WestBow Press Reviews 831

I sent a complete manuscript to their review editor. He thought my book had real potential and stated that I would have complete and final literary and artistic control of the publishing process. Then the lies began. Their editorial team objected to the use of the word "butted" in the text. My story used animal characters, sheep and goats, that engaged in conflicts butting each other with their horns. Westbow editors insisted that I personally remove the 27;times that I used the word! I had already paid them close to $2,000 and I told them to do it. Then other commonly used word objections began because they were "unwholesome" I complained to the review editor and he ended up leaving the company! That's when I gave up on Westbow $400 lighter in my wallet. Don't touch these people with a 10 foot pole.

You are hopeful since they claim to be a Christian organization. Unfortunately, my experience was not good. The person assigned to me never helped me navigate their process. I had 2 books and spent nearly $5k. After books were ready and my copies sent to me, my family and friends found errors throughout. You expect them to read your book like a true publisher and give you honest feedback. But they do not. They just take your cash. You can go directly to KDP and do it yourself for free. Only you need to format in Word and edit yourself. Free to publish. But you won't be out thousands of dollars and treated like a fool. I have sold zero books even though they "sent" them to companies that should have purchased. My reviews have been good, and my contacts are straight up honest. So not sure where to go from here.

My impression of the agent (salesman) was that he was totally bored with me. It is only about money, $1500 bare minimum. Total scam. The big pitch was they were associated with a big Christian publishing company. Frankly, spending that kind of money for self-publishing is vanity in my opinion.
I had an appointment by phone. If I had been aware of the cost of their packages before I wouldn't have wasted my time or theirs.

I just paid 833 on February 13 and after reading all the reviews I divided to cancel the subscription and they are not canceling it I keep begging them I also asked for a refund and they keep sending me to voicemail saying the only person that does refunds AMANDA is busy or on the phone this is really redundant seeing as they are useing Christian’s to get paid they all will end up in hell and bankrupt Amanda called me and said they would process the refund but still hasn’t happened I asked the to cancel the subscription and that still hadn’t happened now I’m going to have to close my bank account because they are going to take more money when it has only been 3 days since I ordered I asked the same day if I could just cancel and they made me wait for today to still do nothing this is sickening now they are harassing me calling me talking about my review saying if I cancel my card I won’t be able to receive the refund but I don’t want the subscription at all nor do I want them calling me! I just want me money refunded and the subscription cancelled.

When I decided to publish my book, I chose Westbow because they are a Christian publisher connected to Zondervan. My husband, who is a pastor, had faith that they would be trustworthy. My experience has been frustrating and I have encountered many delays. It has been almost 9 months and my book is stuck in production. The people assigned to my project have been pleasant enough to work with and have responded to emails. I had been assured I would have my book by Christmas but with 3 days to go, I have lost hope.

This company is a headache -I am now paying another publisher to edit the manuscript that Westbow had for 10 months. The editing/formatting was not of good quality. After 10 months of Westbow having my manuscript I finally felt that maybe it was best to go somewhere else. I paid thousands of dollars to Westbow Press and when I asked for a refund, I was denied. Westbow Press did not honor their agreement, did not provide services, was difficult to work with - I would advise not to use this company.

I have spent 3 months trying to get feedback and tech help. I was told that they have no tech department. I have low computer skills and mentioned that when they happpily took my money. Now, I NEED a refund and have had my bank dispute 3 charges of over $800. Now, I cannot get them to call me. For a Christian company, I am deeply disheartened.

The two complaints I have about getting my book through the publishing stage is that I was told I had to change some very common and innocent words because they might be offensive (which was ridiculous) and I had to pay to get the price of both hard cover and paperback reduced enough to make them affordable for most people. I was willing to put those problems behind me because when the book came out it was beautiful. Since publishing, however, I feel that I've been pushed off a cliff and left floating in space. Communication has been almost impossible. I had to fight for weeks to get accurate and helpful categories and keywords on Amazon and, after 18 months, I still don't have a website. These have been major obstacles that no decent publisher, especially one that calls itself "Christian," would allow to happen. I have concluded that WestBow doesn't want their authors to succeed unless they can sell them a whole lot of marketing products that they say will bring success. If the author doesn't cooperate, they are simply ghosted. I certainly have been.

THIS IS AN UPDATE TO WESTBOW'S RESPONSE TO MY POST: I did ask for minor changes three or four times before being ready to approve the website. The problem is that it would always take weeks or months of me sending frustrated emails to whoever my contact was (I've had several) to finally get back a response. My last request was for the correction of a grammar mistake that the Westbow Team made on the header of each page. I sent a request for “with a deceitful online scams” to be changed to "with a deceitful online scam" on SEPTEMBER 25. Today is NOVEMBER 19 and nothing has happened since. This is just typical of what I've experienced.

DECEMBER 1 and still being ghosted by WestBow. They promise, but they do not deliver.

