Authors, need your book published in time for the Christmas shopping season? Contact us RIGHT AWAY and get $125 off at BookLocker! Details and the discount code are RIGHT HERE. 

We’re all being inundated with spam, unsolicited social media messages, and marketing phone calls from scammers right now. We are receiving DOZENS of forwarded scam emails from authors daily!

Many authors are flummoxed by the extremely accurate book descriptions the scammers are using when contacting authors with (false!) praise about their books.

Q – 

I received an email today from someone calling herself Marilyn E. Smith. The note is very flattering, well-written, and offers to help promote my book but it comes from a generic Gmail address, and gives no (verifiable) business information. No company name, website, location, or a way to contact other than by “reply”.

I did find an Amazon author page linked to Marilyn E. Smith with one book, in a similar genre to mine, but that’s all. I don’t know if the solicitation is legitimate, but I figured that if I’m already more visible online than she is, she’s probably not the marketing strategist for me. Nevertheless, the email was polished and persuasive enough that I wonder if I’m just being too paranoid, and I might be missing out on a legitimate service by not responding. The email is tailored to my book’s content and voice, but could have been assembled automatically. Can A.I. scan a book’s online information and produce a personalized-sounding sales pitch? Is this a thing?

A – 

It’s a scam.If you do ask them for a website, they will either tell you it’s only for their “members” (you have to pay first to get that!), or they will send you a webpage link that’s using a free service (like scammer-page.wix-vibe.com). No legitimate company uses a free site like that.

We’re receiving reports of this exact same scam several times every day now. James M. Walsh, Esq. is currently writing an article for us about the influx of Gmail Email Scammers. Any legitimate company has their own website, and an email address that uses that domain (i.e. angela@writersweekly.com). Any so-called company contacting you from a Gmail email address should be avoided at all costs. Gmail has lost control over the number of scammers using their service. It’s likely well into the millions, if not more. Why would a scammer bother to put up a website when they can hoodwink thousands of authors with false praise that was written using AI?

Yes, they’re absolutely using A.I. to write those pitches! It’s not hard. They pull the book’s description from Amazon, and possibly even the excerpt of a book they found online. They then copy and paste that into an AI program, which instantly creates a convincing description of the book. They can even ask AI specifically to create (false!) praise for your book! Then, they use a search engine to find the author’s contact information. Some scammers, after failing to contact the author directly, will reach out to the author’s relatives online, telling them they MUST have the author contact them (the scammers) RIGHT AWAY! Talk about desperate marketing!!

THE AUTHOR REPLIED:

Wow. Creepy! I’m disappointed it wasn’t real, and really grateful to you. You’ve saved me time & money and prevented shame and embarrassment.

Thank you!

MY REPLY: 

Just doing my job! 🙂 I’m so glad I could help! So many authors do NOT do their research and they’re getting scammed left and right. 🙁

RELATED

• Is Your Favorite Writing Group on Facebook Being Moderated by a Scammer?
• “Celebrity Author” Impersonators Are Fooling Unwary (Real!) Authors
• NEW SCAM! “Pay us $26K and we’ll stock 3,500 copies of your book in 150 stores!”
• 11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer (You’ll probably only need to check #1 to prove it!) – by Angela Hoy, Publisher
• Scammers Are Offering to “Help” Scam Victims Get Refunds…For a Fee, of Course
• A Scammer is Impersonating Macmillan Publishers
• A FAKE “Celebrity” Tried to Romance Scam Me But He Messed with the Wrong Chick!

Authors, need your book published in time for the Christmas shopping season? Contact us RIGHT AWAY and get $125 off at BookLocker! Details and the discount code are RIGHT HERE. 

Q –

How can I get my book published without being scammed?

A – 

The good news is that more and more authors are waking up, and avoiding getting scammed by the thousands of fake publishing websites that are operating now in Pakistan, Nigeria, the Philippines, and India.

However, authors are gun-shy about signing up with anyone because there are seemingly now far more fake “publishers” than there are legitimate ones. They are EVERYWHERE! And, Meta (the owner of Facebook and Instagram) keeps accepting paid ads from them, making the scam operations look legitimate.

