Pubby

I only used pubby a few months before Amazon banned my account and deleted all my reviews. Apparently using pubby violates Amazon guidelines. Not only is my Amazon account now banned, pubby refuses to refund any of the $240 they charged me for a full year in advance even though I'm only a few months into my subscription because they said it's past 30 days from the charge. Don't do it, not worth it!

I have been using this platform for a long time. Unfortunately, it has really dropped in quality. I often have to fight with their support because they can't find a review. And their support doesn't seem to contact you for days. Obtaining reviews is spotty. I will sometimes go weeks waiting for a single review (with 10+ requested). Their filtering is problematic and the site is painfully slow. The people who use the platform are great -- and I love the idea. I just wish they put more energy into the quality of the experience.

So, the fee is $25 USD/month. Then you need to review others' books to earn snaps (typically in the 1000 point range). You can then use those snap points to get your books reviewed (typically in the 1200-1500 point range). So, doing the math, you usually need to review three books for every two reviews you receive.

A little pricey, but if you get reviews, all good, right?

The issue is twofold. The first is, the reviews tend often be generic. The readers are doing fast scans, then tossing down reviews that will namecheck the main character, but only give general info about the book. I've also had two supposedly different reviewers leave startlingly similar reviews with the exact same title on each. So, that's the first issue...but at least your review count is going up.

Or...is it?

Because here's my biggest issue: A full 25% of the reviews I received were subsequently pulled by Amazon (and, weirdly, they were usually the good ones, where some thought had gone into the review). What can be done about this? Well, Pubby allows you to report the issue and get your snaps back...but they only allow 10 refunds per YEAR. I blew through my ten refunds in a MONTH, due to three reviewers who had done between two and three reviews of different books, and, of course, when one disappears by the reviewer, they all do. I tried to preserve my refunds by sending a message through their "handy" chat feature that claims a response will come within a couple of days. Almost a week later, I got a cut-and-paste response to use the refund feature. And now, barely a month in, I will not be able to report a review disappearance, or get those roughly 1400 points back...for a year. Assuming the pace continues, that means, in a year, I'd likely see another 100 reviews disappear, losing me about 130,000 points. So...that means they'd get about 130-150 other books reviewed by me for free.

This is a ripoff. Do NOT use Pubby.

They did not apply the credits (called Snaps) I earned for reviewing other Amazon products to my account (even after I submitted proof that my reviews went live). So, in essence, the Pubby service is of no value since you need to earn Snaps in order to use the platform...Then they automatically charged a $240 yearly subscription that I am quite certain I didn't authorize. Crickets from customer support. Triple thumbs down.

Pubby poses as a legitimate website for authors/publishers to get reviews, but here is what is truly is...an expensive and time-consuming way to get what boils down to paid reviews. I can get reviews through them, but their subscription fee is high, and even then...there is no guarantee the reader is actually reading the book. I've received reviews where it is quite clear that the reader id not read the book because they literally copied features about my book from the website word for word.

Second, if you are trying to read/review books for other authors on there, you are at the mercy of Amazon to post the review as a "verified purchase" since you have actually paid money to purchase the book in Kindle format...the problem is, Amazon doesn't always stamp reviews with "Verified Purchase." I have gone round and round with Pubby about this and they are not helpful. They insist on a "detailed receipt"...which again, Amazon does not always provide a detailed receipt for book purchases, particularly when purchasing more than one book at a time, they lump the receipt into a total and Pubby will not accept that.

And now, the site has gotten soooo slow, it takes forever to load. I may still use them for our authors (I work for a publisher) but I'm sticking to only reviewing free of Kindle Unlimited books, verified reviews are just getting too costly and they don't take the side of the people actually paying for the books and reading them.

To be honest, this site was once a great place to get reviews for our authors, but it has become a place where you are truly paying for reviews.

In my situation they closed my account without reason, stating I was leaving generic reviews. What I was doing, was leaving honest reviews an horrible books. In my opinion, Pubby only wants you to leave positive reviews on all titles and they don't seem to care at all about "authentic" reviews.

The idea of a review exchange is a good one, but the Pubby platform doesn't get it right. For starters, paying $25 a month and ALSO having to read and review books is too pricey. And it's not just me--I did get reviews, and usually quickly after I posted for them, but they were... bad. And not bad as in low stars, bad as in the quality of the review itself. One person literally used "My Review" as the subject line, like he was writing a book report. More than once, I could tell the person didn't read my book at all, and was just regurgitating details from the back cover blurb in between insincere praise. These reviewers were all authors trying to get reviews on their own books, after all, not readers looking to review books, so they didn't. On one of my Kindle Unlimited review listings I literally could see in my KU pages read that the person read 13 pages and then wrote their review. This was all bad enough, but then the assortment of books available on the platform to read and review started to dwindle to the point that I couldn't find anything I wanted to review so I couldn't earn reviews for my own books. Plus, seeing the books available, I could tell none of THOSE authors were the right audience to be reviewing my books anyway. It could be a great concept if it were managed better, but instead it just felt like a way of buying fake reviews while also having to do a bunch of work to get them on top of the payment.