JANUARY 7, 2026: Westbow did not “reach out again” as they promised, and I still have no website. The book was published early June, 2024. I think it’s time for an attorney.

Update: Westbow is corresponding with me now. Thank the Lord. I have a receipt from a customer that is not noted in my sales data from Amazon. Hopefully Westbow will be able to figure out why I am not getting credit for sales.

The actual book was great (hence the 2 stars). What came afterword was horrific...unanswered email after unanswered email. I have proof from my Author Central account that my book was selling (moving on the best sellers list SIGNIFICANTLY), but sales were not reported. I asked for someone to reach out to Amazon or for verification reports because I had many people reach out and say that they had purchased a paperback copy, but that wasn't reflective in Westbow's report. I have concrete evidence that I qualified for the Lighthouse award (that cost me money in my package) and would help my sales incredibly, but Harper Collins flat out refused to honor it and Westbow did nothing to help. I am absolutely helpless... I'm just so disappointed in a so called Christian company. All I am asking for are answers and no one will call or email me or give me the time of day...I paid 10K for this...

The first printing of my illustrated children’s book had color washed out and pages sized I correctly. I paid again to get these corrected but still had sizing slightly off. They set the price and wanted even more money for me just to lower the price. Nice people to talk to on the phone but don’t seem interested in anything but getting more “ investment”.

The best publisher i have ever used. Honest helpful and guided me thru each step. No complaints only thankfulness. Go westbow press and don't look back. Keep up the good work Westbow Press! God Bless Westbow Press!

I researched this company on TrustPilot and I read the less-than-stellar reviews but still gave them the benefit of the doubt because: 1) they were or were affiliated with a Christian company so I presumed they would have ethics; 2) I thought that given the lackluster reviews they would maybe redeem themselves with a new customer willing to give them a chance. Neither of these things was true. I signed an agreement with Westbow Press and paid an initial deposit of $1258.58 on May 1, 2025. I submitted my manuscript on May 6, 2025. I was told by Representative Luther Blackwell that it would take 4-6 weeks to review the manuscript. I emailed on June 2nd asking if there were any updates and received a response on June 3 stating they "were still working on it." I received a payment request on June 1 asking for another installment payment of $445.67. Having been scammed by a fake publisher just prior to signing on with Westbow, I emailed Mr. Blackwell on June 3, requesting that I please get some sort of update on the manuscript review progress before I sent another payment to which he responded "no problem." On Wednesday June 11, I still had not received an update and I requested my contract be withdrawn. Amanda Shoaf reached out the same day and stated I could receive my refund less a $400 termination fee. Reluctant to just loose $400 for nothing, I gave them more time. On June 16, I received the message: "...reviewer got back with us over the weekend. I wanted to let you know that your content edit that you were waiting on has passed." Ok, great! What is the next step? On June 27, I emailed Amanda to let her know I still had not heard from anyone and that the the time it took to process the manuscript was not acceptable and that I would like a refund. On 7/6/2025 I was informed a refund was processed for $428.53. I had resigned myself to the $400 hit, but I guess they felt entitled to the second installment payment for the nothing they did as well. So essentially, Westbow got $830.05 and I got absolutely nothing but disappointment.

Update 7/15/2025: Today I received a check in the mail from Author Solutions which operates Westbow Publishing for $862.40. Thank you.

This is an unsolicited review. I was very pleased with Westbow. They are professional and the final product was great. Sometimes slow at responding to questions but sometimes I was slow at responding to their questions. I would use them again in a minute. Actually I was surprised at how much I got for the money I paid.

The bottom line ... WestBow is a reputable publisher. There are a lot of scammers doing this .... My book looks great and sales have been good. Plan on using them for my next Hebrew textbook.

I trusted that this Christian company would have at least 1 person communicating/editing with my husband before his book went to publication. Sadly it did not happen. The lack of support ended with his first ever book published with so many errors, he is deeply disappointed and humiliated..so sad.
My husband's name is Charles Clint Hittle. The name of his book is "Stories From Behind The Curtain" ISBN # 979-8-3850-3636-3
WesBow rev. Date 10/21/2024

The continue to not pay royalties and they wont release my website.

I submitted my novel for an initial review with WestBow earlier this fall and was told it was lovely and a good fit for this publisher. I signed a contract and paid them nearly $5000 for publishing services. I was perplexed to receive an email two weeks later stating that, after a closer read, my prose was considered offensive and objectionable. (The adverbs "madly" and "crazily" were cited as being inappropriate for a Christian audience.) I requested a refund. WestBow has given me a partial refund but refuses to refund the full amount.

Friends, this publisher is a vanity press; their authors pay in full for all services. If WestBow initially accepts and then later rejects a manuscript, should the author be penalized?

I encourage authors to carefully read reviews and research lawsuits against WestBow before proceeding with this publisher. There are hundreds of vanity presses in existence today; choose one with a better reputation.

Incidentally, WestBow responded to my last review and encouraged me to contact them. I have done so multiple times. I'm still waiting for responses to the phone and email messages I've left with their staff over the past month.

