Yes, Dorrance Publishing is legit in the legal sense. It is a real Pittsburgh company, founded in 1920, that produces real books and does not hide that you pay for them.
But “legit” and “a good deal for you” are two different questions. Dorrance is a subsidy publisher, which most writers call a vanity press: you pay the company to publish your book, and it earns its money from authors rather than from book sales.
In this assessment you’ll get:
- What Dorrance actually is, and why the “scam” label keeps coming up
- What the BBB record and online complaints really say
- The contract and sales-pitch red flags to check before you sign
- Where Dorrance genuinely beats what we build, stated plainly
Here is the full picture.
Is Dorrance Publishing a scam?
Dorrance Publishing is not a scam in the sense of taking money and delivering nothing. It produces and distributes the books it is paid for. The real risk is the business model: you pay thousands of dollars up front, and nothing in the deal depends on your book selling.
That is why the word “scam” keeps showing up next to its name. Authors who expected a traditional publishing experience, with editors championing their book and stores stocking it, feel misled when the main product turns out to be the production service itself.
Dorrance’s own site is fairly clear about this if you read closely. It states that the company “does not guarantee the sale of any book.” That one sentence tells you more than any testimonial on the page.
What Dorrance Publishing actually is
Dorrance Publishing — a Pittsburgh-based, author-paid book publishing company, founded by Gordon Dorrance in 1920, that sells editing, design, ISBN, copyright registration and distribution packages to writers.
According to Wikipedia’s company profile, it also runs the imprints RoseDog Books, Whitmore Publishing Company, Red Lead Press and I-Proclaim Books. Its age is real: a 1982 Christian Science Monitor feature described it as America’s oldest subsidy house.
Here is what its website currently claims:
- 58,500+ authors published and 50+ new authors each month
- Every project is custom quoted after a free manuscript review
- Authors “retain full rights to their work”
- The entry-level Dorrance Standard package covers mechanical editing, interior design, a custom cover, an ISBN, copyright registration, Amazon and Ingram distribution, and 25 author copies
Those are Dorrance’s claims from its own homepage, not independent figures. If you want to understand where this model sits next to other options, our guide to hybrid publishers vs vanity presses breaks the categories down.
How much does Dorrance Publishing cost?
Dorrance does not publish its prices. Every package is quoted individually after a sales consultation, so you cannot compare costs before you are already in a conversation with a salesperson.
Author-reported figures run into the thousands. One Trustpilot reviewer says they paid about $10,000 and got little beyond a cover. An older forum poster estimated their quote at $6,000 to $10,000. These are individual accounts, not verified price sheets, so treat them as a range to expect rather than a fact.
For comparison, publishing a paperback yourself through Amazon KDP costs nothing up front. Even paying freelancers for editing and a cover usually lands well below a vanity-press package. Our breakdown of the real cost to self-publish a book has line-item numbers, and an ISBN is a modest cost you can buy yourself.
What does the BBB say about Dorrance Publishing?
Dorrance has been BBB accredited since 1995. Wikipedia, citing the BBB’s Pittsburgh profile, reported an A− rating with 70 complaints filed as of May 2022. We could not confirm the current grade, so check the live BBB profile before you rely on it.
An A− rating mostly means the company responds to complaints and has been in business a long time. It does not measure whether authors earned back what they paid. That is the gap most Dorrance reviews and complaints fall into.
Elsewhere, the picture is mixed. Its US Trustpilot page shows 4.6 out of 5 from 45 reviews as of October 28, 2026, but 38 of those were posted in the last 12 months, and older regional pages showed about 2.5 from 10. A small, recent sample like that proves little on its own.
What are the most common Dorrance Publishing complaints?
The Dorrance publishing complaints we found cluster around four themes. None is fraud. All of them are about expectations versus the deal you actually signed.
- High up-front cost, low sales. Authors pay thousands and sell few copies, because there is no publisher-funded marketing behind the book.
- Upsells after signing. Promotional packages, press releases and extra services are offered on top of the base quote. A complaint page about the RoseDog imprint describes charges authors say were not clear up front.
- Unsolicited approaches. Writer Beware has reported that Dorrance contacted writers using copyright registration records. If a publisher found you, rather than you finding it, slow down.
- Thin editing. The standard package lists editing “for mechanics,” meaning grammar and punctuation, not a developmental edit of structure or story.
Is Dorrance Publishing legit, according to Reddit?
On Reddit, the sentiment is blunter than the BBB rating. The threads we found in writing communities label Dorrance a vanity press and advise against it, with one poster calling its tactics exploitative and its fees exorbitant.
