Purposeful Prose Advice Column: The Scam Detector

Dear Purposeful Prose, 

I’ve recently published my first book, and I shared my success on social media. I’m proud of myself for writing the book, and getting a lot of sales would be great, but I don’t expect much right away. I received a facebook message from a “Susan Carol” (name changed for the purpose of this post) that told me my book was incredibly impressive but wasn’t getting a lot of sales. Her company could republish my book with additional editing services, formatting, and cover design for $500 upfront. I know that this is a scam, and I blocked the person immediately, but the sad thing is that I know some people who would fall for this. What happens when people fall for scams like this? How do we know what’s a scam and what’s genuine?

If you receive a direct message from a person who claims to be a publisher, a book promoter, a creator of book trailers, even an editor, it’s safe to keep your guard up. It’s easy to test an editor’s credibility. If an editor provides you with a unique sample edit and a clear contract, you’ll probably have a genuine editor. On the other hand, if your editor gives you feedback that reads as AI-generated, does not give you a sample edit before taking on your project, or massively undercharges, they aren’t as genuine as they might have claimed. 

Publishers don’t cold call. Some vanity publishers will solicit authors and offer book packages with cover designs, advertising, and other services like formatting and editing. However, if you want to be safe, you should do the most research if you want to hire a vanity publisher. What authors have they worked with? What services have they offered? What does their site traffic look like? How do they advertise? 

If someone claiming to be a publisher reaches out to you, lead with some skepticism. If you have an email, compare it to the contact emails on the publisher’s website. If they are the same, don’t stop there.

The Author’s Guild says, “Legitimate publishers don’t require large upfront fees from authors. This and promises of premium bookstore placement for an additional cost are major red flags. First-time authors should research any publishing service thoroughly, seek references from other authors, and be especially wary of any company demanding substantial payments before providing services.”

While this resource isn’t completely comprehensive, they give examples of “publishers” and other scams that target authors. This resource gets updated, so be sure to check back frequently!

The most popular kinds of messages I’ve seen come from people claiming to be book promoters, those that advertise books on their platform for a price, or people claiming to be publishers. It is a scam. Maybe your book gets posted somewhere, but it’s an expensive gamble. More than likely, you won’t get a return on that investment, but it doesn’t end there. 

Some scams start and end in the same place. You’ll lose money and you’ll learn from the experience. At worst, other scammers will be made aware that you’re susceptible to scams. Unfortunately, scammers have gotten smarter. You might have noticed that I censored the name that was in this submission. 

There are scammers who make fake profiles using the pictures and names of real, searchable people. I censored the name above because the original name might be used to implicate someone innocent. 

If you and your loved ones have a digital footprint, there is a chance that people with ill intent will use it. That is to say, the question of what’s a scam and what’s genuine can, in the worst circumstances, be difficult to answer. 

Author-targeted scams are widespread, but my advice boils down to this: stay vigilant, stay skeptical, and stay informed. Show as much care to yourself and to your book as you did when you were writing it. 

If you have a writing or editing-focused question, I would be more than happy to dedicate a post to you. Contact us with any questions you might have or to schedule a free consultation with yours truly!

All submissions will remain anonymous unless you explicitly request for me to include your name.