Author Solutions is not a scam. It delivers what it sells: cover and interior design, an ISBN, print-on-demand books and retail listings. The fair criticism is about value and sales tactics, not fraud. Packages cost far more than doing the same work yourself, and print royalties are low.

The word that fits is vanity or subsidy publisher. The author pays up front, and the company earns much of its revenue from authors rather than from readers. Our explainer on hybrid publishers vs vanity presses shows why that label matters.

So “legit” and “worth it” are two separate questions. This page answers the first. Our full Author Solutions review covers pricing, royalties and the Cebu operation in detail.

Which Publishers Belong to Author Solutions?

Author Solutions runs AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse and Trafford under its own name. It also runs partner imprints that carry a bigger publisher’s brand, which is why many authors sign without realizing who they are dealing with.

The BBB profile for Author Solutions, LLC lists 22 alternate business names. The ones you are most likely to meet:

We confirmed the WestBow Press footer on November 4, 2026. It describes the imprint as an alliance of HarperCollins Christian Publishing and Author Solutions, with Author Solutions running the publishing packages.

The partner name does not change the deal. You pay Author Solutions, you sign an Author Solutions agreement, and the sales calls come from Author Solutions. Our Archway Publishing review and Balboa Press review walk through those two contracts line by line.

How can you tell if a publisher is an Author Solutions imprint?

Check three things before you sign. First, look for a Bloomington, Indiana address in the footer or contract. Second, search the company name on the BBB profile above. Third, look at the author agreement link: Xlibris, Archway and Balboa agreements all sit under the same “/media/asl/” file path.

If a brand matches on any of these, treat everything on this page as applying to it.

What Happened in the Author Solutions Lawsuits?

The Author Solutions lawsuits ended without any finding of wrongdoing. A New York class action lost its bid for class status in 2015 and was then dropped after a private settlement. An Indiana class action was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice the same year. The claims were never proven or disproven in court.

The key facts, from the court reporting:

1. April 2013: Authors filed a proposed class action in federal court in New York against Author Solutions and its then owner, Penguin. The case later ran as Simmons v. Author Solutions LLC, according to Writer Beware.
2. What it alleged: Aggressive upselling of marketing services, poor production quality and inaccurate royalty reporting. These were allegations only.
3. Spring 2015: A second class action was filed in Indiana and consolidated with an individual suit, Everette et al. v. Author Solutions LLC.
4. July 1, 2015: Judge Denise Cote denied class certification, finding no clear pattern of deception that applied to every author in the proposed class.
5. August 12, 2015: The New York case was discontinued after a private settlement with the last two plaintiffs.
6. September 14, 2015: The Indiana case was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice, each side paying its own costs, per Publishers Weekly.

Author Solutions’ lawyers called the Indiana suit “a misguided attempt to make a federal class action out of a series of gripes.” Settlement terms were confidential.

Could authors bring a class action today?

A new class action would be much harder now. The current Xlibris author agreement, dated December 1, 2025, sends disputes to binding individual arbitration and includes a class action waiver. The arbitration clause even covers claims that arose before you signed.

You can opt out of arbitration, but only by written notice within 30 days of signing. If you sign with any Author Solutions imprint, send that notice. It keeps your right to go to court, which costs you nothing to preserve.

What Do Author Solutions BBB Complaints Say?

Author Solutions holds an A+ BBB rating with 70 complaints in the last three years, 24 of them in the last 12 months, as of November 4, 2026. The rating reflects how the company responds to complaints, not how satisfied authors are. Customer reviews do not count toward it.

Here is how BBB classifies those 70 complaints:

BBB shows 53 complaints as answered and 17 as resolved. The company does respond. Most complaints simply end without the outcome the author wanted.

What patterns show up in the complaints?

Reading the complaint texts on the profile, five themes repeat:

• Refunds refused or reduced. The company’s replies point to its refund schedule and a $75 processing fee that is never returned.
• Royalties not received. Authors report missing payments; the company usually cites missing bank details or a deposit already sent.
• Production errors. Typos, formatting faults and covers that did not match instructions, with fees charged for corrections.
• Upselling. Marketing packages and add-ons authors felt were oversold or under-delivered.
• Slow communication. Unanswered emails, changing contacts and missed deadlines.

The same themes appear in our AuthorHouse legitimacy check and Xlibris legitimacy check. That consistency is the strongest signal on this page: the experience is set by the parent company, not the imprint.

Who Owns Author Solutions, and Why Does It Matter?

Center Street Ventures, a private investment firm in Ohio, has owned Author Solutions since March 2025. It bought the company from the Najafi Companies, which had bought it from Penguin Random House when that sale closed at the end of 2015, as Publishers Weekly reported.

