Their templates should be user friendly -I like the results of my book but the…
I like the results of my book but the templates are cumbersome and not user friendly… what should take only minutes took hours of manipulation to get it right
About BookBaby
Data updated- Website
- bookbaby.com
- Category
- Media & Publishing
- Location
- United States
- Status
- Unclaimed
- Last 12 months
- 132 reviews
- Replies to negative
- 74% (29/39)
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About this business
BookBaby empowers self-published authors with the world’s largest eBook and printed book distribution network, reaching readers in over 170 countries through 100+ retailers and distributors, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Ingram. We provide a full range of publishing services, from book printing and formatting to cover design and Print On Demand. Based near Philadelphia in Pennsauken, NJ, BookBaby is proud to help authors share their stories worldwide.
Written by the business, not verified by us.Is BookBaby legit?
BookBaby (bookbaby.com) has a 4.1 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 201 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Media & Publishing and its reputation is good. 73% of reviews are 4 stars or higher and 13% are 1 star; The business has replied to 74% of negative reviews; Reviews mostly discuss Product, Customer service, Quality. Last updated 2026-09-02.
What reviewers say
AI generatedReviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers frequently praise the friendly and supportive staff who patiently guide first-time authors through every single step of the entire publishing journey. Many people also appreciate the exceptional print quality, vibrant colors, and gorgeous professional book designs that consistently exceed their initial expectations. However, some reviewers were not happy with publishing errors, unexpected formatting issues, and frustrating communication delays that occurred after making their initial purchases. A few other people also felt that the editing services and the strict proofing process could be significantly improved for better results.
Auto-generated from all reviews of this business. For reference only.What people say
Wonderful Experience!
Wonderful Experience! The people are fantastics, the books are the highest quality and packaging for shipping is fantastic.
Responsive and knowledgeable staff.
Rachel has been very helpful and knowledgeable throughout our process. Responsive as well. The editing was also easy to access and helpful. Highly recommend both!
The Wall Between You and Your Hired Editor
I had a good experience with the Sr. Publishing Specialist, but everything else afterward felt off. I ordered the Line Editing service for my manuscript, the most expensive package with the stylistic editing features I thought would serve me best. When I received the editor's basic comments and suggested changes, I did not see any evidence that I received the additional editing services as advertised. When I asked for a simple phone call or more information, I was tasked with "show us what the editor missed" requests. How can I tell them what they missed if I hired them to tell me what I may have missed? Ridiculous. I had apparently hit the wall that exists between the "editor" and the "writer. It's called Product Support. From there, the service declined. Phone calls and voicemails went unanswered for days at a time. No one called me back; they just sent emails asking me the same thing I noted above. Obviously, I was misled by their slick advertising (which is very good). I will now be using a different provider for the formatting, design, and publication of this book and its subsequent sequels, which have already been written.
The worst Spanish editing service
I bought the Spanish editing services, and when I received the manuscript back, it had the note from the editor that Spanish dialogs are to be represented with a long dash, not with quotation marks like in the English dialogs, but the correction was never done. The editor also wrote that he/she will be leaving it to the author to decide. That was after explaining about the Spanish dialogs. Is common sense that if you are paying for an editing service, the least of your expectations will be to receive the manuscript with the corrections done, not for me to do the corrections, because, What do I pay for in the first place? I feel that I was robbed more than $2,000 for a job that was never done, and when I called customer service, it's been a week that I explained what happened and the representative told me that she was going to reach out to the editor and that I was going to receive an email back, and that never happened. Since then, I have been calling almost every day, and nobody can "help" me because is the initial representative that have my information. Is like nobody else can contact the editor. I don't have words for the frustration and anger that this has made me feel. If you are going to offer Spanish editing services, make sure that the editor actually do the job.
Reply from BookBaby2025-09-25
Hello, thanks for your feedback. Regarding your specific concern about Spanish dialogue formatting: It is common for editors, especially in bilingual contexts, to explain the accepted standard (in this case, the use of em dashes rather than quotation marks) and then leave the decision to the author. This is because not all authors choose to adopt traditional formatting conventions, and consistency in creative choices ultimately belongs to the writer. For that reason, some editors will flag the issue globally, explain the reasoning, and then leave the actual application for you to decide.
