I am the most awesome, fabulous writer! I must be, judging by the many emails I receive telling me how great I am. Recently, books of mine have been called "compelling," "mesmerizing," "transforming," with "memorable characters" and "deep understanding of the human condition." What's more, I've received two movie possibilities, offers to improve my book sales, and invitations to several book clubs.
I am in high demand, as are my fellow authors, if one were to believe these scams. Often we receive the same emails with the same misspelled words; or an email addressing us by the wrong name, mentioning the wrong book title, or some other giveaway. The email sender may claim to simply want to talk about a book. The mention of money rarely appears in the first correspondence, though it's certain to rear its head in the second or third email. And nothing it promises is real.
We know better than to respond to these glowing descriptions of our books from supposed publicists, publishing-related people, and book club leaders, but they are are sooo enticing. They go on and on how we make readers feel and understand universal themes in a personal and poignant manner and presented in beautifully written prose. The highest form of flattery any novelist could ask for.
Some years ago before this recent flurry of scams, I received a glowing email from a famous "filmmaker" who wanted to make a movie based on one of my books. The email looked totally authentic. It included phone numbers and emails. Excited, I sent it to my agent, and she thought it was legit. Until she checked further and it turned out to be phony.
Do these scammers think we make tons of money? I imagine, like the robo call most of us ignore, there are enough people falling for their spiels or they wouldn't be doing it. Which is why it's so important for us writers to be in constant communication with each other--through writers' groups and social media-- to avoid falling for the latest ruse.
Have you ever fallen or been tempted by a scam?
And AI has exponentially increased the volume of this.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I had 4 new scams in my email this morning.
DeleteThe AI component that worries me is how good they are getting at providing deeper details. It used to be the scammers would craft their pitch based on a book's blurb. Now, they use details included in the "Look Inside" features, combine information from your website, blogs you've written, etc.
ReplyDeleteI almost labeled spam and blocked an inquiry from a legitimate press, but it sounded just a tad different, had a corporate email address, and the name and email checked out with the press's website. So, I responded--but it took some time to confirm it was legit.
Jim, You're so right. So far we can tell the difference between real and scam. But there's the possibility that sometimes we might overlook a genuine invitation.
DeleteWhat! You mean they’re NOT legit? LOL. There was one I almost fell for at the very beginning of the email deluge. I was in the querying process, and the email referenced a referral by an acquisition agent I queried. Luck? Or was AI watching? I’ll never know. I checked the alleged agent’s name, and guess what? The spelling was close, but no cigar. These days I simply block and mark the solicitation as spam. I might miss a legitimate offer, but the cruel truth of the industry is agents, publishers, and the like do not need to reach out to writers. They have enough writers contacting them.
ReplyDeleteI've thankfully escaped this madness, but I do receive hundreds of text messages "pay now! delinquent payment!" which are hoaxes.
ReplyDeleteThe scammers try to get at us all different ways.
DeleteAnd here I thought there was a sudden popular interest in 10-year-old out-of-print crime novels. Guess I better look elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteBecause I write long and short, I've received a number of interesting ones...often, addressing my short story, but addressed as if I'm (fill in name of editor that they picked up) with the short story anthologies that I've been in. I very much admire people like Michael Bracken and Josh Pachter, so I hate getting their emails.
ReplyDeleteThey address us by the wrong name and pretend to be people in the publishing world.
DeleteNot yet, Marilyn, though I've gotten a few glowing ones that made me pause before my better judgment kicked in. Thanks for the reminder to keep each other in the loop on these. We also need to be aware that people are impersonating US and trying to solicit information from our readers. It's always good to have a statement on your website about where your emails come from. I just added a statement to my contact page if anybody needs inspiration: https://www.saraheburr.com/socialmediahub
ReplyDeleteSarah, That's a great idea.
DeleteI wonder if blocking them is the right thing to do. Does that tell them that there IS a human at that address and they should try harder? Between those and now, the incessant political texts, I almost want to find a cave and retreat for a year or so. (I DO block them, but it doesn't slow them down.)
ReplyDeleteI simply don't reply.
DeleteWhat a timely post — those scam emails are getting so sophisticated! It's scary how they target authors specifically. On a completely different note, for any wrestling fans here, WatchWrestling.center is my go-to site for catching up on shows — https://watchwrestling.center/ keeps everything in one place. Stay safe out there!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if other groups of professionals and workers receive similar email scams.
DeleteThey're really getting good- I get dozens of these every week- it's exhausting!
ReplyDelete