[Pub svcs] The Universal Breakthrough (formerly Best Books Media, et al.)

[Ergo]

Hello. I searched though a few pages of the forum but did not find this organization. If it has already been posted; my apologies.

I've been approached by this group and am both intrigued and leery. Has anyone out there had experience with The Universal Breakthrough?

Thank you,

Ergo

 

[zmethos]

Link: https://www.theuniversalbreakthrough.com/

 

[Fiender]

I wasn't sure at first what kind of business they're even supposed to be. A publisher? Editors? Then I stumbled into this nest of buzzwords:

"The Universal Breakthrough strives to obtain the best possible publishing and marketing solutions suited to your outlay or lifestyle."

So, they're a writer-targeted publisher, not a reader-targeted publisher, which means they probably want to make their money off of you, not the readers. First impression: steer clear.

 

[mrsmig]

This appears to be an author services outfit, not a publisher. The company was formerly known as Universal Pages.

The fact that they contacted you, Ergo, means they're trying to sell you something.

Their street addy in NYC is one of those rent-an-office/virtual office spaces - which means they're not necessarily NYC-based.

No list of staff in the "About Us" section. It does say this:

The Universal Breakthrough, a relaunched of The Universal Pages is a New York based multimedia company specializing in personalized publishing and broadcasting solutions for a variety of authors.

Given the syntax above and elsewhere on the site, I cross-checked the company name against the Writer Beware list of Philippine-based author scam operations, and yep, it's on the list, in both its previous and current incarnations.

Stay away.

 

[frimble3]

"The Universal Breakthrough strives to obtain the best possible publishing and marketing solutions suited to your outlay or lifestyle."

I have never heard 'outlay' used in any context other than 'how much do you want to spend?'.
Based on this alone, I'd avoid them.

Then, there's that shot of the young, happy, laughing people on their home page. They appear to be a stock photo, they have no names or positions. Who, or what, are they laughing at?

 

[mrsmig]

It's almost comical how easy it is to spot when something is "off" on these scammers' websites.

I say "almost" because people still get suckered in, and that takes the edge off the funny.

That Writer Beware list is both exhaustive and invaluable. Authors should have it bookmarked for easy reference.