I’ve recently gotten a slew of reports of emails purporting to be from editors at Big 5 and other large publishers, in which the supposed editor expresses interest in the writer’s work and asks whether they have a literary agent. I’ve posted a number of examples below. Apologies for so many images, but I wantedRead More

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a rising and extremely prolific marketing scam that I’ve been able to trace back to operators in Nigeria. Using highly personalized (AI-generated) email solicitations that make it seem the sender (always with a Gmail address, always presenting as a marketing or PR expert) has really read the book,Read More

I doubt that there will be anyone reading this article who hasn’t been targeted by a writing scam. That’s how prevalent and aggressive they are these days. Fraudsters who prey on writers employ a variety of methods to recruit clients: advertising (especially on Facebook, which is awash in ads for scam publishing service providers), sponsoredRead More

Unsure if the latest “marketing expert” emailing you is a scammer or not? Here’s an ongoing list of them.

Every author wants their book to reach readers—but in the world of publishing, that dream can make writers vulnerable to marketing scams.

More pain than a person should ever bear, some echoes of memory and nightmare, and how a contract with a Faerie is likely to end

The claim that a literary masterpiece was merely the output of a machine is a provocative accusation, one that strikes at the heart of how we value human creativity.

Capítulo 11: She´s a killer queen. —”Pizorro…” Daniel se acercó calmadamente a la mesa de reuniones, mirando a todos los presentes fijamente, casi intimidante. —Cabrón, estamos ocupados con algo ahora...

Después de despertar del coma y tres semanas de recuperación, a Luca se le concedió permiso para salir de la unidad médico-científica. Cynthia apareció tan seductora como siempre. Entró en la habitaci...

If your author email inbox (or spam folder) is filled with messages supposedly from big name authors (or agents and publishers), emails from randos asking to beta read your book, or out-of-the-blue invitations to feature your book in their book cl...

El calor del mediodía aplastaba el caserío. No corría aire. Tras los tablones de las ventanas, el pueblo contenía el aliento. Doce caballos ocupaban la calle de zanja a zanja. Resollaban y hacían cruj...

Rob Bignell is the owner and chief editor of Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the editing and proofreading needs of writers both new and published. Several of his short stories in the literary and science fiction genres have been published, and he is the author of the literary novel Windmill, the nonfiction Storytelling 101 Quick Reads, 7 Minutes a Day…, Best Sights to See, Hikes with Tykes, Headin’ to the Cabin, and Hittin’ the Trail guidebooks, a poetry collection and several children’s books. His latest book is Protecting Yourself against Book Marketing Scams. For more than two decades, he worked as an award-winning journalist, with half of those years as an editor. He spent another seven years as an English teacher and community college journalism instructor. He holds a master’s degree in English and a bachelor’s in journalism and English. For more about Rob, visit his website, check out his blog, and listen to his podcast. You can also follow him on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Threads and X/Twitter. In today’s conversation, we’ll be talking about avoiding scam artists in the publishing world.

A first-person investigation into how scammers impersonate a real London book club — and how authors can fight back It started, as these things often do, with a flattering email. On March 8, I rece…

With their blend of ego and insecurity, writers are ideal marks for swindlers promising fortune and glory. Chatbots have turbocharged the con.