How to Identify & Avoid Author Scams
by Ellen Buikema
Recently, I received an email that got my heart thumping. Someone was charmed by one of my children’s chapter books and wondered if I would be interested in joining a challenge that his group was having in conjunction with a larger group. Since he was part of a legitimate Goodreads group, I thought this might be for real.
After rereading the email, I wondered if he might be one of the many people trying to separate authors from their hard-earned funds. Being an author is not cheap. It is a business involving editors, formatters, marketers, distributors, and in cases like mine – illustrators.
It was hard to tell if this was a scam. The Goodreads group that was mentioned, actually exists. The information about the story included in the email made it seem as though this individual had read my book. But upon further checking, the larger group he mentioned in the email didn’t exactly track.
Since I completely trust my fellow writers at WITS, I checked with them. Turns out this was a scam. The individual sent a follow-up email after I did not respond to the ego-stroking, letting me know that there was still time for me to enter the challenge. I asked him to remove me from his list, blocked him, and reported the scam to Goodreads in case they are tracking such things.
Scammers Tap into the Writer’s Emotions
The most effective scams are well-written and start by triggering emotions. Scammers are aware that writers are committed to their work and many are still navigating the twists and turns of finding and marketing to potential readers.
Flattery can temporarily short-circuit your ability to be cautious. This is psychological warfare. Scammers exploit and manipulate their victims into making decisions on impulse. If the compliment feels off somehow or too good to be true, take a breath and step back.
Common emotional triggers:
- Confusion — “Here is your metadata survey / analytics ranking.”
- Fear — “Your book / account is at risk.”
- Hope — “Your book is perfect for our award/ book club / interview.”
- Urgency — “Act now or you’ll lose readers / visibility.”
Identifying this emotional strategy makes it much easier to avoid scams.
The Book Club Scam
This is the typical pattern:
First, a cordial email arrives from someone unknown. They state wonderful things about your book. They might mention that they “just finished reading it” or their club “voted” to read it.
The tone is effusive and personal, often using phrases like “we love your work,” “it’s perfect for us.”
Details are vague, but praise is heaped aplenty. The club may claim to have “thousands” of members — highly unlikely.
Drumroll, please! The ask lands.They need you to pay:
- an “administration fee”
- a “coordination fee”
- an “honorarium contribution”
- a “spotlight fee”
If you ignore, decline, or question, they either disappear or try to pressure you by mentioning you may “miss a valuable opportunity.”
This scam has been documented by various author watchdog groups, writing magazines, and publishing-industry writers. Reports are increasing. Some writers receiving several scams per week. Even though names, locations, and book club titles vary, the script is almost always the same.
Why This Scam Works
We want other people to love our books as much as we do.
When we receive a message that seems thoughtful and real, it gives us hope. Maybe a book club actually found your work. This could be the start of something big!
Writers are easy to find via websites and social media. Millions of self-published books come out every year, many needing help with reader-reach, making the writer easy to manipulate.
The scammers count on that excitement. Then move quickly from connecting with a writer to convincing the writer to pay them. Using cheap AI tools, they can generate hundreds of variations of these personalized messages to unsuspecting victims.
Example Scams
The following book club scam came to one of the WITS team members the very day I questioned mine:
Dear Ms. Windrow,
Warm literary greetings from … Book Club. My name is … , and I am reaching out on behalf of our vibrant international community of readers who adore romance infused with mythology, humor, and a touch of supernatural mischief.
(The scammer goes on to give immense praise for the book series. Note the warmth in the first paragraph as well as mention of international community, making the group sound huge.)
Because The Redeeming Cupid Collection generated such enthusiastic discussion and delight among our members, we would be truly honored to invite you as our featured guest in an upcoming Virtual Author Spotlight Session. This is a fully online, relaxed, and thoughtfully moderated conversation where our members engage directly with authors about inspiration, mythological adaptation, character arcs, and the emotional core of their stories.
Our sessions are informal, conversational, and scheduled entirely at your convenience, with questions shared in advance to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable experience. Our members would especially love to explore:
(Scammer goes on to list five points derived from book summaries.)
If this invitation resonates with you, we would be delighted to coordinate a date that fits your schedule and provide further details. Thank you for creating a series that blends mythology, romance, and wit into something truly memorable for our book-loving community.
Warmest regards,
…
… Book Club
This is the intro letter. More would follow to obtain “fees.”
More information on Book Club scams may be found here.
This is the basis of the scam sent to me:
“The Obsidian Laureate Award email is a phishing scam designed to steal personal data or money through fake recognition. Scammers often pose as legitimate organizations, asking you to click links, pay a "processing fee," or submit personal information for a "prestigious" award. Do not reply, click links, or pay fees.” Sourced via Social Media search.
Lynette Burrow’s experiences with scammers and what she has done in follow-ups:
I’ve found all of these emails have some part of it that appears to be legitimate: a website, a group, etc. However, if you look carefully at the wording they use describing your book you will find not one original word of praise. Every phrase is scraped from your book page or reviews. There’s not one word that indicates the writer has actually read your book.
