AuthorHouse review: what it costs, what the contract says, what authors report

AuthorHouse sells three publishing plans, from $1,499 to $7,589, on its plans page and comparison chart (checked 19 October 2026; archived copy).

Two children's plans cost $1,499 (Kids Magic) and $3,896 (Kids Wonder, with 12 illustrations). The chart prices add-ons for the cheaper plans: hardcover $499, website $499, returns program $399, copyright registration $199.

Fuller editing is priced per word, checked 19 October 2026:

• Copyediting: $0.025 per word, or $2,000 for an 80,000-word book (our arithmetic), bought "based on the result of your Editorial Assessment".
• Line editing $0.034, content editing $0.041 and developmental editing $0.073 per word: $2,720, $3,280 and $5,840 for 80,000 words.
• Editorial assessment: $299 for "typically the first chapter or about 1,700 words", credited back if you buy editing.

For other routes, see what it costs to publish a book.

AuthorHouse publishes its contract, a nine-page Services and Distribution Agreement linked from its FAQ (checked 19 October 2026). Xlibris and Archway Publishing use the same document, word for word apart from the name. Clause 1 keeps copyright in your manuscript with you. While the agreement runs, you grant AuthorHouse "The exclusive, transferable, worldwide license to ... print, publish, market, sublicense, distribute, and sell ... the Work".

The ISBN and the design stay with AuthorHouse. Clause 1 lists "imprint logos, imprint names, trademarks, barcodes, and ISBN's" as its property, and the book and cover design as its "Work Product".

Print royalties (clause 4) are "Ten percent (10%) of the Suggested Retail Price for each sale of the individual Work in print format through one of Our Contractors". Its FAQ says the same. Sales on the AuthorHouse bookstore pay 25%. E-books pay 50% of the list price less discounts and taxes, and subscription or lending models 30% of what AuthorHouse receives. AuthorHouse sets the list price unless you buy its Set Your Own Price program (clause 3). By comparison, KDP pays 60% of a paperback's list price at $9.99 or more, minus the print cost.

Royalties are paid within 90 days after each quarter, by direct deposit to a US bank account, and can be held until they reach $75.

To leave, clause 5 says "Either Party may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, with written notice to the other Party." Refunds follow a schedule. Before you send the manuscript you get 100% back within six months of buying, less $150 from six to 12 months, and nothing after that. Once you send it the refund is 50% of the price, and after you approve the final proof it is nothing. On request, AuthorHouse sends the book's PDF within 30 days "with Our Property removed". Installment buyers pay a $75 non-refundable fee (clause 2), and disputes go to binding individual arbitration with the American Arbitration Association (clause 10).

Every plan includes a paperback and an e-book, cover and interior design, an ISBN, five paperback copies and distribution to "Ingram, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble". AuthorHouse books also sell on the AuthorHouse bookstore, its own online shop. Each plan adds a marketing plan and a year of the Author Learning Center.

Every plan also includes "Light Copyediting (spelling, punctuation, grammar)". AuthorHouse says it "combines advanced tools with an editor's eye to provide a straightforward polish". Its agreement lets it use AI tools to deliver services, with "a human review" of their output (clause 1). AuthorHouse sells a fuller copyedit (the edit that checks every comma and style choice) separately: $2,000 for 80,000 words, against $2,400–3,200 at the EFA's 2026 median rates.

What you do not get on Essentials: a hardcover, copyright registration, a website or a returns program. Each is an add-on at $199–499. Doing it yourself on Amazon KDP costs $0 to publish, plus $125 for your own ISBN from Bowker.

On ownership, AuthorHouse's about page says it is "family-owned, independently led" and "Under new family ownership". Its agreement names "Get Publishing! LLC ..., a subsidiary of Author Solutions, LLC doing business as AuthorHouse". The about page also counts "96,000 Books" and "70,000 Authors".

AuthorHouse reviews average 3.6 out of 5 from 1,019 reviews on Trustpilot, checked 19 October 2026. The profile is claimed and carries a paid Trustpilot subscription. Searches for Author House reviews or Author House publishing reviews, with the name as two words, find this same profile. One reviewer wrote: "Everyone I communicated with was polite and acted like they cared about the project" (a Trustpilot reviewer, October 2026). Another wrote: "I found it very difficult to communicate with your very busy staff" (a Trustpilot reviewer, October 2026).

AuthorHouse has no BBB profile of its own. The rating is shared across brands: one BBB profile for Author Solutions, LLC lists "AuthorHouse LLC", Xlibris, Archway Publishing and more than a dozen other names. It shows an A+ rating, accreditation since 2010, and 73 complaints in three years, 26 in the last 12 months (checked 19 October 2026). The BBB says "Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of the BBB Letter Grade Rating." The count is not split by brand.

The Alliance of Independent Authors rates AuthorHouse "Caution" on its Watchdog list. Writer Beware wrote about the 2013 case against Author Solutions in "Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Author Solutions Inc." (1 May 2013).

On Reddit, an author who had recently signed asks for experiences in "Anyone self published with Authorhouse?" (r/selfpublish, 57 comments, October 2021). Another asks in "Authorhouse?" (r/selfpublish, August 2024). In a September 2023 r/writing thread, an author reports losing access to a website AuthorHouse had run for a year.

An AuthorHouse lawsuit search on CourtListener on 18 October 2026 found these dockets:

• Selley v. AuthorHouse, LLC, No. 2:14-cv-00755 (W.D. Pa., filed 2014). The docket shows the court was told in October 2016 that the case had settled, and a praecipe to settle and discontinue in November 2016.
• Mary Simmons and Jodie Foster v. Penguin Group (USA) Inc., No. 1:13-cv-02801 (S.D.N.Y., filed 2013), against Author Solutions. The docket shows class certification denied in July 2015, a reported settlement in August 2015 and dismissal with prejudice in September 2015.
• Everette v. Author Solutions LLC, No. 1:14-cv-01827 (S.D. Ind., filed 2014). The docket shows a voluntary dismissal with prejudice on 15 September 2015.

1. Read the agreement before you pay, and note when the refund drops: to 50% once you send the manuscript, and to nothing after final approval.
2. Ask how deep the "light copyediting" goes on your manuscript, and whether a person or a tool makes each change.
3. Ask for the open design files before you sign. If you leave, the agreement promises a PDF "with Our Property removed", and the ISBN stays with AuthorHouse.
4. Price the add-ons Essentials lacks ($199–499 each) before you compare it with Balance at $3,294.
5. Ask what the list price of your book will be, since 10% of it is your royalty on every retail sale.

• BookBaby: its FAQ puts a fully produced book at $2,000–7,000, between Balance and Momentum.
• Palmetto Publishing: packages "start around $1,598", close to Essentials, with a copyedit at $0.038 per word.
• KDP plus a freelancer: $0 to publish and $2,400–3,200 for an 80,000-word copyedit at EFA rates, keeping KDP's full royalty.

Xlibris and Archway Publishing are run by the same company and share the BBB profile. The best self-publishing companies, compared covers the wider field.