The publishers at the link below ARE located in the U.S.:

https://writersweekly.com/compare

If you hire a publisher who is actually located in the U.S., you have an excellent chance of getting your money back if things go awry. Remember that all of the scam publishers have fake U.S. addresses!

Also, remember to ALWAYS pay with a credit card. Never, EVER pay with a bank transfer or any electronic service. If you do, you’ll never get your money back. All legitimate companies accept credit card payments. Also, remember to avoid anyone who contacts you out of the blue on any forum, including via email and by cold calling you.

Spammers are scammers!

If you are shopping for a publisher, you MUST read this list!

11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer (You’ll probably only need to check #1 to prove it!)

RELATED

• A List of Publishers and Services That ALL Authors Should AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
• Money Mule! Has Someone Online Asked You to Innocently Accept Money on Their Behalf? – by Angela Hoy and James M. Walsh, Esq.
• Amazon KDP Continues to INFURIATE (and TERMINATE) Authors!
• BEWARE! How to Determine if a “Literary Agent” is Legit or a Crook
• DON’T MISS THIS ONE! Genre Library Solutions / genrelibrarysolutions.com Tries to Trick Us Into Removing Our Warning About Them; Gets Caught Committing Additional Fraud Instead!!!
• “Celebrity Author” Impersonators Are Fooling Unwary (Real!) Authors
• Is Your Favorite Writing Group on Facebook Being Moderated by a Scammer?

Authors, need your book published in time for the Christmas shopping season? Contact us RIGHT AWAY and get $125 off at BookLocker! Details and the discount code are RIGHT HERE. 

THE FALL, 2025 24-HOUR SHORT STORY CONTEST WILL BE ON SATURDAY, September 20, 2025! Only 500 participants permitted so DON’T DELAY IF YOU WANT TO PLAY!!

Q – 

I have given money to one of these scammers. I feel very foolish… Hemingway Publishers. I realized that everything they are promising is unrealistic. My concerns are that they have a copy of my almost completed book. Can they steal my book? That’s almost more important to me than stealing my identity. Thank you so much for your time and your website!

A – 

I get that question a lot. It’s doubtful they’re going to steal your manuscript. They’re making FAR too much money ripping off authors with fake services than they would by actually publishing authors’ manuscripts.

For our readers:

Hemingway Publishers/ hemingwaypublishers.com
Committing violations on THIS LIST. They even have their own name appearing incorrectly on their website. According to Facebook, they have page managers in PAKISTAN. The showcased book on their cover design page, Viagem ao Centro da Terra, was published by another company (exact same cover!) seven years before this firm’s website existed. We also found scathing reviews about them online.

RELATED

• A List of Publishers and Services That ALL Authors Should AVOID AT ALL COSTS! (Hemingway Publishers IS on this list!)
• 11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer (You’ll probably only need to check #1 to prove it!)
• WARNING from $40,000 Elderly Victim of The Book Professionals / TheBookProfessionals.com
• Episode 21: 20K Publishing Scam Victim Shares Her Own Story
• Money Mule! Has Someone Online Asked You to Innocently Accept Money on Their Behalf? – by Angela Hoy and James M. Walsh, Esq.
• Amazon KDP Continues to INFURIATE (and TERMINATE) Authors!

Read More "Ask The Expert" Articles

This author contacted Angela for advice about a scammer. Then, she courageously has agreed to share her story with all of us! 🙂

I just read the article about an elderly gentleman who was scammed by an illegitimate publisher. My story is similar, however, with a different publisher based in Pakistan. Unfortunately, I do not have the means to pursue this further, except to expose this scam through a platform such as yours.

In early September of 2024, I contacted The Book Professionals (TheBookProfessionals.com) through their website to inquire about publishing my memoir manuscript. They were happy to have my business, and immediately placed me in touch with their marketing manager, “Chris Morris.” He wasted no time advising me on the best and most expensive marketing and publishing packages available, and, for the benefit and success of my book, convinced me to opt for the costliest option: the Premium Package. Although I felt he might be taking advantage of my naivety, inexperience, and age, he smoothly persuaded me to trust his expertise and experience, and to move forward.

