10 Tips for Avoiding Scammers for Authors
There are scammers trying to take advantage of new authors. They always begin with flattery for your work. For example, in the subject heading:
Joy Overcame Sorrow — A Testimony That Names the Promise and Delivers the Proof That Joy Is Not the Absence of Sorrow But What Comes After.
Of course, the first few emails like this I found exhilarating because someone was acknowledging my work. I quickly found out that these pleasant words usually came at a cost. For example, in the AI Overview, strengths and weaknesses are shared and James wants to fix the problem, thus a proposal.
AI Overview
James detailed strong structural merits of your book, Joy Overcame Sorrow.
James found major untapped discovery assets on Goodreads/Amazon.
Reply to James expressing interest in receiving a detailed proposal.
I was talking with my author consultant in Readers Magnet about the number of emails I get asking for money for paid book reviews for Goodreads and Amazon, or a visibility promotion plan. I sent him some of these emails to review. He gave me some information and tips to avoid the scammers.
Be aware that there are scammers impersonating other authors and organizations. They provide fake websites, fake reviews, and even produce deepfake videos. Remember the expression, “Trust, but verify.”
Use Duck-Duck-Go to check on the legitimacy of the website.
Contact organizations separately to ask about the content of the email. You can do a search for the organization and add the word “Scam,” and you may find your answer.
Notice that many of these emails rely on using AI.
Check email addresses: Gmail addresses are often not trustworthy. If they are legitimate, there should be an organizational email address and website that you can check out.
Ask for webpages, a FB page, or a LinkedIn profile to verify the individual.
Ensure websites are legitimate. For example, I received an email from TheBookShow.com, and the real address for The Book Show is wamc.org.
I received an email from SONY with a logo and everything requesting Film Adaptation Rights to my book. Who wouldn’t be flattered? It turns out the film industry never does cold calls, never expresses urgency, and the domain was not legitimate.
Avoid Upwork projects with foreign names where they request you sign a contract and submit full payment. I was talking with someone on social media, and it sounded promising until the above things occurred. I quickly blocked them
Proofread the email for misspellings and grammatical errors. If they are foreign scammers, they often make mistakes.
You have put a lot of time into your amazing work, so hopefully these tips will help you avoid being scammed. I am sure there are more out there coming my way, but now I know what to look for. I also realized I do not have to respond to everyone. It is not an urgent matter. I will always verify the source from this point forward.
