book marketing scams Archives - All That Chazz: Your Brain Tickle Destination

Spot a Scammer

The first thing you may notice is that the grammar and syntax miss the mark. The sender’s first language is not English. That alone is not disqualifying, of course, but it’s not a good sign if they intend to market English books for you. When I turned down a chancer, they asked, “Why? Do you think I am scam?” (SIC)

The less sophisticated emails are more generic, and the template they’re using for mass emails is evident. (e.g. “I just ran across your excellent novel <<title of book>> by <<Author>>.)

For some reason, the name of the book promoter is often two feminine first names. Sarah Sally is excited to read and sell your book for you!

Like any author, I need more reviews of my books. Several times, I’ve been approached by someone whose marketing plan would contravene Amazon’s terms of service. So, they get money, and I lose my account and livelihood? Great! For them.

More Tip offs

The salutation says, “Hi Author Robert!”

They have no website and no or very low presence on social media.

Their email is a generic Gmail address. (e.g. bestbookmarketing.au.bookbar.uk@gmail….)

They impersonate a real book marketer from a reputable company, but when you go to the real person, the contact info doesn’t match. When that happens, I let the impersonated person know.

HOT TIP #1: Always research by going to the source directly. Do not click a link within an email.)

In the past couple of days, I’ve received offers for deals on their book promotion for “the festive season.” It’s already December 3. A little late to pull together a helpful book marketing campaign for Christmas, isn’t it?

Some scammers are persistent to the point of aggression, sometimes even harassment. When I ignored one particularly relentless scammer, I suddenly got a one-star rating on my latest book. Can I be sure it was the suitor I rejected? No, but the timing was suspicious, and it hurt because the book has, as yet, so few reviews. After that, instead of ignoring scammers, I opted to reply with a polite but firm, “No, thank you.”

It’s exceedingly rare for authors to get approached for something they didn’t sign up for. Real book promoters simply work with authors who come to them, not the other way around. That stipulated, I have had a few entreaties from real agents, publishers, and book promoters. When that happens, I have to look at them really hard before I can take them seriously. That’s part of the problem.

The Danger

A new one this morning came very close to getting me. The pitch was good, but the sourcing didn’t pass. Anybody (including authors) can plug a prompt into ChatGPT and get the same book marketing advice as the scammers do. These people aren’t adding real value. The trouble authors face is not having the budget to overcome the noise. Getting a signal through to actual readers and reviewers is difficult.

Beyond wastes of time and money and the damage to the environment, these AI scam pitches harbor a deeper danger. They poison our media environment. AI hallucinations and deep fake videos erode trust. With the newest gizmo, Nano Banana, you can’t trust anything you see. I loved images from the James Webb telescope, but stopped sharing them because I couldn’t tell what was real, what was enhanced, and what was fake.

If an honest-to-goodness pitch comes along, it’s become an act of self-defense to treat all information with a skepticism that devolves to easy cynicism. If there’s clear video evidence of a politician doing something heinous, they’ll dismiss it with “It’s just AI!”

Can’t write a book on your own? Flood the zone with prompts to an AI that yields trite, soulless regurgitation.

When you use your media literacy and critical thinking skills, the scammer replies, “Who are you going to believe? Me? Or your lyin’ eyes!”

Writing for a living is hard. Waving away the gnats would be a minor strain were it not for their ubiquity.

HOT TIP #2: When in doubt of a sketchy email, check it out. Writer Beware has a searchable database to check out the names and reputations.

Book marketing is not easy, so I was looking for help with that. Then, I almost got scammed by a clever ruse.

Beware of charmers

Famous children’s author Robert Munsch followed me on Bluesky, only it wasn’t Robert Munsch. The conversation started off nicely, especially since I already had a tangential connection to the author. In the late ’80s, I worked in trad publishing in Toronto. Working for Lester & Orpen Dennys and Cannon Books, I was a book rep. Traveling all over Toronto to sell to bookstores, Robert Munsch’s books were always the easiest to sell. He is beloved, and I sold all his books.

Enter the Grift

I’m used to being approached by book marketers in social media and email. That’s fine. The clever part of this scam was the third-party recommendation. When it’s honest, third-party recommendations are the best! I love it when my readers spread the good word about my novels. Their recommendations and happy reviews carry much more weight than me hanging out on street corners and whispering, “Psst! Wanna buy a book? It’s great, I swear! The story will melt your face and taste like fudge!”

When Not-Bob-Munsch on Bluesky asked about my work, I was fooled and flattered. When he suggested I speak with his agent about book marketing, I was happy to hear more. It was a little weird in that he claimed this third party was his agent. From what I saw, it looked like her sole focus was marketing books. That isn’t unheard of, mind you. There used to be many more literary agents. Changes in the publishing industry have led quite a few agents to switch lanes to book marketing, courses, and consulting. I assume many of them are now real estate agents.

Warning Signs

There was a mistake in the Munsch profile on Bluesky, but it was minor. I didn’t have shields up yet. It was the conversation with the book marketer that made me increasingly leery. She was polite, but her syntax was slightly off. As I read and reread the details of what she offered her clients, it appeared AI-generated. She outlined an ambitious plan at a very low cost. That rang more alarm bells.

I wondered, what’s the upsell here? I asked if her fee was for a PDF with the details needed to better sell my next book. She said our interaction could involve more than that, check-ins and personal coaching to meet deadlines. As a poor writer, I have anxiety about money. Hell, I wear a wallet with a chain so thick it could be a bike chain. (There’s a dire clue to my trust issues around money.)

When book marketer sent a link for payment of $250, I asked a couple more questions, stalling until I could do a deeper dive.

The Clincher

“Are we still connected?” the book marketer asked from the Bluesky chat. She seemed too eager to get me to click that payment link.

“Can’t deal with this at the moment,” I replied. “I’ll get back to you soon.”

A couple of hours later, Not-Bob-Munsch was checking in to see how I was. This didn’t ring true at all. I remember Bob as a very nice guy, but who has this kind of time? Given her public profile, I said I was surprised the person he recommended was his agent.

His answer was tangential. “Oh, she’s the best at blah, blah, blah.” After a short pause, “She’s my only agent!”

My Final Confirmation

That tore it. Google is your friend. The real Robert Munsch is represented by the CookeMcDermid agency. It got so much worse than that. I called up a friend to tell him about the attempt on my precious dollars. He did some googling of his own. “Robert Munsch is battling dementia.”

That was crushing.

A fraud was using Robert Munsch’s name for clout. It’s especially disappointing when fraudsters slide beneath your low expectations. I did the blocking thing. Oddly, I couldn’t figure out how to report the fraudulent account on Bluesky. They’re a new platform with very few employees. I like Bluesky a lot, but the user interface isn’t quite there yet. I did reach out to CookeMcDermid, though. I doubt they can do much about a book marketer from Florida using skeezy tactics, but I thought they should be aware what’s going on.

Anyone can claim to become a book marketer and, with time and experience, be helpful and make it true. No one can get there who starts off marketing themselves so dishonestly.

The Takeaway

Shipping News author Ann Proulx didn’t follow me, either. For a little while, I thought she had. Alas.

There are decent people trying to make an earnest living at marketing books. Frankly, I’d rather have someone do all my marketing for me. Until that happy day, I’ll continue to educate myself and do what I can. Be wary. There are hunters in the dark corners of the interwoods, and they’re hunting wabbits. You’re the wabbit.

That warning applies no matter who you are.