★☆☆☆☆ Six-Book Project Left Unfinished
Significant Undisclosed Crossover Between The Authors Central and American Publishing Solution I originally posted this review because of my experience with a six-book publishing project contracted through American Publishing Solution (APS). After The Authors Central contacted me and claimed that my review concerned an entirely different and unaffiliated company, I began examining the relationship between the two businesses more closely. What has since been acknowledged raises serious concerns about how separate these operations actually were in practice. The Authors Central's Co-founder and Head of Publishing has now confirmed to me in writing that American Publishing Solution used The Authors Central's publishing accounts and infrastructure to process and manage book projects. He further confirmed that this is why The Authors Central appears as the publisher on both my completed books and titles from my six-book project that remain in draft status. That is important because I was originally told that The Authors Central had “no affiliation” with APS and had no involvement in my project. Further discussion revealed additional crossover. Both companies publicly used the same telephone number, which The Authors Central later explained resulted from a shared third-party telephone and answering service. Joyce White was also involved with both organizations. During my APS publishing project, I had email addresses for Joyce at both theauthorscentral.com and americanpublishingsolution.com. APS formally identified Joyce White as one of my primary contacts for the project. The Authors Central has since stated that Joyce was an independent contractor who separately provided services to both companies. I understand that The Authors Central and American Publishing Solution may be legally separate businesses. My contract and payments were made to APS, and I am not claiming otherwise. However, the issue is not simply corporate ownership. My books were processed using The Authors Central's publishing infrastructure and accounts. The Authors Central appears as publisher on the books. Personnel worked with both businesses. The companies shared telephone infrastructure. Yet when I initially questioned the relationship, I was told there was “no affiliation.” Only after I presented the shared telephone number, the Joyce White correspondence, and other information did the fuller operational relationship begin to emerge. My six-book project was left with substantial unresolved publishing issues. One book was successfully published, while the remaining titles encountered Amazon KDP compliance and production problems. My concern is therefore not merely about which corporate name appeared on my service agreement. It is about the organizations and infrastructure actually involved in publishing and managing my books. Based on the information now provided to me by The Authors Central itself, I do not believe it is accurate to characterize The Authors Central as an unrelated company that had nothing to do with my project. I am publishing this revised review to make the distinction clear: my contract was with American Publishing Solution, but The Authors Central's publishing accounts, infrastructure, publisher identity, and shared personnel were involved in the publishing process. Prospective authors should understand that relationship and ask specifically which company will hold their publishing accounts, which company will appear as publisher, who will control their book listings and files, and what relationship exists between the company they contract with and any other publishing infrastructure being used on their behalf.
By Steve E.