Barnes & Noble

I will not be returning this book and spending one extra minute within this situation that Barnes & Noble has placed me in. I just do not understand why this company chose to send this book to me in this condition. It is practically unusable. The written statement given is factual. As we all know that Barnes & Noble is a very expensive bookstore and I recommend you choose a different bookstore. This order has changed how I see this company totally. I have never received anything like this in my life and hope to never receive anything like it again. One word describes this situation is disgusting. No explanation or apology can fix this situation.

The shipment arrived on May 25. My elation turned to disgust when I opened the cartons. I specified gloss on the cover, expecting film lamination; I got aqueous flood coating. Apparently, while the coating was still wet, debris had fallen in it, leaving visible specks and lumps. Wrapping of the printed cover sheet over the boards forming the cover was sloppy; the mitered corners had "tags" hanging out and there were several instances of excess glue squeezed out at the edges. 12 of the book covers had dents and/or dog-ears.

Inside, the pages were printed on stock one step above newsprint: grayish and rough. As a result, printing was inconsistent. Photos were dark and muddy or pale and washed out. Text was heavy or faint. I sat with this garbage for 2 days, trying to convince myself the books weren't as bad as I initially thought, and I failed. On May 27, I wrote to B&N Press Customer Support, outlined my disappointment and requested a refund. "Amanda" replied that they don't give refunds, but would do a reprint if I sent photos showing the defects. On June 1, I sent the photos, expressing skepticism that repeating the process would yield different results. After that, I heard nothing. On June 8, I followed up with a status request. The next day, "Amanda" replied that a reprint request had been made. After that, I heard nothing. Since then, I have sent several inquiries, each answered by a different person to the effect of "we're looking into it," followed by silence.

Today is July 25. I have no reprinted books, nor do I have any word from B&N when or if I will ever have reprinted books. If you are thinking of self-publishing a book you've labored over, do not even think of entrusting your work to Barnes & Noble Press!

I reached out to find out why my account says no sales and to also get an update on the books, because the tracking number is not recognized in their system but still says pending. Originally I was told I would get my book by June 1st, I’m starting to doubt it as nothing is being updated and I’m receiving no response. I’m second guessing selling my books on bn.com because I’m afraid they wouldn’t report my accurate number of sales.

I’m also afraid of all my buyers near future experience purchasing my books from bn.com. I wouldn’t want them to have to go through this. I also messaged the Barnes and Noble Facebook page, the only time I got a response and I was told to give them time to respond which I already gave them nearly two weeks. Then I was sent a link explaining how to find my sales online, which was obvious but that wasn’t my issue, it still says no sales even though I witnessed my mom purchasing her book. I can’t find help from Barnes and Noble anywhere and it’s very disheartening.

Even more frustrating is the hardcover version of a novel I wrote. I submitted a cover for it 3 times. Each time, they rejected it, saying it didn't meet the specifications, even though I had tried to use the template the provided. I asked for help, pointing out that I have no experience with such things. They responded with their scripted guidelines, which I already had. The template doesn't seem to help at all. So I hired a professional and paid him to make the cover. I sent him the template B&N provided, as well as the specific requirements. The cover he made was rejected. Like each of my rejections, no specific explanation of what the problem was. He tried again. Rejected. I sent him another copy of the template. He tried again. Rejected.

I tried to contact B&N support, practically begging them to tell me specifically what was wrong with the cover. Several days later, still no response. I sent them another message telling them I was cancelling both titles. I'm out the money I paid for the professional cover designer, and probably out the money I paid for the ISBN for the first title.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: If you are an author seeking any form of support during the print process this platform is not for you! I recently self published a book with Barnes and Noble Press. After editing and ordering several copies I am still baffled as to why my interior file though perfect when uploaded on the website keeps printing with an ugly white border at different sections of the page. I've contacted Barnes and Noble Press along with the publisher author inquiry at the emails provided and have yet to receive an email back from them. I have emailed multiple times, possible over 25 emails sent with no reply.

After not getting any help with resolving this matter I had to make adjustments to the illustrations to compensate for the white lines. With this update to the interior file I have now ordered 34 copies and have yet to receive them. The shipping is still pending! I have also submitted the file for approval so my book can be placed back on sale on the Barnes and Noble site however the file has been sitting in "publishing mode for almost two weeks." For time sensitive projects I do not recommend Barnes and Noble Press. For projects that require feedback to facilitate a smooth publishing experience with minimal errors I do not recommend this publishing option. Communication/good customer service is nonexistent and an embarrassment for such an established and prominent company.

Today was the final straw. As background information, my credit card had been hacked recently, and so my payment information was incorrect and was from my old card. I didn't notice until I had tried to purchase the book and it kicked me out saying that my CVV number was wrong. I discovered the error and corrected it and updated the card information. But no....it still would not take the number. Even after rebooting my computer! So I used the customer service chat. The first chat was a waste of time and the service rep basically cut me off. The second chat was better and she was helpful but in the end told me she could not help me and because the site wasn't working and to try back later. Which I did and got the same message. I then tried to cancel my account. I was unable to cancel the account immediately and got a message that I would be sent and email in 7 days but if I didn't respond to the e mail the account would not be cancelled.