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Jan 4, 2024 · Question: today I received an email addressed to my pseudonym from (someone who owns a book review website). She claims she reviews new books, has been doing this for years, and has increased the sales of new authors.
Aug 13, 2020 · The solicitation is the main indicator, but scam sign is all over the website: non-working social media and other links, false claims to rep trad-pubbed books, and there’s no independent evidence of the existence of any of the supposed agents.
Aug 21, 2019 · Stay safe, avoid scammers, and we know you’ll find the right professionals for your book soon enough! – Originally published on Aug 21, 2019. This guide exposes some of the most common scams and shows you how to identify which publishing companies to avoid.
I currently use Amazon and Goodreads where I see reviews for books that aren't even out yet or reviews that read like they are straight from the publisher.
- Pirates, Scammers, and Nary A Cap’n Jack Sparrow in Sight
- How to Identify Book and Author Scams
- Examine Behaviour
- Pirating Books
- Stay Vigilant Against Book Pirates
- Over to You
Book pirates and author scams in their various guises are the bane of us indie authors. Advance Review Copies (ARCs) are an accepted method of gaining traction for reviews of a new release. However, ARCs attract scammers like blood in the water attracts sharks. Vigilance is the watchword if you wish to safeguard your hard work. ALLi asked if I woul...
Let me stick with that analogy because it blends in well with the second suggestion of looking at the language scammers are likely to use. A police officer takes more notice of actions in determining if someone is deemed to be a suspect potentially engaging in criminal activity. You may call actions behaviour. It’s the behaviour of the scammer or c...
Remember what I said earlier about behaviour? This message is a lie. One, I tried it myself and the link to the ARC works. Two, my dashboard showed several others had downloaded the ARC. Three, the site operates a ‘help’ system for those in difficulty. This was a blatant attempt to bypass the Booksprout system and grab my book for free, no doubt wi...
I found one URL and headline which screamed proudly: Free books are just awesome. You may have guessed where it was – no prizes for a correct answer – it was a sub-Reddit called ‘Piracy.’ The poster was extolling the virtues of “stealing copyright” and getting books for free. Then I found other threads in the same ‘Piracy’ sub-Reddit. One gave deta...
The scale of the problem is immense. Short of a central registry1of properly identified scammers, the only viable solution is for every one of us in the writing community to be vigilant against author scams. Be vigilant especially when dealing with requests for free books in the form of ARCs. If you find your suspicions are confirmed as in my Polly...
Have you ever been victim of an author scam? Had someone try to scam you and your books? What happened? What did you do? Leave a comment below. If you enjoyed this post you might enjoy these from the archive:
Jan 10, 2021 · For more on this audacious scam go to Writer Beware, Book Review Scams are Everywhere. Authors are obsessed with book reviews, especially on Amazon. That’s probably why solicitations by paid book review services are the most common scams I find in my inbox.
Oct 1, 2020 · Europe Books may have a legitimate seeming website, but there are reasons for Writer Beware to issue a warning about it.
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