Isra Sravenheart's Blog - Posts Tagged "avoid"
The absolute week from hell. Word of warning to Authors: Do not use Fiverr!
Hey everyone, Isra here so I’ve had a really exhausting week. I really do want to call it the week from hell. I have recently been re-branding my book series whereby I am making subtle changes to four titles. Basically changed Blackened Series to Dark Spell Series as it suits my writing better and changing Blackened to Dark in the four titles where it appears. So it’s a very subtle change however it does require new book covers and new formatting to be done.
28th May 2021
I contacted a seller on Fiverr who said he was capable of handling my project. (I don’t use Fiverr and would not recommend it for book marketing but I’ve had good experiences with covers on there before) However he did an amazing job with the first cover and so I requested he designed the remaining four in the series. I also said I needed formatting at this time but had somebody in mind. He said he could do that for me also as I was “perfect buyer” however I didn’t agree with his price so we agreed on a better one. At this point all was well.
However we had just done “Her Dark Love” cover and was now moving forward to “Kissing Darkness” (my personal favourite in the entire series) I didn’t like how he was shouting and being abusive with me and failing to understand that when he messaged at 5am in the UK time zone, it was sleep time. He deliberately delayed fixing the issues and when I came back online to check progress, he had been abusive once more, asking me what my problem was. Here’s the thing, I asked for some very simple tweaks. Had he been professional perhaps he would have realized my concerns were genuine. Her hand on the cover had been badly photoshopped so that it looked like she wasn’t even holding the green orb. The lightning show was a mess and blurry. Those were two things I expected him to fix this was on Friday 4th June. Finally Friday evening, he had presented me with the cover and I was very pleased. Now I knew formatting was coming next…. I sent him the files already so I expected a prompt delivery as the covers had been. (My previous formatter who has retired usually did it on same day)
Saturday and Sunday, I heard nothing from the seller so presumed he had been getting on with the job at hand. Monday morning at 5am, he messages me insisting he cannot do the formattingunless the price was increased by three times what we had agreed so I made the suggestion for him to refund me. During this time. I’ve had feedback from a trusted author group on FB led by a very respectable NY Times Bestseller Author and they’ve pointed out on one of the covers her hand is badly photoshopped (eurgh again) and the titles are not standing out. So again, very simple tweaks as I had to admit I absolutely adored the art on them.
He was becoming increasingly angry at me when I suggested this and accused me of being a scammer. I said no, I’m simply asking you to make some tweaks to which he then came back at me, “I don’t want to work with you. I’ve been working with you all week and I am tired.” He was extremely rude in this response. I said okay but I have five covers that need fixing. He said, “That’s a you problem.” He then requested to cancel the order so I’d be refunded but I’d have to order again to pay for the covers. I said they need fixing first before we do anything of that nature. He insisted on cancelling. I cancelled his request. He blew up at me again and said what do you want? I tried to reason with him for around three hours but it was fruitless. I finally agreed to accepting the cancellation. He then spam messaged me saying will you order for the covers?
I said no as they haven’t been fixed. I also contacted Fiverr trust and safety team because of his behaviour. (Normally I wouldn’t bother as I am used to rudeness from other people but this was despicable. You don’t harass a customer who has paid you money and then insult them saying you are tired of them to add further insult to injury) It was at this point, I realized I was going to have re-hire somebody else to do the covers and yes also rehire to do formatting. This was exhausting for me and I have to say I became very frustrated and stressed.
Thankfully, the trust and safety team were fantastic. However this seller decided to hound me on Goodreads (he sent screenshots to prove it) Amazon, Facebook and Instagram which was where had messaged me insisting I was a scammer and fraudulent author (I had already contacted Amazon to change the covers back to old ones- but it takes around 24 hours to do so)
Honestly, this was a harrowing experience. I already avoid Fiverr for most things anyway but now I seriously recommend even book covers are a complete no, no, no on there. Don’t be fooled by the fancy colourful imagery on the gig listings. These people are unprofessional, speak to you like something off the back of their shoe the moment you ask for improvements.
Luckily my story has a happy ending. I managed to find a new source for covers. (I’ve had Her Dark Soul done today) and I was able to find a formatter and be refunded but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this was horrific experience whereby I felt desolate, low and depressed as well as being frustrated because of how unprofffesional it was. I was surrounded by good people who rallied around to help me resolve the problem. Others, may not be. Please whatever you do. Do not use Fiverr. The seller in question is Artstudio4_
He has finally left me alone now. But I am doing a courtesy in warning others as I do not want what happened to me to become someone else’s reality.