I made it clear that I did not have disposable income; I live on a fixed income, have good credit, and no savings. Chris repeatedly told me not to worry because authors don’t need credit cards; in other words, my royalties would give me plenty of money to live on. “Just trust me,” Chris kept telling me. Like me, he believed in God (or at least he said he did), and we had to think He would provide for us.

After two months, when I realized my book project was not advancing, and I was not being allowed to review the work I had paid for in advance, I began to doubt the legitimacy of the company. At this point, I had nothing to show for my time spent with the publisher: a phone call from Chris each morning, but deceit, unfulfilled promises, and an investment of over $40,000, which I had paid in advance for services that I never received.

My two adult daughters, recognizing the flaws in this arrangement, decided to investigate further, without my knowledge, including communicating with the FBI, which confirmed that this company was indeed on the FBI’s radar.

Ultimately, after reporting my predicament to the appropriate local authorities and the FBI, I am left owing over $25,000 in credit card debt. I have had to enter a debt relief program, which has detrimentally affected my previously excellent credit, not to mention my self-loathing and embarrassment. I am learning that these tactics are prevalent within the scammers in the publishing industry, and my experience is not isolated.

EDITOR’S NOTES ABOUT COMMON TACTICS USED BY THIS SCAMMER AND OTHERS:

• “Just trust me…” is a common scammer statement.
• They initially ask what your religion is, and then they pretend to be the same.
• They use fake American names. Many of them don’t understand English names, and use two English first names.
• You can find more common practices that scammers targeting authors use RIGHT HERE.

RELATED

• EXTREME WARNINGS about Times Book Publishing / TimesBookPublishing.com, World Publishing and Co, AND Ink Shelf Studios / InkShelfStudios.com
• Scammers Are Offering to “Help” Scam Victims Get Refunds…For a Fee, of Course
• Amazon KDP Continues to INFURIATE (and TERMINATE) Authors!
• DON’T MISS THIS ONE! Genre Library Solutions / genrelibrarysolutions.com Tries to Trick Us Into Removing Our Warning About Them; Gets Caught Committing Additional Fraud Instead!!!
• “Celebrity Author” Impersonators Are Fooling Unwary (Real!) Authors
• NEW SCAM! “Pay us $26K and we’ll stock 3,500 copies of your book in 150 stores!”
• 11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer (You’ll probably only need to check #1 to prove it!) – by Angela Hoy, Publisher
• Episode 1 of the WritersWeeklyPodcast: “In Just $299” – Publishing SCAMS You Need To Avoid!! Part 1
• Episode 2 of the WritersWeeklyPodcast: “In Just $299” – Publishing SCAMS You Need To Avoid!! Part 2
• Episode 7 of the WritersWeeklyPodcast: 9 New and Nasty Scams Targeting Authors

Janet Ruiz Martin-McCoey, 83, published her first book, a memoir, in January 2025 (not with the company named above!), titled “Sudden Death, Grief, and Miracles: How to survive after loss.” Her story is one of resilience and fortitude as she faced many losses in her life, especially those of her 16-year-old son and 12-year-old grandson. She formed and led a grief group for eight years, “Parents Sharing the Loss of a Child,” in conjunction with the Mental Health Association of Yolo County, in the early 1980s.

Q – 

“In this article, I’ll talk about the visual aspects of a book, generating publicity, querying producers, paying for pitching networking services, and hiring a professional screenwriter, all of which are elements that are bound to set up any book for Hollywood success…”

A – 

There are so many book-to-film scams out there right now and the very poor advice in your article would lead authors right into those scammers’ clutches. A guy recently contacted me who was scammed out of $1M over time. They kept dangling that non-existent movie over his head…for years!

I was also interviewed by the Associated Press about scammers in the industry.

You mentioned “pitching services.” Those are a scam.

And, movie companies hire screenwriters; not authors.

Part of your pitch said you’ve done all of this yourself but you didn’t say anything about the book or the resulting movie, which tells me your efforts failed.

NOT INTERESTED!

