Online Book Writers is a Nightmare Online Book Writers has been a nightmare. I have read most of the online reviews and find them disconnected from reality and strangely (and coincidentally) nearly identical to one another. I’m not surprised that Trust Pilot has flagged OBW reviews with the following message: “We’ve detected a number of fake reviews for this company and we’ve removed them.” I began with Online Book Writers (OBW) in November 2020. I was hesitant to use their service because I had concerns about how long the project would take to complete. However, I was assured by Bruno R. that they could meet my 6 to 8 month expectation. That was 21 months ago… and counting. I have spent $10,750 with this company and find it difficult to give them even one star. The initial quote was $2000 for their services; however, they didn’t inform me of all the aspects of book development, marketing, and publishing they would later insist were important for success. Nearly every month, there was an upsell: I needed illustrations; I needed a better book trailer video (which has now been in production for over 7 months and still isn’t completed); ISBNs; LCCN; Copywriting; social media followers, etc., etc. There isn’t an end to what they say you need. NOTE: You do get more attention from managers when you agree to an upsell. (They get commissions). One manager was noticeably upset over the phone when he heard I had gotten the Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) myself. It was free. He had quoted me $1500. Over the course of the past 21 months, the first writer quit the OBW company at the 5-month mark into my project (she explained it was because of unreasonable OBW expectations for assembly line production). Only about 30% of the book had been roughed out. They assigned a second writer who resumed writing the book with little thematic correlation to what had already been written. The progress was incremental. It was painful. In the end, the direction was so bad as we approached the one-year mark that I took back over the writing myself and completed the book. As it stands now, I have actually written most of the novel myself. Editing was equally painful. Each time OBW edited, they produced mistakes: extra lines, extra spaces, strange characters, line breaks, misspelled words, etc. I had to re-edit many times. (NOTE: I had a complete manuscript when I came to OBW. However, I decided I needed professional help with story development and marketing. OBW was never interested in my manuscript, as this doesn’t fit neatly into their mass production constructs. The writers were not interested. Bruno R. wasn’t interested. The four managers on the project were not interested. The OBW machine must keep moving. No one has the time.) Dysfunction abounds with OBW and disappointments are never-ending. Writers quit and get changed out. Managers turn over your file to the next, and the next, and so on. And, when this occurs, the next person isn’t at all familiar with your project and can’t find the information you’ve previously sent. They are confused (and who wouldn’t be with a hundred or so clients). Errors are very frequent and progress can move backward. I wish there was a rating of less than 1 Star. As of this writing, it is August 2022. November 2020 was ages ago. All I have from OBW is a profound disappointment. If I could rewind the past 21 months, I would NOT have chosen OBW. As it stands now, I am out $10,750 and there are no book sales. This is mostly because the marketing elements are still outstanding and no one will get back to me. I paid for the $3000 Book Trailer Video 7 months ago. I’m still waiting and no one will get back to me. The $1000 Social Media Contacts were paid for 5 months ago. I’m still waiting and no one will get back to me. (The few that were delivered were mostly from Vietnam.) “Beta reader review”? It was never done. “Final Review” with the senior editor? Never happened. “Query Letter” sent to editors, agents and publishing houses?” Still waiting. Publishing Strategy Discussion with Marketing Specialist?” Never happened. “Google Business Review?” The manager wouldn’t do it without the upsell/commission. “1000 Media Contacts?” Never happened. Weekly and Monthly traffic reports? Only happened once. My website? I have been asking about the name of hosting company and credentials (for access) for 17 months. They can’t produce it. Whenever I call, I hear the mantra “the work continues”. I have heard that mantra over and over… even when nothing is happening. Do not use Online Book Writers. I will be 2 years into this nightmare soon and can’t wait for it to be over.

I never leave bad reviews. Today that changes! Let me begin this by saying I'm not that person, that woman who leaves terrible Yelp reviews because her waiter forgot a salad fork, or rates her Uber driver one star because they took a wrong turn. Simply-I paid this company money to line edit my book, and they returned a grammatically worse book to me. Things like names of herbs were suddenly capitalized, usages of aunt and uncle were suddenly incorrect, I found a sentence with TWO semicolons, when I hadn't had one in the first place. There were nonsensical changes and incorrect edits that were made throughout the book like these examples: Original: "She made some kind of a tea that smelled like licorice and tasted like bitter socks that was supposed to clear my mind." Their Edit: "She made some kind of tea that smelled like Licorice and tasted like bitter socks that were supposed to clear my mind." Original: "She was good in a way a bitter tonic was good, healing even when uncomfortable." Their Edit: "She was good in a way. A bitter tonic was good, healing even when uncomfortable." They had the audacity to say that I "approved" their changes and couldn't give me a refund because I glanced at chapters as they sent them over, didn't see any major changes, and asked them to send over the rest. Would your mechanic take a look at your car, say that it's fixed, then tell you you should have known better when your engine wasn't calibrated correctly? No, because that's what you're paying for their expertise for. To find the extent of their mistakes, I had to spend over fifteen hours re-editing my own manuscript and found countless mistakes. I did not receive what I paid for, a edited book with correct punctuation and grammar. I did not receive what their services promised by any stretch of the imagination. I politely asked to speak with someone to return my money, citing these countless mistakes. They gave me the run around for weeks, and eventually just didn't call after they said they would. I told them that I would be getting my credit card company involved and leaving this review if they didn't return my payment. They still haven't returned my money, and my credit card company is investigating. All of this, and they wouldn't just return my $540 for a job terribly done with all the evidence in the world to support my case. If you're looking for a company that truly cares about your manuscript and will complete their services correctly as listed, look ANYWHERE else. Trust me.

Excellent Customer Relationship Chris was my agent and working so far with him is great. He truly cares about what you need and he went above and beyond to make sure I was supported every step at a time. He was constantly engaging with me in a professional way as well as being intuitive to know where to be friendly and funny. When I think about excellent customer service first comes; Listening, Finding alternatives, follow up, focus ...... Chris hit all these marks and beyond. He comes highly recommended and anyone would be lucky to have him as their agent. It is not much about the company as much about people who work for that company.

I have worked with Mr Alvin I have worked with Mr. Alvin. He was and is a great person to work with. I have to congratulate OnlineBookWriters to have him as one of their staff. My experience with the product of OnlineBookWriters is more than satisfactory .... Thank you and look forward to doing more business with Alvin and with OnlineBookWriters.

I have hired these writers a few times I have hired these writers a few times for web content and honestly their service is just incredible. They get content done real quickly and are totally unique!