Scams and the Scammy Scammers Who Scam Them

This is happening more and more: an author gets an email that sounds too good to be true…and it turns out it was too good to be true. What’s going on?

These scams can take many forms, but it might look something like…

It starts with an email from a Famous Author, wishing you well. Your book is recently published, and they read it, though it’s not a bestseller. In fact, they’ll say that they enjoyed your book so much—especially that part in chapter 3 where you did xyz—that they hope it will be a smash hit. It sounds genuine, sounds like the author’s voice, and it sounds like they actually read your book! Authors are big readers, so why wouldn’t they? And you poured your heart and soul into the book, so why wouldn’t they think it was great?

Anyway, it’s a nice note, and you’re getting ready to float through your day on a cloud. The closing of the email takes those feelings and ramps them up. It will say something like, “I don’t know if they’re taking on anyone new, but this is the publicist that really helped make my book a bestseller. I’ll let them know you might reach out.”

Holy cow! What a great connection! This famous author is really paying it forward! They’ve earned your trust and this feels like they’ve given you something tangible. Now they’ve introduced the next stage...

When you email the publicist, they’ll recognize your name—of course they’re not taking new clients, but because Famous Author vouched for you, they’ll make an exception. Their retainer’s just a thousand bucks and then you’ll be on their client list and they’ll set a meeting with you to work up a big plan. It’s no big deal, but they move fast and get things done, so if you’re in, you’ve got to be in today. If you don’t like the plan that gets laid out after the meeting, you don’t have to go any further.

I’m sure you’re already aware of what’s going on. Seeing it on the page like this, it’s almost insultingly simple. But that’s not how it feels when it’s your book that’s getting positive feedback. You might feel too good to feel suspicious. Or if you do, you might be careful and make sure to check out the publicist in question. They’ll have a legit-looking website, and there’s Famous Author on their client list. Hmm. Okay. You’ll reach out. Pay the retainer. You never hear from them again.

The problem is that one place where the promise of AI has not fallen short is in its ability to help scammers and fraudsters do their thing. Setting up a professional-looking website has never been easier. Spoofing emails that sound genuine, and even sound like the person they purport to be from, is a piece of cake.

Talk to your publisher

One thing you can do if something like this happens is reach out to your publisher. They may not be able to tell you for sure that it’s a scam (or that it isn’t) but they might be able to tell you that 10 other authors have gotten the same email this week.

Check for known scams

You can look at a resource like Writer Beware and see if they already know something about it. The Authors Guild also publishes scam alerts.

Don’t spend money quickly

Especially money you can’t lose. If someone’s asking you for money, pause. Tell them you’re going to pause. Tell them you’ll have to talk it over with your publisher, colleagues, or whoever. Anyone real will be okay with that. If they try to make you act fast, that can be a red flag all on its own.

There are plenty of reputable publicists out there—if you get excited about a prospect like this, you should know two things that are definitely true. One is that there is no publicist, marketer, or publisher who can guarantee success for your book. It makes me deeply uncomfortable whenever I see someone making guarantees like that. I’m very good at coaching authors through the process of writing very good books on a reasonable timeline. A bunch of them win awards! But I can’t guarantee those results. That stuff depends not just on the work I do, or even that the author does—it also depends on lots and lots of readers.

Know that the scam dangle any sought-after win

Although publicist-related scams were recently highlighted at an Author’s Guild event, FBI Advice for Fighting Author Scams it was noted that the bait could also be a publisher or agent contact dangled enticingly. Maybe there’s a reading fee or submission fee. Let me tell you, if I charged a reading fee for proposals, I’d be a wealthy man. But alas, if I read your proposal I do it at no cost to you (aside from the nerves as you wait an interminable amount of time for me to get back to you).

Stay Optimistic

Every author, no matter how cynical, is an optimist. There’s too much that goes into writing a book for it to be otherwise. Scams like this play on your optimism and you might think you need to excise that part of you to harden yourself against threats like this. What would the world look like if authors lost their optimism? Every book would come to the same conclusion: “You know what? Never mind.”

Never let them drag you down.

Do you want your book to be the kind that can be a hit? Check out my other project over at The Academic Storyteller where the focus is on what academic authors need to learn about the art of storytelling in order to really reach people.