Mermaid Publishers Avis 

I have had a terrible experience with mermaid publishing. They currently have a book that I wrote, called Carter Creek country boy, for sale on Amazon Kindle direct. They were never given any rights to publish or sell my book. I paid Meta Ghostwriters to edit and publish my book and they did a terrible job of editing so I took it down because it needs to be edited properly.
Mermaid publishing has stolen my book and has it for sale without my permission. I don't know whether they copyrighted it in their name as co conspirators with Meta Ghostwriters, but I am not able to find out who holds the copyright.
It appears that they stole my writing and my cover picture.
I have tried to call them and I get no answers. They seem to be very dishonest and evil. I would recommend you not have anything to do with them.

MERMAID PUBLISHERS CLAIM TO HAVE PUBLISHED MY BOOK "THE STARS AREN'T ONLY IN THE SKY" I'm GARY A. RUBIN THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK AND AUTHOR OF "BIG DREAMS AND THE DETROIT RECORD BUSINESS" I AM NOT PUBLISHED WITH "MERMAID PUBLISHERS!"

THIS IS A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE OPERATING AS A PUBLISHER. They are based in Karachi Pakistan. They operate under several business names including: Mermaid Publishing, Mermaid Press, Amazon Publishing Central, Amazon Publishing Pro, Book Publishing Team, Meta Mavericks, and E Pub Services, LLC. They will sell you a $4000 marketing package, do minimal work, and once they have gained your trust you will receive an email or letter pretending to be someone like Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, Google, or a charity saying they want to purchase your book. You may even receive an email believing it is someone directly connected with Barnes and Noble. It is fake! You pay for the printing, and they will pay your royalties in 90 days as a “test” for future orders. IT IS A SCAM! B&N DOES NOT ORDER BOOKS THIS WAY! I lost over $30,000. I have filed criminal charges with California law enforcement, and there are open investigations with the FBI and Federal Trade Commission. AVOID THESE COMPANIES AT ALL COST!

This is by far the worst company I have ever done business with. They have cases pending with the better business bureau as well as forged documents to try and get you to purchase copies of your books from them. They are thieves hiding under the identity of a publishing company. If you want your money stolen, I suggest you use these guys because that is all they are good for. Scam artist at its finest. It takes a truly evil person to prey on peoples hopes and dreams and that is exactly what they do. This company is sick, may everyone read this before they hand over their hard-earned money for false promises. I do not wish my experience creating my first book with these guys on my worst enemy. Stay away, these people are evil.

BEWARE! Please DO NOT go with book advertising with this company. They promise the moon, but deliver pebbles. Sure they advertise, where and when they want, but they charge thousands and get FEW results. DO NOT DO THE $4,000 PACKAGE FOR PODCASTS. IT'S FRUITLESS.The only thing they did well was the actual publishing, but I had to do most of the editing. I've lost over $7,000 with this company. I started a year ago with them and most of my sales are from my own efforts. Don't be seduced by their smooth talk!! Get out before you sign anything with them or AMAZON PUBLISHING CENTRAL, their affiliate!

I was asked by Ashley to remove my review do to his supervisors, and as soon as i did to let him know then they will help with the name change on my book and send the 5 books promised me a year ago in October.
But as soon as I took down the review his phone was no longer in service after I called him. All I need was an update to the name and the five book promised in our CONTRACT !!!!!!
Now that I delt with this company, yet again.
I HIGHLY suggest NEVER use this company!!!!!!!

Writing my book was a beautiful, personal experience — something I created as a legacy for my mother and daughter. Unfortunately, working with Mermaid Publishers turned what should have been a fulfilling journey into a frustrating and financially draining ordeal.

At the beginning, communication from Mermaid was frequent and reassuring. I received calls and texts and was sent an invoice for what I believed was the full cost of their publishing service. However, that turned out to be only the first of many unexpected charges.

Mermaid Publishers never provided a clear or complete outline of what was required to publish the book or how much it would ultimately cost. Every time I reached a milestone, I was hit with more fees for services they claimed were “necessary” — none of which were disclosed in advance.

I feel misled and taken advantage of. What began as a dream quickly became a nightmare of vague communication, shifting requirements, and ongoing financial demands.

I am filing this complaint in hopes of warning others and prompting an investigation into Mermaid Publishers’ business practices.

Holding money ment for sales of my book from B&N & AMAZON

If there were a zero, I would have given that. This company offers a great package to get you started, but it then nickel-and-dimes you for more money. In total, I paid them over $9K USD, which converts to $ 12K. When it came time to start to market the book... the you know what hit the fan... they tried to tell me that my domain expired and that they had posted on a FB that I knew nothing about. They resorted to fraud when they realized they were not getting anything further from me. They pretended to be Google and that I was part of a Charity fundraiser, and I had to pay for the books, and Google would pay me what was calculated to be $24,000. Let's say that I confirmed with Google when the payment was not coming; it was a scam. Mr Leo Smith told me the only way I would get anything is by prepaying them 24% tax to release the funds. To add salt to the wound, they tried calling me a few months later to say that they were following up on this Google project and getting the funds if I paid the taxes. The whole thing took over 2 years. COULD YOU NOT USE THEM COMPLETELY FRAUDULENT?