RELATED

• No, CBS Studios Did NOT Just Offer You a Movie Deal for Your Book!
• SCAM ALERT: No, Netflix did NOT just email you about turning your book into a movie!
• Your Book As a Movie? Watch Out for Snake Oil Salesmen!
• A Fake Literary Agent + a Fake Movie Studio = Another Scam Targeting Authors
• How to Create a Movie Script from a Book – By Linda Gray
• HOW MY BOOK BECAME A LIFETIME MOVIE! The Secret S*x Life of a Single Mom By Delaine Moore – (No, she wasn’t charged a penny!)
• How My Novel Became A Movie! By Dvora Waysman – (No, she wasn’t charged a penny, either!)
• 11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer (You’ll probably only need to check #1 to prove it!)

Authors, need your book published in time for the Christmas shopping season? Contact us RIGHT AWAY and get $125 off at BookLocker! Details and the discount code are RIGHT HERE. 

Q – 

Angela, please help!

My book was just published. It’s on Amazon. However, whenever I look at my book’s page on their site, ads for “adult” products and books appear underneath my book.

I’m so embarrassed! I can’t send my friends and family to that link! I tried contacting Amazon but they just referred me back to my publisher, who said there’s nothing they can do, but didn’t explain why. 

A – 

Amazon’s employees (likely minimum wage workers located overseas) are REALLY good at passing the buck! Even when they know the answer, they’ll try to rid of you as quickly as possible.

I never publish the names of people contacting me for our Q&A column (unless they ask me to) and, today, you’ll be thankful that I don’t. You’ll be relieved to know that I have received this same question MANY times over the years.

The ads that appear on any product page on Amazon are the result of a multitude of factors, including, ummmm, your purchase and search history.

That means your friends and family are likely seeing completely different ads under your book. Well, unless they’ve been looking at “adult” products on Amazon. 😉

RELATED

• Amazon KDP Continues to INFURIATE (and TERMINATE) Authors!
• And, Even More SCATHING Complaints about Amazon KDP!
• And, Even MORE Complaints about Amazon KDP!
• MORE AMAZON KDP COMPLAINTS! – Why Complain When You Can DO Something About It?
• Amazon KDP Terminates ANOTHER Author’s Account, AND Keeps Her Royalties!
• Authors Are Moving to BookLocker After Amazon KDP Randomly Terminated Their Accounts
• MORE AMAZON KDP COMPLAINTS! Poor print quality, incorrect sales reporting, dismissive customer service reps, and more!

Read More "Ask The Expert" Articles

Q – 

Hi Angela,

I hope all is well with you! I’m kind of paranoid about scams these days, and I was wondering if you could give me some guidance on an email I received today. The sender is Rose Madison, who had emailed me and asked me to send her the Amazon link to my book. Are you aware of any scams where they do funky things with links to authors books? Maybe I’m overthinking this email, but I just wanted to run this by you just in case.

She wrote:

“I saw your book recently and really appreciated the way you’re putting your work into the world, it stood out to me. I wanted to ask you a quick question that I thought you might have a unique perspective on. I know your time is valuable, so no pressure at all, if this isn’t the right channel, I totally understand. But I figured I’d try, just in case. Here’s the question: Are your books available on Amazon? If so, could you please share the link?”

A – 

Yep, it’s a scam. “She” (likely a guy in the Pakistan, Nigeria, or the Philippines) was going to pretend to buy your book, lavish praise upon you, and then try to sell you services.

You can tell it’s a scam because:

1. The email is far too general, and doesn’t mention your book (or anything about it). Even if the email did mention something about your book (some scammers do a bit more homework than others), the rest of the email was just weird.

2. It says she (he!) needs your unique perspective on something, but doesn’t mention what that is.

3. He then just asks you for the Amazon link.

As you can see, none of it makes any sense.

A real customer (non-scammer) would have simply looked up your book on Amazon, and purchased it.

