Blurb reviews (2026): what authors praise and complain about
Blurb is a real print-on-demand company, and its public scores are low: 2.7 out of 5 (Poor) from 4,653 reviews on Trustpilot. The Better Business Bureau shows no letter grade, says it is not accredited, and lists 10 complaints in 3 years, 3 of them marked unanswered. Trustpilot shows a claimed profile with no recent history of asking for reviews, so reviews may not be representative, and says the company replied to 14% of negative reviews, typically within 2 weeks. 40 reviews in the last 12 months. Most reviews are about photo books, magazines and gifts rather than books for sale. Most Blurb reviews are about photo books, magazines and gifts, so the score says little about publishing a book to sell; this page leads with the complaints that apply to books and groups the photo-book ones at the end. Below are the rating, what authors praise, what some customers report (20 one- to three-star Trustpilot reviews we logged, with dates and links), and what to ask any service before you pay.
The overall rating, on the day we read it
Trustpilot
2.7 out of 5 · “Poor” · 4,653 reviews on Trustpilot
Read on 16 October 2026. We read the 20 most recent reviews, which held six four- and five-star reviews, and the 20 most recent one- to three-star reviews: 5 × 5★, 1 × 4★, 2 × 3★, 4 × 2★, 14 × 1★.
Trustpilot shows a claimed profile with no recent history of asking for reviews, so reviews may not be representative, and says the company replied to 14% of negative reviews, typically within 2 weeks. 40 reviews in the last 12 months. Most reviews are about photo books, magazines and gifts rather than books for sale.
What authors praise
For some authors it works. Reviewers report:
- Printed book quality and service praised by an author of self-published books — “the quality of the printed books and service has been exceptional” (5★, September 2026, Trustpilot)
- A 28-page gift photo book earned top marks for print quality and binding — “if I could give Blurb more than 5 stars, I truly would.” (5★, August 2026, Trustpilot)
- Manufacturing was fast, with the book arriving in about a week — “Manufacturing was fast—I had the book in about a week.” (5★, July 2026, Trustpilot)
- A photo-book customer waited two weeks for a reply, then had the issue resolved — “they took so long to get back to me (two weeks)” (4★, July 2026, Trustpilot)
- A first-time book writer found shipping unexpectedly fast — “Also the shipping is incredibly fast, i’m surprised.” (5★, July 2026, Trustpilot)
- Paper and linen cover quality praised on a 240-page gift photo book — “The quality of the paper and linen cover is superb.” (5★, May 2026, Trustpilot)
We logged 6 four- and five-star Trustpilot reviews from the 20 most recent.
What authors complain about
Reviewers report the following, counted from the 20 one- to three-star reviews we logged. Each line links to the source.
Service after the sale (6 reviews)
- An order appears to be lost or stuck at Blurb — “it appears to be in limbo or lost at Blurb” (2★, October 2026, Trustpilot)
- An order marked delivered had not arrived — “Allegedly delivered my order BUT today haven't.” (1★, July 2026, Trustpilot)
- Help messages went unanswered during a proof and retail-format order — “no one returning help messages at Blurb” (2★, May 2026, Trustpilot)
- Email is the only way to contact support — “No way to contact support except via email” (1★, May 2026, Trustpilot)
- No tracking information or meaningful communication about an order — “I received no tracking information or meaningful communication.” (1★, March 2026, Trustpilot)
- The company put a wrong address on the reviewer's book — “Blurb has put a wrong address on my book” (2★, February 2026, Trustpilot)
Print and proof errors (2 reviews)
- Only four of thirty books were worth keeping, though a reprint was quick — “4 out of 30 books were worth keeping” (3★, June 2026, Trustpilot)
- Books were printed with a white line at the bottom of every page — “printed with a white line at the bottom of all pages” (1★, May 2026, Trustpilot)
Other or unclear (2 reviews)
- Unpublished books have no way to move when the old software is retired — “gives no migration path for unpublished books” (1★, September 2026, Trustpilot)
- The retired BookSmart software produced an error, and the company no longer supports it — “I received an error to find out they do not support it anymore.” (1★, May 2026, Trustpilot)
Royalties and sales reporting (1 review)
- An author says royalties for their book have not been paid — “I have not been getting my royalties for my book” (1★, September 2026, Trustpilot)
Photo books, magazines and gifts (9 reviews)
- An art book was printed to a quality the reviewer calls disappointing — “I'm quite disappointed in the quality of printing I received.” (1★, October 2026, Trustpilot)
- A photography zine had dull colour, misaligned spines and registration problems — “flat, dark, muddy color reproduction, misaligned spines, and registration problems” (1★, October 2026, Trustpilot)
- A photo book project lost all its photos in the software — “all the photos were gone from my project” (1★, September 2026, Trustpilot)
- The software is not recommended for family photo books — “I would not recommend Blurb for family photo books.” (1★, August 2026, Trustpilot)
- A wedding magazine was trimmed badly and the only remedy offered was a discount on the next order — “the only thing I was offered was a 40% discount on my next order” (1★, June 2026, Trustpilot)
- The paper did not do justice to the reviewer's photography — “it didn’t do justice to my photography at all” (1★, May 2026, Trustpilot)
- Standard paper looked grey and recycled on a photo project — “the paper is grey and looks like recycled paper” (1★, April 2026, Trustpilot)
- Delivery costs to the Netherlands were very high for magazines — “delivery costs within the Netherlands are very high” (2★, April 2026, Trustpilot)
- The software for an album is described as buggy, with poor layout choices — “Riddled with bugs, and idiotic layout choices, functions not working.” (3★, April 2026, Trustpilot)
Questions to ask any publisher before you sign
- Is this a platform you run yourself, or a service that does the work for you? Ask exactly what you must do and what the company does.