I signed on to Thomas Nelson publishing with the man by name of Edward foggs. Edward called me for 2 years. After 2 years I listened to him and signed. He told me how excited Thomas Nelson and Harper Collins was about the book and getting it published. It is quoted the ultimate modern day story of forgiveness and that came from preachers. They also stated it was the most powerful story since the story of the Bible - particularly the story of Jesus. In 2015 it was put into a historical society museum in New York. No book has ever gotten this recognition in history. Since it's publication in 2014 customer service tries to tell me the book is only sold 38 copies. For one I never received any money for those 38 copies. Number two it's hard to believe that such a powerful story would only sell 38 copies in 10 years. And number three, I've signed over a thousand copies of that book from people of all walks of life. So either West bowl / Thomas nelson/Harper Collins/ author solutions is either pocketing that money or they just outright lied. They have opened up several divisions and on the early basis I get calls from there several different divisions pretending to be new publishing companies new publishing houses but they all seem to stem from author solutions which is a Philippines based organization. I have requested that the so-called funds they claim to be holding for me to be sent to me. I will not give my banking information to this institution. I know that I signed more books than what they claim have been sold. So either they're selling them and not reporting them or they're not reporting the money made from other places such as Amazon and Walmart. And other places around the world. I will be pulling my book from this marketing scam. I was promised one thing and never received anything. The part where the book actually got put in a museum in New York was out of my pocket. I paid $5,000 to publicize the book myself. I was the only author to speak in New York on September 11th 2015. The only one invited to speak any organ September 11th 2015 from anywhere. The story has touched lives around the world. It has a highest quotes ever given to any author around the world. This company doesn't seem to care and they call themselves a Christian organization. No Christian organization would do as they have done. They took my money and what I got in return was a book cover and a spot on their website. I had to fight to get the publications around the world. I called all of the places that they sent to me that said that they sent press releases to and not one of them had ever heard of them and for those who did stated they never received any press release on the book and knew nothing of it. This is the so-called Christian publishing company that states how inspire they are by writers but what they really want is your money. I will be looking into having my attorney put together a suit and taking them to court. They will have no choice but to bring forth the documentation over the last 10 years and prove everyone they have done business with. They will have to show accounting for over 10 years of not just mine but for other authors as well. There are thousands of authors that have done business with these people over the years and have had similar or the same experience as myself. Other than the fact that I do have and still only have the only book in history put in a historical society museum or any type of museum in less than a year's time and quoted the ultimate modern day story forgiveness. I agreed to sign with these people because they told me how inspired they were by the story and about the journey that I took to make the story public. They lied and they deceived which if you're a Christian organization is against the standard morals of an actual Christian and any christian-based organization. I think it's time for God to step in.

In response to westbow stating they don't have any identifying information they are lying. I pulled my book from them about 2 weeks ago and had to fight with them to do it. I had to reach out to the person who started wesbo who works for Harper Collins and then they finally responded back stating that they would pull my book. Then they try to give me a song and dance saying that certain publishers will be able to hold on to the manuscript and print it as special books or hard to get books. I told them this was not part of the agreement in 2014 nor is it now. I told them I wanted the book pulled immediately from them and from all retailers. The only books for sale are three which are on eBay. Because the book is quoted one of the most powerful books in history since the story of the Bible people are asking quite a bit for those books. Also because those books are signed by myself.
For anyone out there who has a copy of the book. If you would like it signed copy please reach out to me.

I am very happy with the actual book itself. It turned out very well and looks fabulous. My area of unhappiness is in the marketing. The marketing representative, Jose, is very slow to return emails, if he does at all. I gave up trying to get him to return my calls. I have had to request updates on things like the website and audiobook several times, and most of the time, I have to ask several times before I get an answer. They have taken three months to get the website live and are now trying to give me only nine months of hosting instead of the twelve I paid for. I had to fight to get the two extra pages added, even though I paid for them. They allegedly sent a press release to a bunch of media outlets, but with the lack of response from Jose, I have no confidence that if a media outlet contacted them, anyone would even see it or respond. I have made several requests to several people for a supervisor or manager to contact me, but these requests have been met with silence. It appears that once they have your money and give you a product, they no longer care about customer service. The first and last book that Westbow will publish for me.

Westbow Press is a long term recognized publisher of inspirational and Christian works. It is both a recognized brand and a rigorous and stringent reviewer of content. While there are any options for authors to publish works, some less expensive and some more expensive, none or very few options offer the prestige of having met the rigorous standards of WestBow Press and the prestige of being published under the WestBow Press brand backed by Zondervan-Thomas Nelson which is owned by Harper Collins, and is the largest publisher of Christian works in the world. That type of backing means a lot when it comes to the plethora of publishing opportunities available to authors today. The WestBow Press staff is professional, timely, and helpful in guiding an author through the process. While WestBow Press might not be for everybody, it should be a first consideration for new authors jumping into an already very crowded field.