Great Services and Positive Experience
I was not aware of Book Baby until the Toastmasters International Convention in August 2025. I spoke with the representatives and shared my first published children’s book, and they mentioned their services. I was interested in learning more, and after attending the conference, I conducted research on the company and was impressed, ultimately deciding to utilize the company's editing service. I am glad I did and was very happy with the feedback and comments. Thank you.
Satisfied Customer
The customer service staff were very helpful. The work was performed in a timely manner, and the product met my expectations. BookBaby offers great service at reasonable rates.
For the most part
For the most part, I'm completely satisfied with Bookbaby so far. The only thing I found frustrating was that sometimes it was hard to connect with them. So, that's why I'm giving a 4 star rating instead of 5 stars.
Bookbaby helped make my dream come true. The BookBaby team was helpful…
The BookBaby team was helpful throughout the process and they answered all of my questions quickly and accurately. I was very pleased with the creative artwork and the professional look of the text.
Appreciated Customer Service
When I started to look at self-publishing my first book, I realized I needed more assistance in navigating the steps. A friend recommended BookBaby, so I did some research. I like to ask questions, so I especially appreciated the initial phone consultation. When I made that final click to publish, I received my box of books within two weeks. It was so exciting to see my book go live! I also appreciate having the initial 25 physical copies for in-person sales and promotions. I look forward to learning more about the marketing process with BookBaby as I move on to the next leg of my publishing journey.
BookBaby Support & Printing is exceptional.
I’ve used BookBaby to publish both of my books. They are easy to work with and the printing quality is exceptional. I highly recommend using BookBaby for your next book project.
Follow up lacking
Customer service was great until the first purchase, and I haven't heard from anyone in over a month. I don't know how editing went, no one has contacted about next step.
Reply from BookBaby2025-09-02
Hello, we sent an email to you on August 25, letting you know your edited files are posted to your account. We'll resend that today.
Quick
Quick, knowledgeable, and precise. Having Book Baby set up, and continue the printing work, is the best decision I ever made regarding my book.
Good job!
BookBaby was thorough, competent and responsive.
Expectations vs. Reality: My BookBaby Publishing Experience
BookBaby Promises Full-Service Publishing — But Delivers the Bare Minimum. An honest review from a first-time children’s book author. I chose BookBaby expecting polished design, strategic support, and a seamless publishing experience for my children’s book More Than a Million Stars. What I received felt more like a basic self-publishing platform than a professional, full-service experience. As a first-time author, I was genuinely excited to bring this project to life. I provided detailed, side-by-side PDFs that clearly outlined what text and images should appear on each page—including speech bubbles. Yet the first proofs came back with the speech bubbles completely blank. This glaring omission should have been caught immediately by any professional and attentive designer. It took multiple rounds of revisions just to reach an acceptable version, raising early concerns about quality control and oversight. The cover was another major disappointment. I hired a seasoned marketer who immediately said, “I can’t even read your title in a thumbnail—it’s just a blur.” BookBaby claimed the font couldn’t be enlarged without pushing it off the page—but that was false. The marketer suggested a professional designer create a vibrant, readable cover with a clear subtitle that looked like a true, professional children’s book—even in thumbnail view. My new cover is now vibrant, beautiful, and clear even at thumbnail size. BookBaby also told me they couldn’t upload a PDF cover file to Amazon and instead submitted a JPEG. A JPEG for a print cover? JPEGs compress the image, flatten colors, and reduce sharpness—resulting in a washed-out, blurry appearance. I was shocked when I saw how dull the book looked on Amazon. Later, a seasoned industry professional told me Amazon actually prefers high-resolution PDFs for print covers—and that using a JPEG often causes significant quality loss. This revealed a serious flaw in BookBaby’s process. This poor display quality was entirely avoidable—and deeply frustrating. Another issue: while my book was published through BookBaby, the back cover and spine never appeared on the Amazon listing. I was told this was due to Amazon’s limitations. But when I later republished the exact same book through KDP, the full wraparound cover—including the spine and back—displayed correctly. This strongly suggests the issue was with how BookBaby submitted the files, not a limitation on Amazon’s end. Other authors should be aware: the way your files are prepared and uploaded directly affects how your book appears to buyers. As for metadata—keywords and categories—BookBaby’s process was surprisingly minimal and unstrategic. They simply asked for a few descriptive words, then passed those to an internal team who added what they thought might work. There was no real research, testing, or optimization. In contrast, the marketer I hired conducted keyword analysis and category research using actual performance tools. His selections generated thousands more views than what BookBaby provided. Once the book was published, communication dropped off. Responses became slower, evasive and less personal. It became increasingly difficult to get clear answers. The helpful, supportive tone I experienced early on seemed to vanish the moment my book was live. BookBaby provided surface-level support. Their design oversight, technical limitations, and hands-off marketing support made it clear they’re not equipped to help your book stand out. If you care deeply about your work, skip BookBaby altogether—and invest in professionals who will treat your book with the respect it deserves. IMPORTANT NOTE ON UNPUBLISHING: BookBaby states that unpublishing may take 4–6 weeks, but my old edition remains available far longer—causing reader confusion and reducing visibility for my updated book. A more transparent publisher would have warned authors or acted to prevent outdated versions from continuing to circulate—BookBaby did neither. While not contractually required to coordinate with Amazon, a company truly committed to the authors would do more to prevent ongoing sales of outdated editions—especially when the author no longer receives royalties. Final Thoughts: This review reflects my personal experience and opinion as a paying customer. It is not intended to defame or harm the company, but rather to share an honest perspective—for the benefit of other authors considering BookBaby’s services. In my opinion, BookBaby does not deliver the care, expertise, transparency or the attention to detail your book deserves. If you’re looking for real publishing professionals, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere.
