Christian Faith Publishing Reviews: Is Christian Faith Publishing Legit?

If you’re looking to self-publish a Christian book, you might well come across Christian Faith Publishing. 

Christian Faith Publishing (or CFP) states its mission is “to discover and market unknown Christian-based authors.”

But how exactly does their publishing process work? Do they provide enough value for the money, or are you better off with another self-publishing company?

We’ve taken a closer look at this self-publishing company to see what the publisher offers, how much their services cost, and what real customers and authors have to say about their experience. 

Here’s what we review on Christian Faith Publishing:

1. What is Christian Faith Publishing?
2. Programs and prices
3. Is Christian Faith Press for you?
4. The pros and cons
5. Other Christian Faith Press reviews
6. Alternatives to Christian Faith Press
7. Final rating

What is Christian Faith Publishing?

Christian Faith Publishing is a done-for-you publishing services company that has been offering book production and marketing services since 2016.

Related: Book Marketing Guide 

Christian Faith Publishing is more in line with author service companies, meaning they offer done-for-you options like book cover design, editing, and more.

The publisher operates out of Meadville, USA and Toronto, Canada and caters to authors of positive, uplifting books in line with Christian morality. 

It's important to note that this company provides services to help you publish your book, but it is not an education program that teaches you how to write, publish, and market your book on your own.

Let’s take a look at the services on offer and the process of using them. 

Services & prices

At this time, Christian Faith Publishing offers a program called The Road To Getting Published, consisting of the following five steps. 

Step 1 – Manuscript submission

The first step in the process of becoming a CFP author is to submit your manuscript.

At this time, Christian Faith Publishing is open to books of the following six types:

• Fiction. 
• Non-fiction.
• Children’s books.
• Reference.
• Poetry.
• Biographical. 

After submission, your manuscript will be reviewed by Christian Faith Publishing’s team to make sure it’s a suitable fit for the company, its values, and readers.

Related: How to Write a Nonfiction Book

According to the company, they “look specifically to publish books that further the Kingdom of Christ or deliver a positive message.” 

There’s no guarantee that your work will be selected by them, but the company states that they will reach out to you within five business days. 

Step 2 – Proofreading and copyediting

If your manuscript is accepted by  Christian Faith Publishing, it will undergo their proofreading and copyediting process. 

Not many details are provided about the specific nature of this process, but its stated aims are to:

• Tidy up grammatical errors.
• Resolve any plot inconsistencies.
• Adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style or Oxford Guide to Style as per your preference.

Once your text has been edited by the CFP team, it moves to the third stage of the publishing process.

Step 3 – Design & eBook conversion

So, after tidying up your book’s written content, how does Christian Faith Publishing aim to improve its layout and visual side?

• The book cover design team will create a unique cover, of course, subject to your approval.

• You can select a page layout that compliments your book and helps grab your reader’s attention straight away. 

• An illustration team is available for children’s books. You will receive a sample illustration so you can confirm and approve the style before proceeding.

• After you’ve approved the print version of your book, Christian Faith Publishing will create an eBook version as well. 

At this point, your book passes to the marketing and publicity stage of Christian Faith Publishing.

Step 4 – Marketing and publicity

If you need help getting the word out about your book, which marketing and publicity services are available through CFP?

• Press release campaign. CFP will help with press release campaigns to encourage media coverage of book releases.

• Book website. If you become a CFP author, you will get a page on the company’s website, showcasing details of your book as well as links to all the places it can be purchased. An example book page is shown below.

• Book trailer. To help your book marketing stand out from the crowd, CFP will produce a half minute HD video trailer. You can see some example trailers here. 

For example, a book trailer might sound appealing, but how many extra copies is it really going to sell?

As a self-published author, you'd be better off investing in actual marketing education that will get you real results and teach you crucial things like how to build your email list as an author, how to create lead magnets to attract readers, and how to set up a book funnel to consistently get more sales.

Step 5 – Distribution and royalty management

Would you rather be doing something other than handling the distribution and sales for your book?

Related: Book Royalty Calculator

If you want Christian Faith Publishing to take care of that side of self-publishing for you, they offer:

• Order fulfillment. CFP monitors the release of digital and print copies of your book to ensure all orders are fulfilled.

• Sales and royalty tracking. You can monitor your revenue for a given period and the level of royalties you will receive. 

• Global distribution. Christian Faith Publishing is able to distribute your book to a multitude of regions and bookstores. 

All of the sales and reporting data is provided by Ingram and can be viewed in the author portal section of your CFP account.

Christian Faith Publishing cost

Christian Faith Publishing doesn't publicly state pricing on its website, but according to a rival publisher, The Road To Getting Published program costs $3500, although it's possible to agree on a bespoke package and price. 

How much does Christian Faith Publishing charge?

If you want additional services such as order fulfillment and book maintenance services, Christian Faith charges additional fees in addition to the $3,500 depending on your needs.

Once your book is published and collecting royalties, Christian Faith Publishing charges a 50 cent royalty on further copies sold. We'll explain more on this in the next section.

Christian Faith Publishing royalties

So what’s the process of paying for Christian Faith Publishing’s services, and how do you eventually collect royalties?

Step 1. You pay monthly installments on the price agreed.

Step 2. If your book sells copies, you will receive all the royalties from sales (other than the bookstore’s cut) until you’ve fully recouped the cost of your publishing investment. 

Step 3. After you’ve recovered the full cost of your payment to CFP, the publisher takes a 50 cent royalty on further copies sold. 

Which authors are featured on Christian Faith Publishing?

