I have to tell you that I don't get disappointed easily in life. I rarely rant either. But, I do have to say that Westbow Press has been less than stellar in delivering what they said that they would. I wrote a book, NO REWIND, of which I'm thrilled with the final product. The production piece of the book has been a smooth process. To that end, there are zero complaints. However, Westbow Press, positioning itself as a Christian Publisher, has been almost "used car salesman" in it's approach in it's business model. Let me share with you why.
- The personal sales rep would put a squeeze on at the end of each month and call me multiple times a day stating that if I locked in a deal by the end of the day/month, I would get all of this other stuff added into the publishing package. I told him that when I was ready, I'd be ready. I told him that it was a lot of money and that I never make rash decisions and it will probably be months before I made a decision. Calling me at 5:00 on the last day of every month, he tried to push the sale. When I would say no, sometimes he'd say that he had a bad month himself and really needed one more sale. I should have known that I was just a commodity for him then, but my dream remained and I just chalked it up to him having a bad day.
- The rep also told me that I would be making between $4-7 per book. After I signed up with Westbow they said that I'll only make $1 per book on Amazon and about $4 per book through Westbow.
- The process of publishing was good. What people said, they did. To that extent I was pleased.
- Immediately after publishing I was getting calls about buying my books myself, in bulk. The minum amount being 2,500 books. "That's the only way that you'll make money" the guy told me. Unfortunately, he's correct. Again, the exact opposite was disclosed to me during this process by their sales rep.
- Marketing - I paid for marketing. A LOT OF MONEY TO WESTBOW PRESS!!! My total all in investment into Westbow Press was in excess of $15,000. That included a marketing package as well. Among so many more, I have two major issues with the entire process:
- I had contracted for a ix week marketing blitz. After I met with my consultant they said that it would NOT be a national blitz. It would be a localized blitz. I wish that I would have known that up front. Secondly, I paid thousands of dollars on this marketing campaign. I received no results whatsoever. I did receive weekly updates on who they were contacting, but I have to say that I think it was just a flyer e-mailed to a reviewer somewhere. My rep called me once and said that local paper wants to interview me. I called back and said great. They never followed up. I called them again and they said "our 6 weeks are up, you're on you're own."
- I also paid for a custom website. The website is basic, at best and I will be shelving it for something that I am paying for privately outside of Westbow Press. The representative for the site would ask me questions regarding my site. I would respond by saying "please clarify as I don't really understand what you are talking about." She would say "I'm just forwarding what the web designers are forwarding to me." I would say how can I answer your question if I don't understand what's being asked?" She would then forward my e-mail to the web designers and 2-3 days later I'd get a response. This happened a lot.
Westbow is a good publisher in my experience. The rep told me that 100% of the people who have paid for marketing got a 100% return on their investment. I can tell you that if that's true, I'm the one who's going to break that 100% or I'll have to wait a long time in order to re coup that investment.
I will say that my book is changing lives and the response that I have had has been nothing short of a miracle from God, but if you use Westbow Press. Stick with the PRESS and stay away from their marketing. I regret having spent even one penny on Westbow's Marketing. Don't to the same. They are Christian in the way that they publish, but not in the way they sell you.
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