Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/09/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have paid Dorrance Publishing the amount of $6,900.00 (paid in full as of May 3rd of 2025).Dorrance Publishing ** committed to publish the first novel of my series titled Sheriff ***** ****** And Her Sociopathic Sexual Impulses. I submitted a copy of a revised copy of my novel in April of 2024 to Dorrance Publishing **s editing staff and it took three months for them to edit and email it back to me and the edited copy of my novel was completely corrupted. Im not joking, it was completely sabotaged and I was only given 10 days to correct their obvious and intentionial grammatical revision to my novel and return it to them, which I miraculously did. And then they took three months to edit and return it to me once again. However, it was returned to me corrupted once again, and this pattern repeated until they finally had it correct the way I sent it to them the final time in October of 2024. Dorrance Publishing ** then sent it back to me on January 2 2025 and I approved it to go to print January 3 2025. Since then I have been trying to contact my project coordinator ****** ******, but she intentionally has not once returned my calls, emails, or texts, nor has anyone else from Dorrance Publishing **'s staff.Dorrance Publishing **. is already in breach of contract because my book was supposed to go public as of July 15th, 2024. As of July 15th, *********************************************************** the contract between myself and them for not only the date stated but everything else stipulated within the contract.Dorrance Publishing **. has done no advertising, nor have they provided to me the finished back cover art, nor the website specified, the published book, all promised in the contract, nor book signing events, etc.Explanation:Finish the job immediately and settlement of $6,900.00 for their breach of contract terms as of July 15, 2025.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/21/2025

  Thank you for the opportunity to resolve this issue. As Mr. ****** has noted, he did approve the interior pages of his book in January 2025. However, we had not yet received his approval of the cover files, therefore, we have been unable to send this book to print. ****** ****** has not worked for Dorrance for several months, however the project manager who took over this account does not have any record of receiving inquiries from Mr. ******* We are happy to solve this concern as quickly as possible. The project manager reached out to him last week, resending the cover files, and letting Mr. ****** know we needed his approval on those before printing.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/21/2025

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  

  I knew nothing of ****** ******** departure from Dorrance Publishing ** as the new coordinator who took her place had not reached out to me until just last week after the BBB had reach out to them after I had filed a complaint against them. Her name is ***** ********** and she emailed me a copy of my book, the front and back covers for review. I told her that they had the About the Author completely messed up on the back cover when i had approved it prior when it is on the last page of the book, page 320. There are also 9 items to be corrected on pages within the book itself; these are simply changing commas at the end of sentences to periods. I also made 1 word change on the About the Author page on page 320, by changing my son's girlfriend listed as girlfriend to fiancee, as they are now engaged. I listed all of these in an email and sent it back to ***** over the weekend. She had informed me that she would make certain that the correction would be taken care of at no extra cost to me. I stated in the email that I wanted to review these corrections by July 24 2025 so that I could then email her back by July 25 2025, and if approved by me I wanted my book printed no later than the end of September 2025.

  Thank you for your prompt attention and consideration in this matter, ********* ****.

  
  Regards,
  
  **** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/24/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have the right as the statutory power of attorney for my mother, ***** ***********, to handle her financial affairs. She is 95 and resides now in a nursing facility. She is strongly in support of this complaint that I am making on her behalf to protect her legal and financial rights. ***** wrote Flight to Freedom and had it self-published through Dorrance Publishing/Rose Dog Books in 2017. She made complete payments per her contract and received the copyright for her work. When we tried to order books directly from the publisher this spring we received a terse blunt email that her contract had been terminated, with no other notice. Per the contract, any such notice was required by certified mail. I have tried to email and left multiple message by phone to her CSR ******* ***** as to why this occurred and how to resolve any remaining and future royalties. These royalties WERE due by contract at least twice a year when in excess of $25 and none have been sent to her in almost a year. However, since Dorrance terminated the contract unilaterally, I have requested immediate payment and at least a workable solution to remit the royalties from ALL sources. Her book is being sold electronically on various internet platforms (*****, ******, ***************************) and can easily be downloaded and re-used. We wish this to stop and terminate these contracts immediately as all rights revert to her. We cannot preserve her rights since we do not know where Dorrance sent this E-book and what contracts they have committed to sell this E-book version of her copyrighted work. I tried to have it removed from ****** books but was unsuccessful. I sent a certified letter with my statutory power of attorney document to Dorrance and it was received on May 27, 2025 at their corporate office. There has been no response to ANY of our efforts to contact Dorrance and resolve these outstanding issues.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/17/2025

  Thank you for this opportunity to respond to these concerns. As she stated, this contract has been terminated. Per the terms of our contract, we are only obligated to keep it active for a minimum of six months, and in this case we keep it active for eight years. Any pending earnings would be paid at the end of July in accordance with the terms of the original contract. All sales/earnings would come through our company and they would not receive earnings directly from any other companies. As we have already stopped all sales of the book at the time of the contract termination, there would not be additional earnings due after this period.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/20/2025

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau

  July 20, 2025
  Complaint ***********
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Dorrance Publishing.
  
