WestBow Press review: what it costs, what the contract says, what authors report

WestBow Press lists four packages, from $2,699 to $8,299, on its packages page (checked 18 October 2026; archived copy). Every package includes ebook, paperback and hardcover editions, cover and interior design, an ISBN, a Library of Congress Control Number and online distribution through Ingram. The tiers differ in author copies, marketing and royalty.

A separate children's package, Illustrated Storyteller, costs $7,799 with 18 color illustrations. Editing is sold by the word, with a 5,000-word minimum: line editing $0.041, content editing $0.048 and developmental editing $0.094. Paying in installments adds "a non-refundable processing fee of $75.00" (agreement, section 2). Neither the packages page nor the agreement mentions an annual fee.

You keep the copyright, and WestBow holds an exclusive license to publish your book while the agreement runs. The Services and Distribution Agreement, dated 1 December 2025, is with "Get Publishing! LLC (a Delaware limited liability company), a subsidiary of Author Solutions, LLC doing business as WestBow Press".

Section 1 confirms that you keep all rights in your manuscript, including copyright. During the term you grant WestBow "the exclusive, transferable, worldwide license" to print, publish and sell the book, in the formats you buy. WestBow keeps what it makes: its property includes "imprint logos, imprint names, trademarks, barcodes, and ISBN's", and it owns the cover and interior design. You own any custom illustrations, but WestBow keeps "the perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license" to use them. You also "consent to Our use of artificial intelligence systems or tools" to deliver services, with human review.

Either side may end the agreement "at any time, with or without cause, with written notice" (section 5). WestBow then asks retailers to stop selling new copies and keeps a non-exclusive license for a 90-day transition. On written request it sends PDF files within 30 days, "with Our Property removed". Refunds depend on timing:

• Before you submit the manuscript: 100% within 6 months of purchase, 100% less $150 at 6–12 months, nothing after 12 months.
• After submission but before final approval: 50% of the purchase price.
• After final approval: nothing.

Section 4 sets the standard royalties: 10% of the suggested retail price on print sold through retailers, and 25% through WestBow's own bookstore. Ebooks earn 50%, and audio 100%, of the list price less discounts and sales tax. The royalty FAQ describes the 10% as based on "the payments we actually receive", which differs from the agreement. Section 4 also says the Set Your Own Price and Author Advantage programs pay "the Royalties listed in the Program Agreements" instead. Every package includes Set Your Own Price; its program agreement is not published. Author Advantage, in Legacy, pays 15% of list price through retailers and 60% on WestBow's store for three years. Royalties are paid quarterly, within 90 days of each quarter's end, once they reach $75.

Section 10 sends disputes to "binding individual arbitration" and waives class actions. You can opt out in writing within 30 days of signing. Section 11 gives you one year to bring a claim.

You get a designed book in three formats, listed with online retailers through Ingram, under the WestBow name. The package's editorial assessment edits "a portion of your work (typically the first chapter, or about 1,700 words)", not the whole manuscript. A line edit of an 80,000-word book costs $3,280 at WestBow's rate, and a developmental edit $7,520 (derived). At the EFA's 2026 median rates, a copyedit of the same book costs $2,400–3,200 and a developmental edit $3,200–4,000.

Every package lists an "Opportunity for Discovery by Thomas Nelson & Zondervan", and the site's footer says data on top-selling titles goes to their acquisition teams. The agreement adds, in capitals, "SALES ARE NOT GUARANTEED" (section 7). Bookstore returnability, which many shops require, lasts 12–36 months by tier and is an add-on in Testimony.

Every title must meet WestBow's editorial standards, starting with "Communicators who profess a personal faith in Jesus Christ." The banned list includes profanity and, in children's books, most talking animals. For other faith-based routes, including publishers that pay the author, see Christian publishers.

The do-it-yourself route costs less. Amazon KDP charges nothing to publish. Add a copyedit ($2,400–3,200 at EFA rates), a cover designer and, for your own imprint, a Bowker ISBN at $125. A 300-page paperback at $14.99 then earns $4.39 a copy on KDP, against $1.50 at WestBow's standard 10% (both derived). What it costs to publish a book breaks down each route.

WestBow shares a BBB profile with Author Solutions, rated A+ and accredited since 2010, as of 18 October 2026. It lists 73 complaints in three years across every brand on the profile, which also covers Archway Publishing, AuthorHouse, iUniverse and Xlibris. BBB notes that customer reviews "are not used in the calculation of the BBB Letter Grade Rating."

On Trustpilot, WestBow scores 3.9 from 905 reviews: 59% five-star and 12% one-star. WestBow pays for a Trustpilot subscription and invites customers to review. A Trustpilot reviewer, October 2026: "Excellent support team: from the Author Care manager to the book consultant and the Sr editor and marketing consultant!!" A one-star Trustpilot reviewer, August 2026: "Took 7 months to produce book from print ready provided art."

ALLi's Watchdog Desk rates WestBow Press "Caution" on its service ratings. Writer Beware covered the launch in "Thomas Nelson Adds Self-Publishing Imprint" (13 October 2009) and "Why Referral Fees Present Ethical Problems" (15 October 2009). On Reddit, authors ask about it in "Westbow press?" (r/selfpublish, 28 comments, January 2025) and "Anyone heard of NY Publishers or Westbow Press?" (r/selfpublishing, 23 comments, August 2024).

A search for a WestBow Press lawsuit on CourtListener finds one docket. Zapata v. Westbow Press LLC, No. 1:22-cv-21697 (S.D. Fla.), was filed on 2 June 2022. The docket shows an "Order Dismissing/Closing Case or Party" on 7 June 2022. The docket names "Westbow Press LLC"; WestBow's agreement names Get Publishing! LLC as the contracting company. Two federal cases against Author Solutions name no WestBow party. Simmons v. Penguin Group (USA) Inc., No. 1:13-cv-02801 (S.D.N.Y.), was discontinued in August 2015 after the court was told it had settled. Everette v. Author Solutions LLC, No. 1:14-cv-01827 (S.D. Ind.), was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice in September 2015. We found no news coverage of WestBow in the past three years beyond its own press releases.

1. Ask for a written quote to edit the whole manuscript. The package assessment edits about 1,700 words, and a line edit costs $0.041 a word.
2. Ask for the Set Your Own Price program agreement before you sign. Every package includes the program, and section 4 says its royalties replace the standard rates.
3. Ask in writing whether the 10% print royalty is figured on list price, as the agreement says, or on payments received, as the FAQ says.
4. Note the refund dates. Refunds drop to 50% once you submit the manuscript and to nothing after final approval.
5. Decide on arbitration within 30 days of signing. Opting out of section 10 takes written notice to the address in section 12.

• Xulon Press: another Christian self-publishing company; it quotes prices on request and pays "100% of the net profit" after its costs.
• Palmetto Publishing: packages "start around $1,598" with no fixed tiers, and ALLi rates it "Excellent (Partner)".
• BookBaby: quotes each book; its FAQ puts a fully produced book at $2,000–7,000.
• KDP plus a freelance copyeditor: $2,400–3,200 for an 80,000-word book at EFA rates, and you keep the ISBN.

The best self-publishing companies, compared covers 13 more.