Troubador Publishing Reviews 

I approached Troubador to publish my debut novel after a recommendation from a friend, and I could not be happier with the service. From the general guidance, to cover design, to layout, to website - every aspect of the process (so far) has been top quality. And every member of the team with whom I’ve come into contact has been brilliant. If I ever write a sequel, I shall have no hesitation in approaching them again.

I had previously been scammed by an American firm - Bookwritingfounders. The difference in Troubador's approach was immediately apparent, friendly, efficient, hard-working, great to respond to queries by phone or email. And you don't pay until AFTER you have received services! I can't thank them enough from rescuing me form a dire situation.

My first self publishing experience. Troupador were efficient and welcoming in every department. The cover design was superb and the web site is developing into a real eye catching and hopefully great selling point. Thank you!

The professionalism and support of Troubador was invaluable in creating a quality publication that has elicited extremely positive, unsolicited feedback from readers.
Self publishing is a big step for any aspiring author to embark upon but I can honestly recommend the firm to anyone who is considering publishing their work.
Every aspect of the production process was delivered par excellence.

I have written my first novel at 73. I only wanted to share it with friends and family but I wanted a book I could be proud of. Troubadour was very clear and pleasant to deal with and the whole process was stress free and efficient.Thank you.

Mixed feelings. Regarding the production 5/5, I provided professionally designed artwork for the cover, the copy edit was good and the book was well produced and professional looking. It is vanity publishing, and expensive. I was disappointed with the marketing team, but reflecting back, this was my ego, expecting a best-seller from a decent but not outstanding novel. They did manage to get me an interview with BBC local radio station but apart from that, I got no sales from them and would have been better off spending the money (thousands) on social media ads. If you have written a book and cannot get a traditional publishing contract (like 99% of us) and lack the technical ability to produce it yourself, then this company will offer you the joy of seeing your work in print, and it is done well. But it's unlikely you will recoup anywhere near your costs in sales. And it is a lot of money. Also, read the small print if you have a production run, as there are storage charges for unsold books. I sold about 300 copies largely through my own marketing efforts (expensive FB ads), but ended up having several hundred books shredded to avoid the cost of storing them after a period. In retrospect, I should have opted for the print-on-demand. If you accept this is vanity publishing and have realistic expectations, this company is the one to go for. There are lots of sharks in this market preying on people's dreams, but Matador are a bona-fide company.

Troubador was a good choice for me. The writing was down to me. But I didn't know how to do anything else. My novel, Nina and the Orange Dog, has drawn praise for the high production values and the ease of ordering from bookshops and libraries. These things matter when you are asking people to spend their money on your book. If you don't want to wait years for an agent to tout your book around traditional publishers and believe in your work (and can afford it), then give it a try. It probably won't make you rich but it is very satisfying seeing your idea for a novel find its way into the world. Everything happens by email but they come across as nice people. They are quick to upload reviews to the website too, which is a bonus.

My experience with Troubadour Publishing, U.K. was a disaster. I supplied my own art work for the book cover and they still managed to take three months time to return the front cover. I did not receive a completed spine or back cover of the book, even though I paid for that service. The agent that was assigned to my manuscript project would communicate with me via email only and it seemed as though she had a belligerent attitude toward my manuscript, or she just didn't like what I wrote. I mention that because I wanted to add to the manuscript and I was told repeatedly not at this time, maybe later. Also, their agent continually pushed back the print date of the book until I got frustrated and attempted to cancel the contract. That agent would not confirm the cancellation of the contract, so I had to contact management to confirm the cancellation.
They have no oversight or management of the person they assign the task of assisting you with publishing your book. Don't believe their customer ratings, because their service is poor, they just want your money.

The people were professional and very helpful. I have not seen the physical book so cannot comment further at this stage.

Troubador have helped me throughout the process of publishing my first novel. All costs were laid out at the beginning and this is very much partnership working with all stages of the publication process explained and supported by clear and comprehensive guide documents. Each department has been excellent with no pressure on me to commission additional services. However, the range of services, marketing tools and facilities for promoting my book are wide ranging and very worthwhile for the aspiring author who wishes to see their work in print. I opted for the Copy Editing service before publication and this proved invaluable as, even after multiple proof-reading, errors and a few inconsistencies were still present in what I thought was a finished work. In conclusion, if I ever finish my next novel, I would have no hesitation in returning to Troubador to have it published.

The Troubador team are extremely knowledgeable and professional and I felt supported by them every step of the way. I was very nervous to be stepping away from mainstream publishing but 'Sex, death, secrets and lies: The science of stress and trauma' was a particularly important project to me, with many years of research and hard work involved, so I wanted more control over the finished article. I researched thoroughly before choosing Troubador and have not looked back. I am delighted with the final product and, thanks to the marketing team at Troubador, it was immediately available for pre-order through all the mainstream outlets, including Waterstones!