  We accept Dorrances response but want BBB to know that the e-version of this book was still available at the time of my complaint, which was long after the contract had been terminated.  I believe that BBBs inquiry on our behalf lead to the e-book being removed from third party platforms, as I can no longer find an e-version of the book online. This resolves the outstanding issue regarding future royalties from such platforms. 
  

  Thank you.

  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/17/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I submitted the manuscript of a novel (A Good Word) to be considered for self-publication by Dorrance Publishing in October of 2023. It was accepted. I signed a contract for the book to be published in exchange for a fee of $6,200. Over a period of months, I paid the entire amount by cashier's checks (plus a fee of $150. to redesign a book cover the company provided that I did not like). The last time anyone from Dorrance Publishing contacted me was on January 17th of this year, when they acknowledged my agreement to pay the redesign fee. I have not heard from them since. In April and May I sent ***** ********** (project manager) e-mails asking when my book would be published and when I could see the new design for the book cover, but he has not responded. I want to know from Dorrance Publishing 1) when my book will be published, and 2) when I can see the new book cover (which I have paid for), or if my book will be published at all.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/01/2025

  Mr. *********** project manger reached out to him last week to update him regarding the cover. The redesign is in progress, and he will have the new design within a couple of weeks. The interior of his book is already finalized, so once we have his approval on the cover, we will be able to send the book to print.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/19/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hi purchased an audiobook/ai read version of the book I wrote with Dorrance publishing company. I signed a contact on 8/26/24 and the agreement was to have the file done in ********************************************************* the file it wasnt the option I chose for the voice narrator. It took months for them to fix this issue. The file with the correct voice was missing chapters of my book. Which I was told the ai reading of the book would be exactly like the book. It also would say words in the book differently than other times in the same book. I have reached out to them for months for this to be fixed but they havent responded. I am sick of waiting and want a refund for this.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/02/2025

  We sent this response last week, I'm not sure why it didn't go through at that time.

  Thank you for the opportunity to address this issue. We are sorry to hear that Mr. ********** is not yet satisfied with the audio version of his book. As we have explained to him, there are limitations to AI audiobooks (which was the method chosen over live narrator recorded). We have made revisions previously, but we would be happy to continue to work with him to produce an audiobook edition of his book with which he is satisfied.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/03/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 23349097 and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  I am not happy with the service and the product itself that I purchased ten months ago. The reason I chose the ** version of the book was due to the cost of the live version. The live version was too much money for me, like ten thousand dollars more than the ** version. If it was the same price, I would have gone with the live/human reading of my book. I am upset with the lack of communication from Dorrance over this matter. I have sent dozens and dozens of emails asking for updates for months, with no response form Dorrance. This audio file was supposed to be delivered to me within 60 days after my purchase of the service on 8/16/24 which would have it sent to me in October of 2024. I didn't receive it until a month later.  When I did get it, it wasn't the ** voice I chose and was filled with mistakes. Dorrance then said they would do editing to it since they were later than what our contract said they would. A few months later I got a new file, with the voice I wanted, but it was still filled with errors like missing chapters and going out of order in the book. It also was saying words the wrong way at some parts. They tried to fix this matter and a few months later, I got an update file that was still missing chapters, and the voice was saying things oddly. I have been asking for an update for months and no one has to responded to me over this matter. I want a refund or if they want to let me do a live recording of the book, I will do that for the price of the ** version.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* **********

  Business Response

  Date: 06/10/2025

  We have reviewed the audio files that were provided to Mr. ********** and have determined that the files are complete and in the correct order. We believe the issue may be happening when he downloads the entire book at one time. When files are submitted to audiobook retailers for distribution, they require each chapter to be sent as a separate file. They then use their own proprietary software to format the audiobook to be distributed through their outlet. When trying to download the entire book at once, this may be causing some things to be distorted for Mr. *********** To show that the chapters are individually complete, we will be sending Mr. ********** some examples of the individual chapter files.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/09/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Dorrance Publishing, dba as Rose Dog Books failed to provide a photo of the cover of my book to ********** for their listing of my book, Adventures in InnerScapes. The ********** listing indicates no image available. I have contacted the publisher via email and phone messages multiple times and have had no response to my requests to get the issue corrected. In fact, I have been unable to reach a person to discuss the matter. I would like the publisher to provide ********** with a photo of the book cover for amazon's listing. ****** isn't able to help me since I didn't self-publish the book using amazon's KDP platform. A picture of the cover IS listed at Rose ***** bookstore (so one exists): *************************************************************************

  Business Response

  Date: 05/19/2025

  We are in receipt of Ms. ********* concerns already and have already addressed this with ****** and our distributor. The cover was provided to them with the listing, as part of our normal process. While we make listing information available to various retailers, ultimately, we cannot control the listings and websites of these third-party companies. We have urged them to update the listing, and we will continue to follow up with them until this is resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/16/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had a contract with Dorrance Publishing since 2018 and in October 2019 my book was released ( LETTERS TO AND FROM AN INNOCENT MAN ). This book is listed on ***************************, Books a Million, ****** and ***** they will not tell me how many books have been sold and I have received no royalties from the sales of my book.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/01/2025

