Yes, AuthorHouse is legit. It is a real Bloomington, Indiana company that has operated for more than 25 years, and authors who pay it receive printed books listed on Amazon and other retailers. It is not a scam in the take-the-money-and-vanish sense.
The harder truth is that “legit” and “a good deal” are different questions. AuthorHouse is a paid self-publishing service with a decade of complaints about upselling, low royalties and post-launch service, most of them tied to its parent company, Author Solutions.
In this assessment, you’ll learn:
- Who owns AuthorHouse and why that history shapes its reputation
- What the BBB rating, the complaint count and the 2013 class action really mean
- The specific red flags authors report, and how to protect yourself
- Where AuthorHouse genuinely does better than us, and a clear verdict
If you want plan prices and package contents, our full AuthorHouse review covers them. This page answers one question: can you trust it?
Is AuthorHouse a Scam?
AuthorHouse is not a scam. It delivers what it sells: design, light editing, printing, an ISBN and distribution. The fair criticism is about value. Its packages cost $1,499 to $7,589 as of October 2026, it pays a 10% royalty on most retail sales, and its marketing add-ons rarely pay for themselves.
Industry watchdogs classify this model as vanity or subsidy publishing. The author pays up front, and the company earns most of its revenue from authors rather than from readers buying books.
That distinction matters. A scam leaves you with nothing. A vanity press leaves you with a real book that cost far more than it needed to, and our guide to vanity press warning signs explains how to tell the two apart.
Who Owns AuthorHouse?
AuthorHouse is owned by Author Solutions, which also runs iUniverse, Xlibris and Trafford. The ownership has changed hands several times, and each sale shaped the company’s reputation.
According to Wikipedia’s Author Solutions entry, the history runs like this:
- 2012: Pearson bought Author Solutions for $116 million, placing it inside Penguin
- End of 2015: Penguin Random House sold it to the Najafi Companies
- March 2025: Center Street Ventures, an Ohio investment firm, announced its purchase
Publishers Weekly reported at the 2015 sale that Author Solutions had worked with more than 200,000 authors. AuthorHouse’s own About page now says it is “under new family ownership.”
When you read complaints, remember that they usually name Author Solutions as a whole. The same sales practices ran across all of its imprints.
What Does the AuthorHouse BBB Rating Mean?
AuthorHouse has no BBB profile of its own. It appears as an alternate name on the Better Business Bureau profile for Author Solutions, LLC, shared with iUniverse, Xlibris and Trafford.
As of October 27, 2026, that profile showed an A+ rating, accreditation since May 2010, 70 complaints in the last three years, and 25 customer reviews.
Do not read the A+ as an endorsement. A BBB grade mostly reflects whether a business responds to complaints, not how happy its customers are. Writer Beware’s Victoria Strauss pointed out years ago that the A+ sat alongside hundreds of complaints.
Seventy complaints is also small against hundreds of thousands of authors. The useful signal is what the complaints say, not how many there are.
What Do AuthorHouse Complaints Say?
AuthorHouse complaints cluster around four themes, and they repeat across the BBB, Trustpilot and the 2013 lawsuit. None of them alleges that books were never delivered.
- Upselling. Authors describe repeated calls pitching publicity, advertising, book review and Hollywood packages after the initial purchase.
- Marketing that did not sell books. Reviewers report paying for add-ons that produced few or no sales.
- Royalty and sales reporting. Some authors say reports did not match purchases they knew about.
- Service after launch. Slow replies, editing or layout errors in printed copies, and difficult refunds.
On Trustpilot, AuthorHouse holds a 3.6 TrustScore, with 44% five-star and 19% one-star reviews. It replies to 92% of negative reviews, usually pointing authors to a support email. A reply is not a resolution, but the positive reviews are real too: they praise polite staff and good print quality.
The Author Solutions Lawsuit
In April 2013, authors filed a proposed class action against Author Solutions and Penguin Group in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking more than $5 million, according to Writer Beware.
The complaint alleged “relentless up-selling,” poor-quality service, inaccurate royalty reporting, and charges for fixing errors the company introduced. These were allegations, and they were never proven in court.
Wikipedia reports that the court denied class certification in July 2015, and the suit was discontinued in August 2015 after a settlement. The terms were not made public in the sources we reviewed.