I have even engaged with a few people, asking them “why do you need my permission?” Or what could you possibly need? Or “what’s your favorite part” or a specific question about a pivotal scene. If they answer, their answers are vague and sometimes outright wrong. Occasionally I’ll get someone who admits they are trying to get money for some service they think I need.
Legitimate awards don’t need things to get you into the running for their award. They might need “things” from the author IF your book is in the semi-final list, but I’ve never heard of one that “needs” anything to consider your book.
What To Do If You Receive One of These Emails
- Ask for proof that the club is legitimate. A real club will send it. A scammer will circle around the issue, coerce, or not return email.
- Consider copying or taking a screenshot of the email to send to author sites to warn others, mark the email as spam, and delete it.
- Do not send funds. Once you do either the scammer disappears, leaving you with nothing in return, or tries to upsell.
- Don’t send free copies or manuscripts. Some scams use tools that extract data.
- If it’s a scam be sure to report it. You can report to: your email provider, anywhere authors can be found online—Goodreads for example, the Authors Guild, or other writing community groups. The more that’s reported, the faster the pattern becomes recognized.
- While on the Authors Guild site I found a detailed explanation with examples of a book scam similar to the “Nigerian Prince” scam.
- Trust your gut. If it feels wrong, it likely is.
If you receive a tempting invitation step back, take a breath, and look again. Caution now may save you time, funds, frustration, and heartache later. Your time and your work are valuable.
Have you ever received scam email? What clued you in that it was a scam? How did you decide whether or not the email was truly a scam?
* * * * * *
About Ellen
Author, speaker, and former teacher, Ellen L. Buikema has written Parenting ... A Work in Progress, non-fiction for parents, and The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon chapter book series with stories encouraging the development of empathy—sprinkling humor wherever possible. Her Works in Progress are The Hobo Code, YA historical fiction and The Crystal Key, MG Magical Realism/ Sci-Fi, a glaze of time travel.
Find her at https://ellenbuikema.com or on Amazon.
Top Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
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36 comments on “How to Identify & Avoid Author Scams”
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When I'm approached with any of this nonsense, I always respond kindly with this boilerplate:
"Hello [Name], I'm glad you enjoyed [Book Title]. So certainly, please [read/submit/write about] [Book Title] if you want. But just so you know, I won't pay any fees, up front or later in the process. Thanks, Harvey"
I seldom hear from them again.
Harvey this is brilliant!
Thank you for sharing your kind template.
Wow! I just received an email that was so impressive and different from any I’ve ever received. I told them I did not have any funds to market further. They are silent now.
Hi Cherrye,
That tracks! As soon as there are no funds their gone.
Ha! I receive at least one a day.Today's was effusive praise for one of my poetry books. The sender said how much she would like to work with be on marketing.
It's in the bin and she's blocked.
Hi Vivienne,
I imagine these senders are experts at dealing with rejection.
This is such an important topic, Ellen. Thank you for covering it. I have to share that I recently received an email from one of the marketing specialists who posts regularly here on WITS. The email said she'd read my book and had a special deal for me to market my books with her service. The email was highly flattering. Instead of replying to the email, I emailed this marketing specialist via the email WITS uses to contact this person. Yup. It was a total scam. Since then I not only get the book clubs contacting me but I now get best selling authors, names I recognize, reaching out to offer me friendship or assistance. Not one of them is real. SIGH.
Lynette, this is heartbreaking. I wonder how many reputations have been damaged by these scams using other people's names to lure writers in.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
I have received the famous author scam as well. It was such a rush—until a friend pointed out that it was probably a scam. Tips on how to tell the real thing from the scam would be much appreciated.
Here's a link to suggestions from MacAfee: [Link deleted]and one more that may be helpful: [Link deleted]
Great information, Ellen!
These scams seem so prevalent today. I never knew where to report something like this.
Kris
Hi Kris
I'm glad the information is useful!
GoodReads was very responsive and followed up. I don't think anyone wants their reputation sullied.
I have helped a few friends assess scam emails. Always Google the company or organization mentioned with the word "scam." And check the Writer Beware site: [Link deleted]and [Link deleted]Writer Beware is fantastic. There's also a Facebook Group.
Hi Debbie,
Thank you for sharing this valuable information! It's good to know about Writer Beware.
I have received this scam email several times a week. And I don't currently have a book. A few months ago I serialized on my blog a book that was published in 2010 and is currently out of print. I think that is what the scammers have latched onto. So, for me, this was an easy scam to identify. And I simply ignore them.
Good catch!
I'm not sure what the value is in responding and verifying to the scammer that your email is a valid target. I receive at least two of these emails every day, sometimes more. I block and move on.
It seems like most people block and ignore. There are some very aggressive scammers out there.
