Penguin Publishers 

Last December, 2025 I entered into a contract with Penguin Publishers to market my book which was already available on Amazon. The contract for $3,499 covered the period from Jan. 1-June 30, '26 and had a money-back guarantee if sales hadn't exceeded the invested amount.

Needless to say, they did very little to promote the book except to set up a FB author's page that initially had a number of eye-catching eyes (which, most likely, were generated by AI). This page is now no longer to be found on Facebook.

I've reached out numerous times to the various representatives I dealt with during the six months--with one in particular (Josh Baker) promising that the promised refund would be sent to me. Now, two months later (24 Aug 2026) I've yet to receive the refund and Josh's phone # no longer works.

So, a word to the wise: DO NOT deal with this company. Other consultants I dealt with were Daniel Joseph and Rafael Desilva--who tried to convince me to spend another $10,000 to get 1,000 of my books in Book-a-Million's 160 stores.

So, again, BUYER BEWARE: this definitely looks like a scam that preys upon unsuspecting, trusting authors who believe Penguin Publishers can market their book.

I had, and continue to have, an outstanding experience with Steve Wilson and his company, Penguin Publishers. Steve and his associates accurately described the process and procedures for the publishing of my new novel. (I had previously self-published an earlier nonfiction book.)
Steve and the team were careful editors, offering useful suggestions, and significantly improved my manuscript. They created covers that met my requests and exceeded my expectations. All work was accomplished in a timely manner and the finished book was delivered as promised. Overall, I give Steve Wilson and Penguin Publishers my highest recommendation.

I came across Penguin Publishers looking to get my book published. I knew Penguin was a pretty big name in publishing and wasn't sure what the process would be like and all I can say is wow, and not in the good way. Or in the mmo way. They say you should follow the classic "criticism sandwich" method when offering criticism and put two compliments as the bread with the criticism in the middle, but all I can find are the crusty bread ends that no one wants. Also they're moldy.

Working with Penguin (WHO ARE NOT THE REAL PENGUIN RANDOMHOUSE PUBLISHERS BY THE WAY THEY JUST STOLE THE NAME) was a masterclass in expectations management because I learned to stop having any. The entire company operates with the energy of people who discovered ChatGPT yesterday and they use it for everything--writing, cover art, promotional videos--all AI slop.

The so-called book writing "expert" that helped me Joe Brandon is a fraud who probably can't even tie his own shoes without his mom's help. His editing process was breathtaking in the sense that he took my novel and somehow introduced more issues to it. The final manuscript he delivered had the feel of being put together at 11:58 PM the night before it was due all before they completely stopped answering my emails.

If you’re considering this company, I encourage you to first place several thousand dollars into a paper shredder just to see if the emotional experience resonates with you. May this review find future writers before this company does.

Danny Brown has scammed me of thr royalties on my book and read that he has done this to many others. penguinpublishers are a ruthless scam publisher.

The proof reading did not appear to be done on my manuscript. I paid $260 US for this and there were 63 errors in the "proof Read" ms. I have written to Penguin on three times about this and have not received a reply. Just be warned.

Penguin Publishers gave me great support with manuscript editing. Their attention to detail really lifted the quality of my writing.

Whatever you do don’t hire Penguin Publisher Random House because they steal your books and your money. It takes them a long time to finish the work while begging you for more money . They get mad if you don’t give them $5000 for a screen play and keep your money and books. I had my book published in four different languages. James Duran told me that he would sell 600 books because in Washington DC and Austin Texas was having a book festival. James asked me for $3500 I gave it to him. He told me to open an account and November 15,2025 that he would put the money into my bank account. I have not received anything from the book’s proceeds. He got mad because I wouldn’t give him $5000 so he sold my books and kept the money. He calls every few minutes harassing me for more money. I kept telling him that I have received nothing from the book. I also paid him and Kristi Keller $2200. for four different audiobooks in different languages. She was supposed to put them online she never did finish the work and put them online. Now James Duran and Kristi Keller don’t answer their phones when I call. They are trying to steal my books and my audiobooks. My name is Rose Lowery and the name of my book is The Girl That Nobody Liked by Kim Cox.
Please don’t hire this company they will harass you for more and more money. They will harass you day and night, four and five times a day. Once they get your business and money they will not answer your phone call. This is a scammer company. If you hire them you will regret it. It takes them a long time to finish the work while begging for money consistently. They will worry the day lights out of you begging

so far William Brooks gave some great feedback and helped organise my book. I am on holidays and finally got some time to work some more on it. I imagine they are on holidays as well, but hopefully will hear back now that I submitted it by email. William if you are there please reply! would love to get it out in print and also digital on Amazon, and more...

Fraudsters, high-pressure money grabbers.
Preying on writers,
I paid for an audit, and they published the book with errors. If you want to self-publish after spending hours writing and wish for others to share your work, DON’T go here.