Author advocacy groups have kept their warnings in place since. Author Solutions appears on the SFWA “Thumbs Down Publisher” list, and the Alliance of Independent Authors has issued watchdog advisories about it.
AuthorHouse Red Flags to Watch For
These are the warning signs worth knowing before you sign anything with AuthorHouse, or with any paid publishing service.
- The retail price is not yours. The AuthorHouse pricing FAQ reserves “the exclusive right to modify the retail price.”
- The royalty is low. The royalty FAQ lists 10% of retail on print sold through distribution, which covers Amazon. On a $16.99 paperback, that is about $1.70 a copy.
- Follow-up sales calls. If a consultant pushes a marketing package before your book has sold a copy, pause and ask for measurable results in writing.
- Hollywood and film pitches. AuthorHouse’s own fraud alert page warns that scammers impersonate publishers, agents and producers. Verify any caller through the official site before paying.
Read the book royalties explainer before you compare offers, so you know what a fair rate looks like.
Where AuthorHouse Beats Chapter
We make Chapter, so here is an honest list of what AuthorHouse does that we do not.
It publishes your book. AuthorHouse prints copies, assigns an ISBN, designs a cover and distributes to Amazon and Ingram. Chapter writes the manuscript and stops there.
It gives you people. Every plan includes human copyediting and a phone consultant. Chapter is software, and if you want a human team walking you through publication, that is a real difference.
It handles publishing logistics. Hardcover editions, a Library of Congress number and a booksellers return program come in the Balance plan. Chapter does not touch any of that.
It illustrates children’s books. The Kids Wonder plan includes 12 custom illustrations. Chapter writes text only.
Is AuthorHouse Worth It?
AuthorHouse is worth it for a narrow group of authors: you have a finished manuscript, you want a few polished copies for family or a private audience, and you value phone-based guidance more than the extra cost.
It is not worth it if you want to earn money from sales. At 10% on Amazon, you need roughly 880 copies to earn back the $1,499 Essentials plan.
Publishing yourself through Amazon KDP and IngramSpark is free. Our cost to self-publish a book breakdown shows how far a few hundred dollars of freelance help goes, and how to self-publish a book walks through every step.
If you are weighing other full-service companies, our BookBaby legitimacy check applies the same test to a fee-for-service rival.
The Verdict and the Alternative We Built
AuthorHouse is a legitimate company with an expensive, author-funded business model. You will get a real book. You will probably pay more for it, and earn less from it, than you would on your own.
Most authors searching this question have a bigger problem first: the book is not finished yet. No publishing package helps until the manuscript 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 their manuscript yet 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, long before they need a publisher.
Chapter has limits. There is no free tier or trial, it does not print or distribute your book, and you still review what it drafts. Our Chapter review lays them out.
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, so you can publish free on KDP instead of paying for a package.
FAQ
Is AuthorHouse publishing legit?
AuthorHouse publishing is legit in that it is a real company, operating for more than 25 years, that delivers printed and distributed books. Author advocates classify it as a vanity or subsidy publisher because authors pay up front, and it has a long record of upselling complaints.
Is AuthorHouse a scam?
AuthorHouse is not a scam. Authors who pay receive real books with ISBNs and retail listings. The criticism is about value: packages from $1,499, a 10% royalty on Amazon print sales, and marketing add-ons that authors say rarely produce sales. Value problems are not fraud.
What are the most common AuthorHouse complaints?
The most common AuthorHouse complaints concern aggressive upselling of marketing packages, add-ons that did not sell books, royalty reporting that authors questioned, and slow service or difficult refunds after launch. The same themes appeared in the 2013 Author Solutions class action, which settled in 2015.
What is AuthorHouse’s BBB rating?
AuthorHouse’s BBB rating is A+, through the shared Author Solutions, LLC profile, which has been accredited since 2010. As of October 2026 it showed 70 complaints in three years. BBB grades mostly reflect how a company responds to complaints, not customer satisfaction.
Is AuthorHouse the same as Author Solutions?
AuthorHouse is an imprint of Author Solutions, the company that also runs iUniverse, Xlibris and Trafford. They share a BBB profile and much of the same complaint history. Center Street Ventures announced its purchase of Author Solutions in March 2025.
