Complaint Review: Xlibris Publishing - Internet

I began the idea of publishing my book with Xlibris on August 22, 2012!  I have dealt with five different submission representatives, and at least five other Xlibris employees in other departments concerning this project.  I am so frustrated with this process in publishing .  My contract started for one price and then a few months later the contract was redone to "accomodate" my workbook format which costed more.  It is done by credit card and payments are taken monthly.  So they were paid long ago.  (Beware!)

 I submitted the almost finished manuscript by request of Xlibris by Kim Oliver for the 1st time in January of 2014.  She handed it off to a Mr. Lloyd Griffith in the Data  Entry service of Xlibris to "convert it into an electronic format that would ensure the easiest processing of my book".   Marie Giles had sent me the first electronic data entry draft that resulted from that, by email last February which I attached to an email I sent to Kim.  I guess it got lost.

Meanwhile I was sending all the chapters to Kim electronically in Word 2007 because no one could find out where my book or data file was.  It may have been because the contract  ID # changed  from 144169 to 603246 when the contract was renegotiated because, the new submission representatives realized it was a format different than a novel.  I was gathering all my letters of permission for reprints and information I used in the book and sending them electronically to Kim as well as my acknowledgments and thank you for footnotes and such.

 I had a set back at the end of March into mid April when my computer hard drive completely crashed.  It took me almost a month to recover the information and all I had was a hard copy of what I had been writing to retype from to complete the book.  I asked for the data entry copy to work from, but no one ever found it.  I set a goal to complete the book to finish by year's end and I finished at the end of November 2014.

 I Fed-Exed the FINISHED MANUSCRIPT with all my revisions again to Kim Oliver in its final format  for the 2nd time, on December 1st of 2014.  Again it went to Data Entry, this time for scanning.  Again it was sent back. On my third time I sent it by the US post office overnight express. However, when it was sent back, the dividers were not in place for the chapters.  I thought all the old data copies should have been destroyed or updated  at that point for the new revised and edited version.

 Again no one knew where the material was at the beginning of January 2015!  I suggest you check with Lloyd Griffith.  I got an email from him in June 2014 with the data file still under the old contract # as an attachment.  Of course it is not an up to date one, because I sent the final on Dec. 1st, 2014.  But that copy is supposedly data entered somewhere also and hopefully under the correct contract #.  They enclosed no communication when they sent back the final manuscript, which is titled, "What Do I Do Now?" Tools & Tips to the Healthcare System for the Caregiver.

 With each submission representative, I had to explain the project and the way it was contracted to be formatted from the beginning each time.  Even with Kim Oliver I had to explain it more than once.  There seemed to be no notes that were passed from person to the next person handling my case so that they understood or knew where the project stood and how it was being done.  It is clear to me that the departments have a breakdown in communication with each other as well as myself the author.  I do not feel as though they kept their part of the contract at all.  Now they say I can not get my money back to pursue another publisher.  I am not wealthy.  The contract money can only be returned within 90 days.

 You can see why I am so Frustrated.  All in all I submitted this book either in hardcopy or electronically by email a total of 5 times.  We have spent over 2 years on this project and we have no first draft for me to review or any marketing or author help that was promised by your programs.  I essentially have been depending on submission representatives and they don't know what the next step is either and have to always research and get back to me, wasting time.  What I need is the name of who I contact to begin the process of cancelling this contract and begin the return of my money.  Please send me the information quickly.  I've waited for my project long enough!

Robin Earp