Treat that as opinion, not a finding. Reddit writing forums lean strongly toward self-publishing and traditional publishing, and they push back hard on any model where the author pays the publisher. Still, it reflects a real consensus among working writers: money should flow to the author, not from the author. That rule is the first item in our list of vanity press warning signs.
Contract red flags to check before you sign
If you are holding a Dorrance quote, read the contract with these questions in front of you. They apply to any author-paid publisher.
- Term and termination. How long does the agreement last, and how do you end it? Look for a clear exit with no fee.
- Exclusive rights. “You keep your rights” can sit next to a clause granting the company exclusive publishing or distribution rights for years.
- Royalty math. What percentage do you get, and is it calculated on list price or net receipts? Get the per-copy figure in writing.
- Retail price control. Who sets your book’s price? A high list price kills sales.
- Your files. Do you receive the print-ready interior and cover files if you leave? Without them, you may have to rebuild the book.
- Every add-on, itemised. Ask for a written list of what the quote includes and what costs extra.
A lawyer who handles publishing contracts can review the document for a few hundred dollars. On a five-figure decision, that is cheap insurance. For a refresher on how royalties normally work, see book royalties explained.
Where Dorrance beats Chapter
This blog belongs to Chapter, so you should know where Dorrance does something we do not.
Dorrance produces and distributes the physical book. We do not print books, design covers, register copyright, assign ISBNs or set up Amazon and Ingram distribution. Dorrance bundles all of that, plus 25 printed copies in your hands.
Dorrance assigns you a human. You get a consultant and a production team who handle the publishing steps for you. If the idea of uploading files to KDP yourself is the thing stopping you, that service has real value.
It has a century of track record. Dorrance has been producing books since 1920. Whatever you think of the model, it is not going to vanish overnight with your manuscript.
Where we differ is the part that comes before all of that. Chapter writes the book; Dorrance assumes you already have one. And with KDP free and freelance covers affordable, you can usually buy the publishing steps yourself for far less than a bundled package.
Is Dorrance Publishing right for you?
Dorrance can make sense if you want a small number of printed copies for family, a memoir or a legacy project, you can comfortably afford the fee, and you do not expect the book to earn the money back.
Walk away if you hope to earn income from book sales, if you were contacted out of the blue, or if you cannot get the full contract and an itemised quote before paying. If you still want a traditional deal, our guide on how to find a literary agent is the route where the publisher pays you.
For a broader look at the service itself, rather than the legitimacy question, read our full Dorrance Publishing review.
The alternative we built
Our Pick — Chapter
Chapter is AI book writing software that researches, plans and writes your complete book with you, in your voice, so you arrive at the publishing step with a finished manuscript you own outright.
Best for: writers whose real bottleneck is getting the book written, not uploading it Pricing: $97 one time, 2 books included (fiction or nonfiction), 30-day money-back guarantee Why we built it: so you can spend a few hundred dollars finishing and self-publishing a book instead of several thousand on a package
Chapter has no free tier or trial, and it does not publish the book for you. It gets you to “ready to publish,” and then you keep 100% of your rights and your royalties through KDP or another platform. Our Amazon KDP guide covers that last step, and you can read our own Chapter review for the limitations.
Before you pay a publisher thousands, consider writing the book first: Chapter for nonfiction and Chapter for fiction cost $97 one time, with 2 books included, no subscription and a 30-day money-back guarantee, and more than 10,000 authors have used them.
FAQ
Is Dorrance Publishing a legitimate company?
Dorrance Publishing is a legitimate company. It was founded in 1920, is based in Pittsburgh, and has been BBB accredited since 1995. It is, however, a subsidy or vanity publisher: you pay to publish, and the company does not guarantee that your book will sell.
Is Dorrance Publishing a vanity press?
Yes, Dorrance Publishing is a vanity press by the standard industry definition, since the author pays for publication. Dorrance prefers terms like author-paid or subsidy publishing, and it is open about charging fees. The key point is that its revenue comes from authors, not from book sales.
How much does it cost to publish with Dorrance?
The cost to publish with Dorrance is custom quoted and not listed publicly. Author accounts commonly describe several thousand dollars, up to about $10,000, depending on the package. Always request an itemised written quote and the full contract before paying anything.
Do you keep your rights with Dorrance Publishing?
Dorrance says authors keep full rights to their work. Even so, read the contract for exclusive publishing or distribution clauses, the agreement’s term, and what happens to your print-ready files if you leave. Rights ownership and exclusive licences are not the same thing.
What is a better alternative to Dorrance Publishing?
The main alternative to Dorrance Publishing is self-publishing through Amazon KDP or IngramSpark, which costs little or nothing up front and lets you keep 100% of your rights. If writing the book is the hard part, Chapter helps you finish the manuscript for $97 one time.