I worked with Mermaid Publishers from 2022 to 2023, and I regret to say that my experience was nothing short of a nightmare. This company uses deceptive tactics to lure clients in with low initial costs, only to pile on additional fees later. What started as a seemingly affordable project quickly ballooned into thousands of dollars, with no tangible results to show for it.

Here are the key issues I encountered:

Undelivered Services: I paid for services such as podcast production, audiobook translation, and article writing and marketing for my book. These services were either incomplete or never provided at all.

False Promises: Mermaid Publishers promised to reimburse my marketing costs if I didn’t achieve a certain level of profit. Despite meeting the conditions, I never received the reimbursement.

Misrepresentation: They falsely claimed that my book was selected for the "Google Extension Program" and that I would be working with Google Books. I later confirmed with Google that no such program exists. This is a clear case of fraudulent misrepresentation.

Incompetent Writers: The writers assigned to my project were inexperienced and unqualified. The quality of their work was subpar, and it was evident that they lacked the necessary expertise to handle professional writing and marketing tasks.

Mermaid Publishers is a fraudulent company that preys on unsuspecting authors. They use low upfront costs as a hook, only to exploit clients with hidden fees and empty promises. Their incompetence and lack of integrity have caused me significant financial and emotional distress.

I do not recommend Mermaid Publishers to anyone. If you value your time, money, and creative work, stay far away from this company. I am currently exploring legal action to recover some of my $$$ they owe me for undelivered services.

To Mermaid Publishers: This is your final opportunity to reimburse me in full before I escalate this matter further.

The editorial team has been very helpful and agreeable to my several editorial and design updates and changes as we have been developing my manuscript. It's been a positive experience in that regard. However, a particular individual in their sales and marketing department has been obnoxious and aggressive in demanding many thousands of dollars for any number of extras to which I had not initially agreed.

The editorial staff did a good job however the business office and promotions are fraudulent.

Several issues are wrong. I used them to edit and published Emptied Spaces. I started a second book putting down a deposit. After incompetency from the project lead, I decided to cancel. They violated another author's privacy by sending me their form "by accident". I asked for a refund. They agreed then changed their mind. I fought it via paypal. They lied to paypal and said that money was to buy copies of the first book for Barnes and Noble (what???) I only published on Amazon. This this creep named Leo Smith started THREATENING ME. FIRST HE promised a refund IF I withdrew my complaint with paypal. I refused. I did NOT trust them at all at this point. Then paypal ruled in their favor. He came after with saying NOW I had to pay him 5000 dollar (-extortion, blackmail) or HE would republish my FIRST book in his name. Totally illegal. I had paid them additonal fess to get it an ISBN number etc and they put it "copywrited by Mermaid Publishing" I never SIGNED OFF ON THAT. We had no document that agreed to that. I paid for cover art through a private company. I creatd this story line back in grad school at UMKC all of which I can prove. PLUS more vitally, I have emails from Leo Smith clearly saying and stating his intent to STEAL MY WORK as revenge unless I paid him 5000. Now it is a race to the copywriter office to prove who owns MY BOOK. NEVER EVER USE THESE PEOPLE. If you make them mad, they will blackmail you as they are me. They will steal your work as they have mine. NEVER EVER use them! email me for records of our emails. I can prove this man is doing this and I will take him to court if I need to. I despise lying criminal elements. They promised a refund and it has turned into this nightmare. Not my fault. I will not bow down to these kind of people. And these guys are "upper management". Beware the man Leo Smith. Email me for copies of the emails. Email me at my website my name.com

I placed my latest novel with what I believed to be an honest and reliable publisher. I gave them a 1 rating because the cover was excellent. We had settled on a certain price, and paid in full. after the book was published on Amazon I received a message saying I owed more money and my book would not be released until I paid the amount. I paid the amount without getting the corrections finished. I also received a scam email saying that B&N wanted to order books. Mermaid backed the email. B&N confirmed it was fake, I was demonized by their marketing team as well. It is best to stay clear of this publisher, they do not finish their work promised. The review date is over a period of time.

If there was a zero rating they would get it. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE “Publishers, under any circumstance. They are not real publishers. They took my money and refused to refund it when requested and this is prior to them performing any duties. Danger to any writers. Do not use this company. EVER!

I have been so blessed to have the dedicated support of Zayn and his team.Throughout the whole process they encouraged me and spent the time to teach me the process. They want as badly as I do for this project to be a success. I have published through a traditional publisher and none, I repeat none of the above took place. I am so proud of what we accomplished together that future projects are in the works. You really can't go wrong when you have those on your side who really wish you the best. This is what you get with Zayn and his amazing team!!
Thank you!
Ann E Askelson-Silva

Nathan Orwell, Sr. Book Consultant, has provided excellent service to my group.
He has personally made sure that our book will be published in a timely fashion. He has worked tirelessly to make sure our work is updated to our satisfaction.

Great help in all aspects of publishing my book I recommend these people to any authors out there

I embarked on a new journey called writing. The staff at Mermaid publishing were patient conscientious and very helpful.