WOW!!! Great communication. Wonderful collaboration. Beautiful book. Delightful experience.
When I first held the book in my hands, it brought tears to my eyes. Truly a dream come true! Thank You Penguin Publishers!!

They are a scam outfit and listed at the true Penguin Random House website. Just add /prh-fraud/ to their web link. Penguin publishers is listed on their fraud alert page. Watch out for Frank Watson, Chris Reed, Josh Baker and many more.

I feel communication was open and frequent from start to finish. All dealings were professional and positive. The editing and illustration portions were fantastic as I saw my book come to life. My questions were answered and promptly responded to.

I contracted with Penguin Publishers to publish my book on October 12, 2024. Nothing of that has happened up to today Tuesday, June 17, 2025!!! I was called on the phone for up to five times, and each time the caller offers more services for more money, and each time I turned down their offers and requested them to hurry up publish my book. Each caller has a nickname; adams, lucas, rachel, D. Brown, etc. I wonder if the other clients has ever come across any of these names. They assume names according to each client. They asked for my bank information under the pretext of publishing my book in Amazon. And then, they disappeared with everything. Even my emails have not been responded to. I called them many times to refund me but to no avail. Scammy Penguin Publishers

If you are considering using Penguin publishers I would suggest you keep your money and run!
While they are quick at taking your money and even not too bad at responding to emails everything else about this company is a sham. Silly me paid $2799 AU for the ‘All in One’ package.
The editing was atrocious and in the end I edited my novel myself and sent it back to them to re-release (this was AFTER my novel had been published and I bought a copy and was horrified to find over 70 pages with mistakes - some were minor but a-lot were major mistakes & embarrassingly some of my readers had already purchased the original copy)

The list of 15 things supposedly included in this package is also a joke.
1. Editing - DEFINITELY NOT PROFESSIONAL
2. Editorial report- Nope
3. Line by line edit- Ha NOPE
4. Proofreading- Hahaha NOPE
5. Formatting- Questionable
6. Ebook, paperback, hardcover- ✅
7. Revisions - ✅
8. Editorial review- Nope
9. Plagiarism check- Nope
10. Critique- Nope
11. Published on 50+ platforms 🤷‍♀️
12. Dedicated project manager ✅
13. Royalties owned by me ✅
14. Book cover ✅
15. 100% ownership of material ✅

If you value your own work and want to see it published please do not use this company. They are scammers and certainly not qualified for the job.

There is no marketing included in this price and they will try to get more money as the release date approaches to market your novel (at least I did not get sucked into that side of their scam).
If I could give 0 stars I would!

I am looking forward to my book being published and seeing the completed product. In each communication of the process so far, Chris Reed has been helpful and informative as project manager. I look forward to sharing another review about Penguin Publishers.com after the entire process is completed.

So far working with Chris Reed has been a great experience. He has been attentive and helpful. We look forward to seeing the final product!

SCAM - So many promises and got messed around for 6 months and now they have completely disappeared, email bounces and website no longer exists. If you are doing any business with a publishing company with the word Penguin in it (apart from the original Penguin Books) do your research first as they may be connected and they will take your money.

19/3/2025
In response to your reply - Received no automated message and the WhatsApp number of my Account Manager Lucas Perez has not replied for weeks. If you still exist please provide an email address and I will contact you.

I had a rocky start but the best thing is that they cared. Customer service is so seldom seen these days, but they really do care. I cannot explain the attention I received from Chris Reed. He truly made me feel that he was on top of the “hiccups”, I had experienced. He was in constant contact with me and assured me all would be taken care of. He is a man true to his word. Chris made sure I was understanding every move he was making…and believe me…I was not easy to deal with at first. Now when I talk to Chris I feel everything will work out just fine. I feel confident I am working with the right company.

I have never done anything like this before but during a recent sabatical I wrote a manuscript for a sci fi novel and after getting feedback from family and friends I decdided that I may as well publish it. I choose Penguin Publishers and I have zero regrets. Chris Reed, my POC at Penguin has guided me step by step through every part of the process. He and his team has suffered through my feedback, have done everything I have asked of them, and have even guided me where I was going to make a mistake. I have greatly appreciated their assistance, their expertise, and most of all their patience in dealing with me, a very ignorant first time author. 10/10 would recommend.

I hired Penguin Publishers on August 15, 2024 for book marketing services. The contract was for six months, and it is now six months later. Our contract lists 21 action items. Of these, only 5 were done--and these included strategy calls and access to their portal. So very very little was done for over $3300.00. They also guaranteed 150% ROI, which would be around $5000.00. I cannot attribute the sale of a single book to their efforts. I believe they are an absolute scam. Now they are saying: "Well, the contract is for six months of marketing, not six months from the date of the contract." That's the talk of con artists if I ever heard it. Stay far away.