I had a hold on my Amazon account, so my book purchases were not going through. When the problem was fixed, I emailed the receipts to Pubby. They still will not give me the 3500 snaps I earned. I am a senior citizen, but I have not received any assistance in this matter. The customer service at Pubby Co is zero. Treating customers like dirt should not be a part of this service. Just Sad

A scam run by lazy, shady, rude people. First off, it can get you banned from Amazon. So don't do it. I didn't know that because these scammers falsely represented themselves as legit. But even if you want to risk it, know that Pubby is horrible to deal with. Bruce and Co. Are too lazy to track reviews (literally their only job), so they routinely take away your earned points until you find and deliver the review yourself. I turned in only 5 stars and only on time, but I was constantly harassed about lateness or failing to complete projects. Dare complain about being mistreated and you'll be subjected to even more harassment. Lastly, many of the other "authors" are scammers too. They have AI write garbage books, intentionally misprice their offerings to cheat the point system, and have AI write your reviews, which will flag your account. What does Pubby do about all this? Absolutely nothing so long as they get their monthly $.

They don't add enough option to modify or remove our books that we uploaded. They try to fix an issue and messed up my account but instead of trying to fix everything they just suspended me. When I try to contact them they just push the ball away and after trying to resolve their issue that they made themself they just suspended and banned me. Can't open a new account and all this coming from their side.

Basically the idea is good but don't plan a marketing strategy with this platform because it's run super strangely and it's no reliable.

Raison for suspension: "SUSPENDED"... they don't even know why!

Sadly I don't recommend...

I wanted more reviews for my books, and I'm getting them. Granted, I've had to pay a subscription fee and review some other books (some of which require a purchase) - but I read a lot anyway, and my average cost per review ($1 - $5 depending on what I choose to read and review) is far less than at places like Kirkus.

Pubby use this sentence in their Terms and Conditions to extract money from your account even when your account is closed:
"4.3 We have the right to remove users from the program for any reason and without notice, at our sole discretion, WITHOUT REFUND."
Source: https://account.pubby.co/terms.
In my case, they closed the account simply because of a review I wrote they did not like. They did not even mention they would go on to charge my credit card! This must be illegal!
They even did not allow me to use the thousands of credits I had earned from the reviews I had written.
Scandalous!

In my hectic life as a new mom, I did not notice they charged me twice monthly for my subscription. When I contacted them about it, they didn't offer any resolution except to cancel one of the payments. I asked for a refund—or at the very least credit to my account— but was refused by Mary, who stated she can only cancel the previous month's payment. Beware of this company and check your accounts. Sadly, I would have been a customer for many years.

Signed up for the free trial. First review (and last) came from someone who clearly didn't read my book yet proceeded to bash my cover and call me an amateur. It is obvious they have 'reviewers' (failed authors) out for a grudge with the sole intention of destroying other authors.

It isn't what they advertise but that's not the worst. The people don't actually read your book and it's evident by the reviews. Everyone is just trying to get reviews for their own book and if you read one and give it an actual review beware, it better be good or when you want yours reviewed again they will trash you. Terrible experience. Quit after two weeks!

Whenever I login to find a book to review, there are hardly any if any to check out. With such few choices, how will I find something I enjoy reading and how will I earn snaps to put my own book in the library to get reviewed? This has been such a disappointment and waste of time - constantly checking and nothing. Shared image shows current empty library.

First, we will have several reviews deleted by amazon. Also, Their support team dont respond to you and they may cancel your assignment without telling you about it even if you reviewed it but they can't see it.

Things started out fairly fine... even though I was billed the $240 before I agreed to it... I objected to Pubby's acceptance of one line, no justification reviews that were condemnatory. If a reviewer is reading subject matter they don't like, then that is no reason to give the book a one or two rating. The reviewers know what they are going to read. I'm thinking they read maybe one chapter and condemn the book but they've gotten their snaps, for basically doing nothing. Have had assignments taken from me without notice. Have submitted reviews, accepted by Amazon, and still no "snaps" credit. Really poor customer service.

I loved Pubby at first because of how fast the reviews were coming but after awhile most reviews are generic and you can tell that the reader never read your work. Most won't even buy your ebook either. Second, reviews are now disappearing from Amazon like wild fire. This has been happening from September 2021- January 2022. Don't waste your money on this site. It's not worth it and you will see your reviews deplete within a few weeks or month after it's been posted. I am beyond pissed off because of this and will be using more legit review sites that have real readers.