  This matter was actually discussed directly with Ms. ******* on April 15 and 16, right before she filed this complaint. She was informed that six copies of the book have been sold. While she expressed her disappoint in that number, this is the factual information. She has accrued $15.26 in earnings to date, however, per the terms of her contract payment is only issued once a minimum of $25.00 has accumulated. Her sales and earnings are reported to her each January and July, per the terms of our agreement, and she also has access to an online earnings portal where she may view this information at any time. We cannot and do not guarantee that any specific number of books will be sold, and she would not be refunded for lack of sales. We are happy to answer any additional questions.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/01/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/02/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I've been waiting around 4 months now for them to remove a accidentally duplicated section of text. All you guys have to do if its duplicated is highlight it and delete it considering all the factors it should not take this long.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/14/2025

  The text in question has already been removed, and the project has been moved ahead to the next step of page design. Designed, formatted pages will be sent to the author next week for review and approval.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/24/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I signed a contract in August of 2021 to publish my book, Red Skies. Since then, there have been 7 instances of no communication for 3+ months, 2 instances of my project manager leaving the company and having zero communication from Dorrance, and 3-4 instances of my requested revisions and edits being outright ignored, pertaining to both cover art and book content. Each failure in communication has resulted in me having to reach out to obtain any information, in some instances waiting an additional month or more to hear back.These issues have caused my book to still be in limbo, nearly 4 years later. Despite a multitude of email chains regarding these, and other, problems, I was told by their author services that I am not eligible for a refund because I did not hand-write a letter containing my grievances to their offices.I still have all correspondence between Dorrance Publishing and myself, screenshots will be provided, but feel free to request the full emails!

  Business Response

  Date: 04/08/2025

  We have been working with Mr. ******** to resolve his concerns. While we can longer meet the original timeline (monthly payments for the contract fee were scheduled to be completed September 2023, but final payment was not received until March 2024). We understand that there has been some confusion caused by the switch of his project manager, which resulted from the longer production schedule. His current project manager has been working closely with him to complete the project. We sent materials for his review and approval on March 19th, however, we have not yet received a response from him.

  We have explained that if he is requesting to terminate his contract and receive a refund, he must submit in writing the perceived breach of contract and we will address. To date, he has not done so. It is fully our intention to fulfill the terms of his contract and publish his book. However, we cannot do so without his review and approval of the materials.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/08/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  The companies failures reach far beyond the timeline. I would like to point out that it was Dorrance's failure that led to my payments finishing late, as they were informed of the issue and did nothing to resolve it for several months. Beyond this: my revisions and requested changes have consistently been ignored, several times for multiple months. Beyond the latest approval and one other approval years ago, all delays have been caused by Dorrance. I was told that this company would work with me to get my work published, and so far they have been aloof at best and a liability at worst. A handwritten letter may have been a necessity twenty years ago when things were less reliable, however, I had sent email after email often failing to get a reply for several months at a time. They have no lived up to their side of the contract, and they hide behind a technicality that is two decades out of date. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/02/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 3/7/2023 I made a down payment with this buisness with the intention that they would illustrate and publish a children's book that I created. The contract I signed gave a timeline that would have had the book ready for publishing around the beginning of the year 2024. I made my final installment payment in August of 2023. After communication and work-in progress designs I was informed that I would need to pay more for the number of illustrations I was wanting for the book. I paid that amount on 2/4/2024. For the next 4 months I recieved regular contact with my project manager. However it has been several months since I have recieved any contact and my proposed timeline has been exceeded by a year.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/11/2025

  Her Project Manager reached out to her last week to confirm that she has approved her page proofs, and we are finalizing the illustrations. We can send the book to print once we have the author's final approvals on all materials.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/14/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The business has not resolved the problem. The initial contact with the parent company for RoseDog Publishing (Dorrance Publishing) as to why my book is appearing on the Amazon site was done in 2019. It is now six years later and the ****** listing is still online without my permission. I got my book published with this company in 2004. I have reordered a number of times without any disruptions. But when I finished my association with this company, I expected to keep all rights to this book since I am the author. It is a copyrighted publication and my permission should have been sought before having it listed with ******. I have provided no permission to ****** to become a partner in the sales of my book but since they have advertised it then I have not received any percentage of they profits on my book.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/15/2025

  The ****** website, as well as the documents Ms. ***** has provided, clearly show that ****** has the book listed as unavailable for sale. As she stated, her contract with us is terminated, and our company no longer sells, distributes, or produces her book. However, we are unable to remove all documentation from the internet that this book did exist. Dorrance would no longer fulfill any orders for this book, but we cannot prevent third parties from listing bibliographic information about it.