I ordered a single copy proof of my…
I ordered a single copy proof of my unpublished novel from BookBaby. It was exactly what I was hoping for and then some! They were meticulous in making sure everything was in perfect order and they brought my long awaited book to life! I highly recommend them if you are an author and want to see what your finished book will look like!
More Tolerance is needed, indeed, required.
From my very first day of not having gone throu the initial proess with Bookbaby (and after having paid a Bookbaby IMPOSTER THE SUM OF $800.00 A COUPLE OF WEEKS PRIOR, the overall attitude of your representative was overwhelmingly DISDAINFUL at best. She exhibited absolutely no patience as I attempted to make my way through the page of introduction. Rather than guide me through the process, she bluntly asked: "You wanna call me back (when you find it)? And from that point onm, she was out of the office for a week and then ccother than one brief instance, she made herself unaailable whenever I needed her. She never even mentioned the 20% discount for certain editing services which, had I been informed before I completed my first phase, I would have taken advantage of,though it would have cost more. Bookbaby experience then (about 3 yearsago) was just delightful and I had no problem in deciding to return to Bookbaby for the next installment (Book 2) of my trilogy. I really would love to have another person work with me from this point on. if it is at all possible; otherwise I will suffer through this.
Not trying a 3rd time
This is the second year that I tried an ad. I feel like the ad staff doesn’t understand my particular book segment and the stats reflect it. Worse is I offered better market options and they didn’t use them.
Reply from BookBaby2025-08-21
Hi Diane, thank you for your feedback about your ad campaign. I'm sorry our ad development team didn't produce the material you were aiming for. We do send proofs and offer a corrections process so that they can receive feedback and adjust as necessary. If you were still unhappy after that, please let us know.
Spammer
Spammer. I never signed up for anything from this company, and they continue to send me email in spite of no interest from me. Edit re reply below: I have no account with BookBaby. I never signed up for it, because I had never heard of BookBaby until I started receiving unwanted email.
Reply from BookBaby2025-08-19
Hello Rhonda, sorry for any frustrations. If you could share your email address with me, I can locate your account and unsubscribe you from our mailings.
Disappointed - still waiting
I am so disappointed in this experience. I recommended BookBaby to an author who was self-publishing as his publicist. I worked with a previous self-published author who used BookBaby last year so I encouraged my author to try Bookbaby. Our launch date was 7/22/2025 (4 weeks later than we wanted to launch originally- due to their requirements even though we provided all the formatting) and it is now 8/18/2025 and the book is still showing Temporarily Out of Stock. I spent numerous hours during the critical time of the first 2-3 weeks now almost 4 weeks in and our pre-sales through Amazon have still not been delivered. All the momentum we put in to the launch campaign was deflated by this SNAFU. I cannot recommend Bookbaby again. I went in thinking I was working with a publishing but after my experience feel like it is merely a print shop. The quality of the printing and finished product looks great. (we were able to receive copies that were directly purchased through BookBaby.) The customer service represented were very nice; however, they all were only able to tell me the same thing time and time again, sticking straight to their talking points. Hope this helps when choosing a company to use when taking the step to self-publish. Sincerely, Still Waiting
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