RELATED

• “Celebrity Author” Impersonators Are Fooling Unwary (Real!) Authors
• Is Your Favorite Writing Group on Facebook Being Moderated by a Scammer?
• NEW SCAM! “Pay us $26K and we’ll stock 3,500 copies of your book in 150 stores!”
• DON’T MISS THIS ONE! Genre Library Solutions / genrelibrarysolutions.com Tries to Trick Us Into Removing Our Warning About Them; Gets Caught Committing Additional Fraud Instead!!!
• EPISODE 1: “In Just $299” – Publishing SCAMS You Need To Avoid!! Part 1 – Angela and Brian expose the surge in global scams targeting writers—using slick websites, social media, and calls to sell bogus writing and book-to-movie services…
• EPISODE 2: “In Just $299” – Publishing SCAMS You Need To Avoid!! Part 2 – Angela and Brian reveal how WritersWeekly fights global publishing scams and share practical steps to help you verify if a publishing company is legitimate or…

When scammers go after us or their victims, I’m always VERY happy to give them even more exposure on WritersWeekly! Our website has excellent Google rankings because we’ve been in business for so long AND because we provide such informative and quality content.

So, Authors Hike / AuthorsHike.com, this one’s for you!

Hi Angela,

Oh, did I get hell last night. (Your warning post) got their (Authors Hike’s) ire up. I was threatened with everything under the sun. Furthermore, I had paid for a nice, many-paged website. They instantly took it down. The guy who phoned and threatened was:

ALAN WALKER
Senior Business Analyst | Authors Hike
📧 alan.walker@authorshike.com
🌐 www.authorshike.com
📞 (888) 412-0392 Extension – 1039

Hi insists I take it down. I said I had not put it up and would not take it down, especially if it contained the truth. My website was immediately down and he claims all hell will break lose for me. You got a reaction I never could.

Thank you. 

MY RESPONSE

If he calls you again, tell him all correspondence must be in writing. Tell him to email you, and hang up the phone. He probably will then email you. I’d like to see those emails, too.

Thank you soooo much for helping other authors!!! We have very good rankings on Google. LOTS of authors are going to see the post and Authors Hike will probably soon be out of business. Bravo! 🙂

RELATED

• Authors Hike / AuthorsHike.com Tries to Trick Author into Paying for Copies Ordered by NOBODY!
• Do NOT Complain to People Who Have Honestly Exposed Your Illegal Activities Online – by James M. Walsh, Esq.
• 11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer (You’ll probably only need to check #1 to prove it!)
• A List of Publishers and Services That ALL Authors Should AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
• Scammers Are Offering to “Help” Scam Victims Get Refunds…For a Fee, of Course
• These are U.S.-based companies: 2025 Self-Publishing Price Comparison!!
• FRAUD ALERT: Why 5-Star Reviews on Trustpilot Can NOT Be Trusted – by James M. Walsh, Esq.
• FACEBOOK’S FRAUD FIASCO: How Facebook is Profiting From Scam Publishers Targeting YOU on Its Platform – by James M. Walsh, Esq.
• Update on Our Foreign Publishing Scammers Exposé
• EXTREME AUTHOR ALERT – PART V: Do NOT Hire ANY Publisher That is Running Paid Ads on Facebook Right Now!

Q – 

Angela, I badly need advice. Can you help. See the order for my books attached.

I hired Authors Hike / AuthorsHike.com to promote my books. I’ve published five books. They claim to have 1,105 orders for my book but I haven’t received any money for those.

Authors Hike wants ME to pay $4,420 for them to print the books, and send them to their list. They then say they will ship the books, collect later, and pay me.

Does not sound legitimate?

What do you think?

A – 

It’s a huge and common scam!!!

The BUYER pays for books, not the author!

What Author’s Hike is doing is similar to this scam:

NEW SCAM! “Pay us $26K and we’ll stock 3,500 copies of your book in 150 stores!”

DO NOT SEND THEM ANY MONEY! You’ll never get it back!!

And, for whatever money you have sent them, immediately contact your credit card company, and request they process a chargeback. If they tell you to try to work it out with the company, tell them you got scammed by a foreign entity, and DEMAND they immediately issue the chargeback.

Incidentally, on TrustPilot (there are several bad reviews), an author wrote in saying he’s trying to get $29,000.00 (!!!) back from them. Remember to NEVER trust 5-star reviews on TrustPilot! Anybody can post those, including scammers who are trying to defraud people. Whenever multiple reviews are posting within a few days or each other (or on the exact same day), THEY’RE FAKE!

