So, here are the scam schemes that scammers use against writers.
1. The “Famous Author” Message
Out of the blue, you receive a private message or an email from a supposedly popular author. They say they are happy to connect with fellow writers. They ask what you write, how things are going, mention that things didn’t go well for them at first either, but then they found a marketer who set everything up so brilliantly that they are now successful.
And if you want, they can share the contact of this amazing specialist.
The scam is that it’s not the author writing to you. It’s the “specialist” himself. Later, the specialist will ask you for a few hundred dollars, naturally without guaranteeing anything.
2. The “Book Club Chairman” Letter
You receive an email from someone claiming to be the chairman of a book club with 2,000–3,000 members. He says he has read your book and that it is absolutely amazing—followed by vague praise clearly generated by AI from your blurb or Amazon preview. He expresses surprise that the book has no Amazon reviews and is not popular. He complains that Amazon hides great books and offers to present your book to a community that is supposedly waiting just for it.
All you need to do is leave small tips for each reader—$20–25 per read. Then the “chairman” asks how many readers you would like to start with.
The problem isn’t just the audacity, even if this were real. The scam is that there is no community at all.
3. The “Seasonal Event” Invitation
A coordinator contacts you, claiming to represent a seasonal book event. They noticed your book and say you are invited. You only need to pay a fee.
The problem is that the event does not exist.
4. The Goodreads Listopia “Specialist”
One of my favorite scams because of how absurd it is. Someone writes to you claiming to be a Listopia specialist on Goodreads. Listopia is simply user-created themed book lists—any user can make one. This so-called specialist offers to include your book in a themed list, explaining how difficult it is and claiming that they invest their own money in positioning your book.
In principle, there would be nothing inherently fraudulent here if they weren’t lying. It would be similar to a blogger with a real audience offering a paid review. But in this scheme, they lie. These lists mean nothing, they are not valued by Goodreads, and they do not appear on the front page. This only makes sense if the list belongs to a very popular reader or reviewer—and those people, of course, do not send out such offers.
Second, these scammers add your book to completely irrelevant lists. For example, my literary fairy tale in Russian (even though an English version exists) was added by this idiot to English-language lists of vampire novels and travel books—at positions 84 and 91. Who is going to browse lists of 100 books?
Overall, this is a very stupid and very brazen scam.
5. The “Major Publisher” Long Con
This one is more elaborate. First, you receive a message from the editor-in-chief of a major publishing house. The name is real, taken from the publisher’s website—but she writes from a Gmail address. She says she was fortunate enough to become acquainted with your book. In my case, someone from HarperCollins was supposedly “fortunate” to read a hardcore sadomasochistic gay novel, which they allegedly wanted to publish. I’ll be honest: it’s an extremely explicit, brutal, provocative book, and no censored American publisher would touch it today. This is not the 1990s or 2000s.
She then says that the only thing standing between me and Stephen King–level fame is the lack of an agent, and recommends one, suggesting I contact the agent directly. This is the first clear red flag. If this were real, the editor would assign an agent immediately, who would contact the author directly.
Still, I contact the agent. She asks for the manuscript. I send it. After a few days, she replies with a letter that makes it obvious she has not read the book. You would see that instantly too.
But now she advises me to contact another specialist she trusts, who will provide a pre-editorial reading (what exactly is that, if this is supposed to be the agent’s job?). The point is that this pre-editorial reader requires payment.
After that, everyone disappears, of course.
Of course, there are many other schemes, but these are the most popular now. Take care, my dear writers, and remember, it's you, who write a better world.
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