- How do you reach a person when something goes wrong: a phone line, live chat or email only, and what is the usual wait?
- Will you see a printed proof before the order, and what happens if the printed books do not match it?
- Which software will you use, and what happens to your unfinished projects if the company retires it?
- Where will your book be listed for sale, who sets that up, and who do you ask if it does not appear?
- How are you paid, how often and from what, and under what conditions can an account be frozen or a book removed?
- How is delivery tracked, and what is the remedy if an order is marked delivered but is not?
- Who owns the files and the account, and how do you move a title elsewhere later?
How we handle each of these
We are a competing publisher, so weigh this accordingly. These are the points above where our own pages already say what we do:
- Royalties and sales reporting. You publish on your own Amazon KDP account, so Amazon reports and pays you directly, and you can check every sale yourself. Our packages: 100% royalties and all rights stay with you
- Print and proof errors. You approve everything before anything is printed, and nothing is reprinted without your written authorisation. How payment works, on our cost page
- If printed copies arrive damaged or defective. If printed copies arrive damaged or defective because of our error, we reprint or replace the affected copies at no additional cost. Our refund policy says exactly when, and what is not covered. Our refund policy
How this was researched
- We read the reviews of Blurb on Trustpilot on 16 October 2026, and logged each review we used: its stars, its date and a theme, with a short paraphrase in our own words.
- A quotation, where we use one, is under 15 words, in quotation marks and linked. We do not edit reviews, write them, or ask for them to be written.
- Sources read so far: Trustpilot. We will add others and update this page, and the date above.
- We describe what reviewers report; we do not claim it is true of every author, and we have not tested the company's service ourselves.
If anything here is out of date, tell us and we'll correct it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Blurb legit?
It is a real company that has been trading for years. On Trustpilot it shows 2.7 out of 5 from 4,653 reviews on a claimed profile, and Trustpilot notes it has no recent history of asking for reviews. The BBB shows no letter grade, says it is not accredited and lists 10 complaints in 3 years. Both were read on 16 October 2026. Some customers report problems, listed on this page with dates and links.
What do customers praise about Blurb?
Of the 6 four- and five-star Trustpilot reviews we logged, customers praise print quality, paper, binding and fast manufacturing, mostly on photo and gift books. The 20 most recent reviews held only six, so we did not add more.
What do the unhappy customers complain about?
Among the 20 one- to three-star Trustpilot reviews we logged, the themes reviewers report most are service after the sale (6), print and proof errors (2), other or unclear (2). For books to sell, the reports concern orders marked delivered but not received, support reachable only by email, royalties not paid, printing defects and the retirement of older software. On the BBB, the complaints we read add an account frozen with earnings withheld, a book not listed on Amazon and a hardcover that arrived with blank pages.
Is Blurb a good choice for a book I want to sell?
That depends on the book. Most of its reviews are about photo books, magazines and gifts, which is mostly what it sells. For books to sell, read the complaints above about royalties, retail listings and support access, and ask the questions on this page before you start.
How is Harmony Publishing different?
We are a competing publisher, so weigh this accordingly. What we can point to: you publish on your own Amazon KDP account and keep 100% of your royalties and rights, you approve everything before it is printed, and we reprint or replace copies that arrive defective because of our error. Each is linked on this page.