Virtual offices are available at their “New York City” address. Looks like the same for their “Utah” address. And, their website has many of the hallmark signs of the overseas publishing scam cartel we’ve been exposing. Oh, and they have a book cover from Stephen King on their homepage. They have NEVER worked with him! FRAUD!!!

RELATED

• 11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer (You’ll probably only need to check #1 to prove it!)
• A List of Publishers and Services That ALL Authors Should AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
• Scammers Are Offering to “Help” Scam Victims Get Refunds…For a Fee, of Course
• These are U.S.-based companies: 2025 Self-Publishing Price Comparison!!
• FRAUD ALERT: Why 5-Star Reviews on Trustpilot Can NOT Be Trusted – by James M. Walsh, Esq.
• FACEBOOK’S FRAUD FIASCO: How Facebook is Profiting From Scam Publishers Targeting YOU on Its Platform – by James M. Walsh, Esq.
• Update on Our Foreign Publishing Scammers Exposé
• EXTREME AUTHOR ALERT – PART V: Do NOT Hire ANY Publisher That is Running Paid Ads on Facebook Right Now!
• Do NOT Complain to People Who Have Honestly Exposed Your Illegal Activities Online – by James M. Walsh, Esq.

DISCLAIMER: I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. Consult with an attorney for your specific situation and needs. 

We all know what an editor is. But, what is an “author representative?” That is someone who claims to know the ins and outs of the publishing industry and they offer to guide authors through the book publication process…for a hefty fee, of course.

I have met many reputable and professional author reps. I have also met many who I knew were ripping authors off. They were selling extraneous services that weren’t necessary and some were doing things the authors outright did not want them to do. It’s not uncommon for authors to pay thousands, and then to fire their reps when things go awry. And, do authors really need those services anyway? At BookLocker.com, we hold our authors’ hands through the entire process. They don’t need an “author rep.” Our reputation speaks for itself.

Some freelance editors also sell secondary services, offering to later be the author’s representative. Those editors need to be avoided at all costs!

Did you know that, without a power of attorney, you can’t legally designate someone to complete a contract on your behalf? Some authors don’t know that, and are letting so-called author reps complete their publishing contracts for them. Those contracts are, of course, invalid/unenforceable. BUT, if the contract was completed online (electronically), how would someone know it wasn’t you when the rep used your name, email address, and contact information on the contract?

As we discussed in Episode 16 of the WritersWeekly Podcast, I recently noticed two questionable contracts come across my desk. Yes, I review ALL BookLocker.com contracts just in case I see something odd. It could be something mundane, such as a missing street address, or something more serious. One recent contract listed the author’s editor as the author’s beneficiary. Another author had allowed her “author rep” to complete her contact and the rep had listed herself as the author’s beneficiary.

At BookLocker.com, we have a beneficiary section in our contract for authors. Almost always (99.9% of the time), the beneficiary is a spouse, the author’s children, or other close relative(s). For co-authored books, sometimes the co-author is the beneficiary (I’ve seen it but it’s rare). I had NEVER before seen an editor or author rep listed as the beneficiary!

In the first case, the author didn’t know her editor had made herself the beneficiary. In the other case, the author rep had promised to distribute royalties to the author’s children if she died. I called B.S. on that one!

In EPISODE 16 of the WritersWeekly Podcast, Brian explains that, while lawyers have a fiduciary responsibility to you should you put them in charge of your estate (they can be criminally prosecuted if they do you or your heirs wrong), an editor or author rep has no such responsibility, and they can take that money and run. And, if nobody ever knows that they completed your contract for you (with no power of attorney), they will be able to keep your heirs’ money (and your copyrights) after you die.

Never, EVER let a third party complete a contract on your behalf!

RELATED

• EPISODE 16 of the WritersWeekly Podcast: When An Author Dies, The Vultures Will Rise!
• Freelance Editors with excellent ethics that we refer authors to.
• FAMILY FIGHT! BookLocker Author Died After Earning More $200K in Royalties, and Then…
• When An Author Dies, The Vultures Will Rise!
• Never, Ever Assume You Can Use a Deceased Person’s Work

Read More "Ask The Expert" Articles