"Excellent and reqarding experience for a first time author…"

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.

"I stepped away from mainstream publishing and am so glad that I did!"

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!

"A Fantastic Publishing Company"

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

"Professional and friendly "

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

"Professionally published with the minimum of angst. "

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.

"An excellent service"

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.

"Professional and supportive"

As a debut author, I would certainly recommend the services of Troubador. In March 2024, at the London Book Fair, I attended a session where Alex Thompson gave information on self-publication and Troubador. I wondered whether they would fulfil what they promised. They surely did! I’m extremely satisfied with their service and thankful for all the support they gave me throughout my publishing journey. I had almost no clue about the various steps of the way but they led me with ease, professionality and kindness, going out of their way to provide what I needed. The team members were excellent, especially Chelsea who supported me in ways beyond my expectation. Thank you Troubador! You helped me make my dream come true 😊

"Troubadour staff were helpful, prompt and knew their job"

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.

"Troubador "

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.

"Where's my money? "

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.