I get between 15 and 30 of these a day. Last week I also was contacted by many of those "famous authors" who want to be my bestie--including Doris Lessing, contacting me from the grave, apparently. These all come from the same gang of Nigerian scammers, according to Writer Beware. NONE of them is legit. You don't have to contact them to find out they're crooks. But if you do contact them, they will send you more and more scam emails. That was my mistake. Early on I wrote that I was not the addressee. Haha! I only got more--addressed to at least 30 different authors they think can be reached with my email address. This means I get emails using the same script praising thrillers, romances, poetry, and memoirs, all addressed to other authors at my address. Some have names similar to mine, but most seem totally random. There is only one thing to do if you get one of these emails: mark as spam and block sender. You can read more about them at Writer Beware. Thanks for spreading the word. I talk about these creeps on my blog as well. If authors would stop falling for them, maybe they'd let up on the rest of us for a bit.
What a horrible annoyance!
Thank you, Anne, for sharing your experiences.
Writer Beware is a great site to get information on scammers, national as well as international.
Thank you for this advise Anne.
I tend to err on the side of caution. Unsolicited emails that don’t offer a creditable way they found me don’t get answered. No one offering to improve my reach or website discoverability gets answered. Sure as hell no one gets money. Basically, the same rules from the old telephone days: if I didn’t initiate the phone call/communication, I’m not giving out info or payment. I even stick to that with the annual fund drives from my universities. “Thanks for the reminder; I’ll go on line and make a donation.”
Absolutely! These cold calls are phishing. It is wise to err on the side of caution.
Thank you, Rebecca!
I think I have received similar emails saying their on line book club would love to feature one of my novels. They asked for me to suggest which novel to feature and I replied just with a title. The effusive reply suggesting urgency to get everything underway, sounded AI to me. They did have a website, but it was not up to date and the links did not work. Thanks for highlighting this.
The more we share information on this topic the better. To get one's hopes up and then discover it's a scammer is just painful.
Thank you, Janet.
I would like to make additional points about this subject.
I have been approached by these types in the last couple of months. The first I received was a book club type email. I cautiously responded, because, as Ellen mentioned, they go for the psychological jugular via manipulation with positive strokes. Most of their dialogue came directly from my website or Goodreads. I asked about the book club and who participated. They said it was about 2,000 homebodies who like to read and do reviews. When I asked about their base of operations or a web site, they got belligerent and sent a rude comment back. Stating, "Do you want our help or not?" My response . . . .
I joined several promotional groups on FB. Scammers are either setting these pages up, trolling for potential victims, or closely monitoring them. Most contain no meaningful content. Instead they ask you to reply to irrelevant riddles or mathematical games. My retaliatory response is to post my book cover and blurb since the admins obviously don't care about REAL content.
In the past week, I received what appeared to be a legitimate email from someone offering to help market my book. She has a web site and was extremely polite in her responses. However, she began hounding me to let her analyze what I have already done so she can make me a superstar. I asked her where she was located. All she would tell me is that she was based in the US. I asked about her credentials and who she had worked for in the past. She responded with emails suggesting that I contact a list of clients (along with their email addresses) who are already noted on her web site. Curious. 😉 As for her credentials, she gave me a non-answer, saying she had been active in book promotion for three years, but wouldn't tell me with whom she had trained or name her college. My final question was, What are your package prices? She said she would have to look at my marketing efforts to tell me anything. She had no packaged deal. My response again . . . .
Last, I received an unsolicited email from a fellow who wanted to do a video book trailer for me. I told him I wasn't interested at this time, and that I enjoy doing my own. His response was, "If not now, when can I get back to you?" Rolling my eyes, I didn't respond. Yesterday, I received another email from him. So, of course my response was with my index finger. . . .
There are a couple of FB pages where a specific fellow warns people against scammers, but he also boasts about his wide ranging promotional skills and years of expertise. His comments are usually quite lengthy. His content makes sense, but why all the ego? Is he trolling for victims too?
I responded to these people only out of curiosity, because I want to understand their angles to protect myself. Truly, anyone who contacts authors unsolicited is probably dishonest.
It's a jungle out there fellow writers! Be sure to carry your pop gun against the weasels. 🙂
SueSimonich.com
Yes, Sue, we need to be diligently cautious.
Thank you for sharing your experiences!
Ellen,
Thank you for tackling this time sensitive topic! These scams get more pervasive every day. Can't open the inbox without tripping over something, and those are just the ones the spam filters miss!
Hi Lisa,
I was happy to write about on this rather dark and troubling topic. Now, if only we could shine enough light on scammers and have them stop.
Once you determine it's a scam, it's best to not respond.
Denise, that sounds prudent. Great suggestion!
I get two or three of these types of emails a week. The flattery is often very specific about my book and characters. I know those emails are too good to be true yet I so desperately want them to be. It's discouraging and disheartening that they target authors this way.
Donna, it can be absolutely heartbreaking. One becomes so hopeful and those hopes may be dashed, especially for those new to publishing.
Thanks for keeping us informed.
Hi Leslie,
No worries. We need to be supportive of one another.