Christian Faith Publishing features a mix of higher-profile and up and coming authors, such as:

• Dr. Carol Swain. Dr. Swain released her book Abduction through Christian Faith Publishing and was subsequently featured on the Mike Huckabee show. 

• Veronica Campbell Brown. Olympic athlete Veronica Campbell Brown released her guide to fulfillment, Inside Out, through CFP.

• D.J Henson. Henson selected Christian Faith Publishing to release Beyond Faith and praised the editorial feedback received along the way.  

It’s reassuring to see high-profile names experiencing success and coverage for their work after undergoing CFP’s ‘The Road To Getting Published’. However, don’t automatically assume that you’ll experience the same results. 

We’ll show you some stats relating to the average performance of Christian Faith Publishing books a little later in this review.

Is Christian Faith Publishing right for you?

Ultimately, just as we stated in our review of Balboa Press, we feel that it’s better to learn how to publish on your own rather than pay a vanity press type of company. You'll end up paying less, and have full creative control and more royalties earned.

Related: Self-Publishing Guide

However, if you really like what CFP has to offer, you might want to enquire further if:

1. You have a draft manuscript ready for assessment. If you have a draft of your book already produced, and you are prepared to deal with the pressure from the Christian Faith Publishing sales team, there’s no harm in submitting it and seeing what they suggest.
2. You don’t want to learn how to publish. Although it’s better to learn the skillset and process behind publishing for yourself, we understand not everyone has the time to do that. 
3. You’re prepared to pay the fees and share your royalties. Make sure you fully understand and are comfortable with the financial reality of signing a deal with Christian Faith Publishing, and have weighed it up against other routes. 

The Pros & cons

Let's break down some of the benefits and disadvantages of working with this type of company.

Pros

1. Done-for-you. If you’d rather pay to have your book created than learn how to do it yourself, and you need a Kingdom-friendly publisher, Christian Faith Publishing might be worth considering.
2. Accredited. Because of the Better Business Bureau, you’ll always have a way to complain if something goes wrong.

Cons

1. Expensive. Christian Faith Publishing charges more than comparable done-for-you publishers and certainly more than the average self-publishing costs. Carefully weigh up if the services on offer are value for money compared with other companies.  
2. Draft required. If you’re a new author you probably won’t be able to produce a draft on your own that would match one produced with expert help.
3. No lasting skillset. Although the feedback you receive as part of the CFP editorial process might help you improve your publishing knowledge and skill, it’s a lot more effective to learn from a dedicated education program.
4. No live events. A lot of the joy of publishing comes from connecting with and supporting your fellow authors. Live events are the perfect place for this, and this company doesn’t seem to offer one. 
5. No follow on courses. With CFP, there’s no help with turning your initial book into a platform and author career. You would have to figure that out for yourself. 
6. Royalties. If you fully recoup the cost of your initial investment through CFP book sales, they will also take a royalty payment after that of $0.50 per book.

Other Christian Faith Publishing reviews

So what are other reviewers saying about Christian Faith Publishing? What kind of reputation does the company have?

The Better Business Bureau has accredited Christian Faith Publishing since 2016, and currently awards CFP a 4.87 rating based on 647 reviews. 

As for complaints, there are 39 for Christian Faith Publishing listed over the last 3 years.

You can see an example complaint below, as well as a real response from the company itself.

It’s hard to know which side to take by reading through the complaints. We suggest reading through them yourself to see whose side your sympathies are on. Generally, it seemed like both parties had a point, but Christian Faith Publishing is diligent about responding to all complaints. 

Also, John Doppler carried out some data analysis of Christian Faith Publishing’s books and came up with the following results. 

As you can see, the median sales rank isn’t that impressive, but the results are a lot better than most other vanity publishers in the table. 

Christian Faith Publishing alternatives 

If you're looking for done-for-you publishing services, just keep in mind that these Christian publishers often charge a lot more than the cost to self-publish when you manage the project yourself and hire other professionals for book editing and design services.

You'll also have to keep in mind that even though you are paying these companies to publish your book for you, they don't market your book for you. You'll be in charge of that.

Some companies we reviewed that are similar to Christian Faith Publishing are Zondervan Publishing, Hay House / Balboa Press, iUniverse, or Xlibris.

To be clear, SelfPublishing.com has its own self-publishing services and education packages. However, we want to provide an honest comparison of what Christian Faith Publishing has to offer. 

Here's what our programs have (that Christian Faith Publishing doesn't):

1. Writing help. While Christian Faith Publishing requires you to submit a draft to work with them, we teach you to draft your own book through proven processes like mind mapping and outlining. 
2. Expert coaching. Publishing is a journey and one which is best shared with others. If you opt for our program, you'll benefit from direct coaching, as well as a supportive community of fellow authors. 
3. Next steps. We offer programs to help you move beyond your initial book. For example, the Market Your Book program will help you generate revenue through effective marketing methods and expert advice. This will enable you to impact more lives and generate extra income at the same time. 
4. More revenue. If you want to keep more of your book revenue, we are the better choice than Christian Faith Publishing. With Christian Faith Publishing, you will pay a royalty after a certain sales figure, but with us, you get to keep all your income. 
5. Live events. As a member of our community, you'll get preferential access to Author Advantage Live. Christian Faith Publishing doesn't mention any live events, so you'll be missing out on that part of the publishing experience if you opt for them. 

Final rating

With everything taken into account, what’s our final take on Christian Faith Publishing?

If you’re a Christian author high on cash and low on time, and you believe CFP’s services to be a good fit for your book, you could enquire further.

For everyone else, we recommend learning the publishing process so you can develop the skillset and build your own author career.

Do you have another faith-based publishing company other than Christian Faith Publishing you prefer?