I will update you all when the new covers are done and when I’ll also have my paperbacks available again. I am sorry this isn’t the most cheery post but I have to be real and authentic with my audience, when I say, this really hit me hard. It took me to a place I haven’t been in for a very long time.
Until next time, Isra
28th May 2021
I contacted a seller on Fiverr who said he was capable of handling my project. (I don’t use Fiverr and would not recommend it for book marketing but I’ve had good experiences with covers on there before) However he did an amazing job with the first cover and so I requested he designed the remaining four in the series. I also said I needed formatting at this time but had somebody in mind. He said he could do that for me also as I was “perfect buyer” however I didn’t agree with his price so we agreed on a better one. At this point all was well.
However we had just done “Her Dark Love” cover and was now moving forward to “Kissing Darkness” (my personal favourite in the entire series) I didn’t like how he was shouting and being abusive with me and failing to understand that when he messaged at 5am in the UK time zone, it was sleep time. He deliberately delayed fixing the issues and when I came back online to check progress, he had been abusive once more, asking me what my problem was. Here’s the thing, I asked for some very simple tweaks. Had he been professional perhaps he would have realized my concerns were genuine. Her hand on the cover had been badly photoshopped so that it looked like she wasn’t even holding the green orb. The lightning show was a mess and blurry. Those were two things I expected him to fix this was on Friday 4th June. Finally Friday evening, he had presented me with the cover and I was very pleased. Now I knew formatting was coming next…. I sent him the files already so I expected a prompt delivery as the covers had been. (My previous formatter who has retired usually did it on same day)
Saturday and Sunday, I heard nothing from the seller so presumed he had been getting on with the job at hand. Monday morning at 5am, he messages me insisting he cannot do the formattingunless the price was increased by three times what we had agreed so I made the suggestion for him to refund me. During this time. I’ve had feedback from a trusted author group on FB led by a very respectable NY Times Bestseller Author and they’ve pointed out on one of the covers her hand is badly photoshopped (eurgh again) and the titles are not standing out. So again, very simple tweaks as I had to admit I absolutely adored the art on them.
He was becoming increasingly angry at me when I suggested this and accused me of being a scammer. I said no, I’m simply asking you to make some tweaks to which he then came back at me, “I don’t want to work with you. I’ve been working with you all week and I am tired.” He was extremely rude in this response. I said okay but I have five covers that need fixing. He said, “That’s a you problem.” He then requested to cancel the order so I’d be refunded but I’d have to order again to pay for the covers. I said they need fixing first before we do anything of that nature. He insisted on cancelling. I cancelled his request. He blew up at me again and said what do you want? I tried to reason with him for around three hours but it was fruitless. I finally agreed to accepting the cancellation. He then spam messaged me saying will you order for the covers?
I said no as they haven’t been fixed. I also contacted Fiverr trust and safety team because of his behaviour. (Normally I wouldn’t bother as I am used to rudeness from other people but this was despicable. You don’t harass a customer who has paid you money and then insult them saying you are tired of them to add further insult to injury) It was at this point, I realized I was going to have re-hire somebody else to do the covers and yes also rehire to do formatting. This was exhausting for me and I have to say I became very frustrated and stressed.
Thankfully, the trust and safety team were fantastic. However this seller decided to hound me on Goodreads (he sent screenshots to prove it) Amazon, Facebook and Instagram which was where had messaged me insisting I was a scammer and fraudulent author (I had already contacted Amazon to change the covers back to old ones- but it takes around 24 hours to do so)
Honestly, this was a harrowing experience. I already avoid Fiverr for most things anyway but now I seriously recommend even book covers are a complete no, no, no on there. Don’t be fooled by the fancy colourful imagery on the gig listings. These people are unprofessional, speak to you like something off the back of their shoe the moment you ask for improvements.
Luckily my story has a happy ending. I managed to find a new source for covers. (I’ve had Her Dark Soul done today) and I was able to find a formatter and be refunded but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this was horrific experience whereby I felt desolate, low and depressed as well as being frustrated because of how unprofffesional it was. I was surrounded by good people who rallied around to help me resolve the problem. Others, may not be. Please whatever you do. Do not use Fiverr. The seller in question is Artstudio4_
He has finally left me alone now. But I am doing a courtesy in warning others as I do not want what happened to me to become someone else’s reality.
I will update you all when the new covers are done and when I’ll also have my paperbacks available again. I am sorry this isn’t the most cheery post but I have to be real and authentic with my audience, when I say, this really hit me hard. It took me to a place I haven’t been in for a very long time.
Until next time, Isra