Ownership matters for one reason. From 2012 to 2015, Author Solutions sat inside Penguin, and many authors read that as a big-publisher endorsement. That link is long gone. Jane Friedman’s coverage of the 2025 deal described the buyer as a mysterious firm, and we found no public statement naming the people behind it.

A traditional publisher’s name still appears on the partner imprints. Treat it as a licensing arrangement, not an editorial one.

Red Flags to Check Before You Pay Author Solutions

None of these makes the company illegitimate. Each one is a point where authors report losing money they did not expect to lose.

• A consultant calls you first. Advocates flag unsolicited calls as a classic vanity press warning sign. A real publisher rarely chases a paying customer.
• Your refund shrinks the moment you send the manuscript. Under the Xlibris agreement, you get 100% back before submission (less $150 after six months). After submission it drops to 50%, and after final approval it is zero.
• The company sets your retail price. The agreement lets Xlibris set the Suggested Retail Price unless you buy the Set Your Own Price add-on.
• Marketing add-ons with big promises. Writer Beware compared marketing service prices with freelance pay rates and found an $859 film-coverage service whose readers were recruited at a basic rate of $110.
• The royalty is 10%. Print sales through retailers pay 10% of the suggested retail price. See how book royalties work to compare.
• Errors after approval cost you. Once you sign off on the proof, later fixes are billed to you.
• You missed the arbitration opt-out. After 30 days, your disputes go to private arbitration.

Our wider list of author contract red flags covers clauses to check with any publisher.

What should you ask for in writing?

Ask for the full author agreement before you pay, plus a written quote listing every fee. Confirm who sets the price, what the refund is at each stage, and what files you get if you leave. Xlibris sends a PDF within 30 days of a written request, not editable source files.

Where Author Solutions Beats Chapter

We make Chapter, so here is what Author Solutions does that we do not.

It turns a manuscript into a physical book. Its imprints design the cover and interior, assign an ISBN, print paperbacks and hardbacks, and list them with retailers. Chapter writes the manuscript and stops there.

It gives you a person on the phone. Its imprints assign you a publishing consultant. If you want a human walking you through publication, that is a real difference from software.

It offers services we do not. Illustration for picture books, human copyediting on some higher tiers, and partner-imprint consideration at WestBow, Archway and Balboa are all outside what Chapter does.

It suits a no-learning-curve goal. If you want copies for family or a congregation and never want to open KDP, a package does that. Chapter expects you to publish the book yourself.

If your manuscript is finished and you want someone else to handle production, these differences are decisive and Chapter is the wrong tool.

The Verdict and the Alternative We Built

Author Solutions is a legitimate company with an expensive, author-funded model, a decade of consistent complaints and a contract that now steers disputes away from court. You will get a real book. You will very likely pay more, and earn less per copy, than if you published it yourself.

Many authors pricing out packages have an earlier problem: the manuscript is not finished. No publishing package helps until the book exists.

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 and publish wherever you choose.

Best for: Authors who have not finished the book, or who want to publish without a four-figure package Pricing: $97 one time, 2 books included (fiction or nonfiction), 30-day money-back guarantee Why we built it: Writing the book is where most authors stall, and no publisher can sell a book that does not exist.

Chapter has honest limits. 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.

After writing, you can publish on Amazon KDP for free and add bookstore reach through IngramSpark. Our guide on how to self-publish a book and our breakdown of the cost to self-publish a book show what a lean budget buys.

If your book is still unwritten, Chapter for nonfiction and Chapter for fiction write the complete manuscript for $97 one time, with no subscription and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

FAQ

Is Author Solutions a vanity press?

Yes, Author Solutions works as a vanity or subsidy press. Authors pay up-front package fees for design, printing and distribution, and the company earns much of its revenue from those fees rather than book sales. That model is legal, but it shifts all the financial risk to you.

Is Author Solutions BBB accredited?

Yes, Author Solutions is BBB accredited and has been since May 2010, with an A+ rating as of November 2026. The rating measures how the company handles complaints, not author satisfaction. It logged 70 complaints in three years, mostly product and service issues.

Can you sue Author Solutions?

You can sue Author Solutions only if you opt out of arbitration. Current agreements require binding individual arbitration and include a class action waiver. You keep your right to court by sending written notice within 30 days of signing. After that, disputes go to the American Arbitration Association.

Is WestBow Press part of Author Solutions?

Yes, WestBow Press is run with Author Solutions. Its site describes it as an alliance between HarperCollins Christian Publishing and Author Solutions, which runs the publishing packages. Strong sellers may be considered by Thomas Nelson or Zondervan, but paying for a package is not a book deal.

How do you get out of an Author Solutions contract?

You can end an Author Solutions contract at any time with written notice. Your refund depends on timing: full before you submit the manuscript, 50% before final approval, nothing after. Request your PDF files in writing. Our guide to reversion clauses explains getting rights back.