I think I will struggle to explain about this company and how exceptional they are.
From the moment you are under the Troubador banner, you become a family member, and
I have never experienced this from any other publishing company.
Every member of staff from an assistant to distribution were truly amazing people. They truly believe in your work and do everything in their power to make your journey a special one.
It would be amiss of me to mention individuals because they are a team and all superb at their individual roles within the process. I can honestly say they go above and beyond any company I have ever dealt with.
If you are an experienced or a first time author, this company stands head and shoulders above them all. I have already recommended two other authors who have now contacted Troubador for a review of their manuscripts.
All my other books will now be placed with this company because they are brilliant!

John Hughes
Author of Thing's You Didn't Know About Chimneys

Right from the start i felt in the hands of professional publishers. I was given good information and any clarification I needed was quickly given. Costs at each stage were clear as were options. Publishing my latest book has been an enjoyable experience. And, I hope, a successful one. Thank you

I found the company to be very efficient and professional supporting me all the way through the publishing process and answering any questions I had quickly and clearly. I felt that I could do most of the services Troubador provided but I certainly wouldn’t have managed to complete them to such a high standard.

I found the process seamless, and appreciated being kept informed throughout, without ever having to chase anyone up. I was impressed by the attention to detail at every step, and the finished product was all that I'd hoped for.

Troubadour staff were helpful, prompt and good at clarifying any questions I had.
I liked the way I could opt in or out of different parts of the service offered.
It all went very smoothly and swiftly. I couldn't believe how soon I had a beautiful printed copy f my book in my hands.
One weak point is that there was limited information about cover design. There seemed to be only a huge range of smiling photographs of people to choose from. Maybe I missed something! I knew roughly what I wanted and luckily knew a young art graduate who used my ideas to create a brilliant cover. But m ore suggestions from your team would have been good.

I found Troubador to be helpful and efficient. They took my book to publication within 6 months and I was very impressed with the product. The cover and website were first rate.

Like many writers, I had a dream of publishing a book about something I'm passionate about. Getting a book out into the market is difficult and being new to this space, I decided to go with a company that would help you get your book out there for the world to enjoy. I didn't want to just have my book sold on Amazon and I wanted to make it a point as someone who lives in the UK to work with a UK based company and try to do things sustainably. At first things were good, but it's become a nightmare and a big mistake that has frankly killed my love of writing and has made me seriously consider quitting writing for good and it's something I've been doing for a decade now. I'm feeling like Badfinger and if you know the story of that band, you'll know how tragic it is.

Let's start with the positives: They are quite responsive and happy to help at first, while you're getting your book ready to be published. They had all their services conveniently under one roof, which is no doubt a lot easier than perusing Fiverr for editors and cover designers and stuff like that. Typesetter and editor did a good job, but i did catch some mistakes that they had missed. Cover designer did a great job putting the book cover together and made my vision come to life and I'm really happy with the purple background that they had selected. Finished product looks good too. But that's all the kind words I have, because it all goes downhill from here.

One piece of constructive criticism I'd like to give Troubador is to allow people to purchase a marketing package after the fact. I found it weird that there were so many things you had to make a decision on right off the bat and it's hard to make these decisions when you're a new author.

One the book has been published, they no longer communicate with you and I have had to basically badger them to get my first royalty cheque and they made an excuse of "we're running behind". This is people's hard earned money and it's unfair that they're sitting on it. Their author hub has not allowed me to see my royalty statements and some quarters I haven't even received one. There is a lack of transparency when it comes to how much you make off of each book and I've been getting less money than I was promised for each book sale. When I contacted a customer service person about this, they told me the real amount, but they didn't update this in the hub and it's basically showing me as having earned only a few pennies per book sale, that just isn't right! So I'm not getting paid properly for any of the paperbacks. And even worse, I haven't been paid for a single hardback that has been sold, and I know for a fact that multiple people have bought hardbacks and I haven't been paid anything for them. They make the excuse that they update the numbers manually and they get the numbers from POD quarterly, but I haven't received a single update about that since the book was published *nine* months ago. How long could it possibly take to update that? What's the holdup? I don't want to tell people "don't buy my book" but I'm afraid I'm going to have to if this is what's happening. I wasn't expecting to make boatloads of money from a niche book about rock and roll and true crime, but come on, this isn't right.

While I had known this going in, I will reiterate this for anyone considering going with Troubador, they keep taking and taking from you. They take 15% of each book sale, and for what? I've already paid for all these services, what are they doing? They're not promoting me. They haven't written a word of this book. Feels like The Kinks song "The Moneygoround", making money from a book that they've never read.

If I get out of this funk and write another book, I know for a fact it won't be published through Troubador and I'll tell my writer friends to stay away. It's been a disappointing experience. If others have had a great experience, I'm happy for them, but that was not the case for me.

As a first-time author, partnering with Troubador has been an incredibly exciting journey. Their unparalleled support and guidance make all the difference. The passion they bring in transforming your book from a mere dream to a vibrant reality is truly inspiring. Learning from their exceptional team, especially Beth has been an honor. Thank you.

Karl D Austin

I am just publishing my second book with Troubador - and I can 100% recommend them with zero reservations. Professional, personal, passionate and productive, the team are so easy to work with - and they make the (fairly momentous) task of publishing a book both fun and rewarding too. Very many thanks for all the care and commitment of you all!