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DON’T BE DUMB! The Biggest Mistakes Writers, Authors, and Others Make

An author emailed me today, providing his complete login information for another website. He wanted my help “fixing a problem” he was having on there. We have a strict policy against logging into websites as other people. If they send us login information through their author account in BookLocker’s system, we immediately delete that text from the messages. If they email the login information to us, when we respond, we delete that information from the reply email.

What are things we see over and over again that can put a writer’s or author’s identity and finances at risk?

1. They email their credit card information to us. Yep! The entire number, expiration date, and security code. What if they sent that email to the wrong person by mistake? However, this is a much more likely scenario:

“Scammers get your email through data breaches, email harvesting bots scraping the web, social engineering (tricking you into giving it away via fake sites/emails), buying stolen lists on the dark web, or from public posts on social media/forums; they then use it for phishing, spam, or account takeover attempts…” – Google

Once they get access to your email account, they can see all of your “sent” emails.

2. They email their Paypal login information to us. Yep! The username and password. For the same reason as above, they can have their Paypal account stolen. The thieves just need to login, and change the password, locking the author out of their own account.

3. They email their full name, bank account number, and routing number. Yes, it happens ALL the time! It’s a forehead slapper for sure!!

4. They email their login information for any site at all. For example: “Can you login to my bank account and see if I paid that fee to you?”

5. They hand over control of their accounts for any site at all (Amazon, social media, and even the author’s own website), thinking they’re hiring a professional to help them out. This happened to an author who will be on our podcast after Christmas (Episode 21). Since she refused to pay them more money (she’d already spent thousands), they have locked her out of her own website and her social media accounts. They simply logged in, and changed her passwords. She was able to get into her Amazon account before they did and she changed the password there. She said they were FURIOUS when she did that. If she hadn’t done that fast enough, the scammers would be getting her royalties now instead of her.

6. They let a shady relative or “friend” use their computer.

Years ago, I was contacted by one of our authors. Except, it wasn’t him. It was the author’s son. He wanted to change where the royalties were being sent. I smelled a rat so I logged into the author’s account, and copied/pasted the message into the author’s account. I heard back quickly from the author. He confirmed the email had NOT come from him and he knew his son was trying to steal from him.

In a similar scenario, we receive emails daily from scammers who claim they are one of our authors. The emails state that they want to change their banking information for their “paychecks.” Well, first of all, I always check the email address. It’s always one of our author’s names but the email is always different. Second, we don’t send out “paychecks” to authors. We make royalty payments. Scammers can be sooooo stupid.

7. They share their login information for any website or account at all with a family member or “friend” who is not honest.

One author contacted me last week. He’s an elderly fellow. He told me his son was a criminal, and had got on the author’s computer, and stolen all of his login information so he could steal from his dad. The author was deeply distraught. We changed his email address and password in our system so the son couldn’t login to his dad’s account. The dad had to change his email address because the criminal son ALSO had access to the dad’s Gmail account. I felt so sorry for him but there was nothing else we could do to help him, other than giving him advice.

A friend of ours almost fell victim to a disturbing scheme just last week. He was having a problem with Microsoft. He went on Google to look up the phone number. Well, surprise (not!), the website he clicked on had the wrong phone number for Microsoft. It looked legit, complete with the Microsoft logo! He called, and followed the man’s instructions. Before he knew it, the hacker was IN his computer. He could see windows opening left and right. He immediately hung up the phone, unplugged his computer, and turned off his wifi. He then opened his computer and, while it was offline, he changed the password needed to access it. Then, he had to spend hours running virus scans from multiple types of software because he didn’t know if the scammer had put malware on his computer.

If you need a phone number for a service provider, login to your account on their website. Do NOT use Google to try to find the phone number.

And, never, EVER share your username and passwords online.

Please also remember to NOT respond to people who call you out of the blue, spam you (through email or your website), or who try to market their services to you on social media private messages!

RELATED



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



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My Best Friend Lied About Buying My Book…

Q –

Hi Angela,

This is humiliating. My book was published about a month ago. I put a link to it on my Facebook page. I got a couple of thumbs ups. My best friend posted a comment underneath, saying she bought a copy from Amazon. 

I had lunch with her yesterday and asked her about my book. She said she received it, read it, and loved it. However, when I started asking her questions, it became crystal clear that she hadn’t read my book. And, I know she lied about buying it, too. 

I just led the conversation in a different direction. I was very embarrassed by awkward conversation and I think she was as well. I know she was. 

How can I promote my book online, and not get into the same bad situation in the future? 

A – 

Oh, do we have the podcast episode for you! These awkward exchanges are very common over the holidays.

Episode 29 – AWKWARD! When Friends and Family Lie About Having Bought Your Book

Our guest on the episode is book editor and publicist, Clayton Jones. He’s also an English Professor at the University of Tennessee and our BookLocker authors LOVE him!

Rest assured that this happens to authors ALL the time. That episode explains why it happens, how to avoid it happening, and, most importantly, how you SHOULD be promoting your book (not to friends and relatives!).

RELATED



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



Fall 2023 24 Hour Short Story Contest


Another Publishing Scam Victim Who CLEARLY Can’t Be Saved…from Himself

An author, who has been scammed twice before, has repeatedly sent me emails, asking me about this, that, or the other “publishers.” All of them were scammers. I gave him the simple tool he needed to determine if a particular “publisher” or “book marketer” was a scam. Yet, he refused to do the work himself, and kept sending me emails.

For the most recent inquiry, I once again sent him a list of reasons why it was a scam (fake U.S. address, website registered in Iceland, stolen book covers on their site, etc., etc.).

In the last email he sent to me, he copied and pasted text from an AI program that didn’t know what it was talking about (because that AI program doesn’t have the tools that we humans do!). He was about to send the scammer $2500! He insisted that AI was right and that I was wrong.

This was my last response to him:

Please explain why you are using an AI program instead of listening to me? I’ve been exposing scammers in the industry for more than 27 years through WritersWeekly. I gave you all of the tools you need to determine if they’re a scammer.

1. They’re registered in Iceland, like many of the scammers we’ve alerted authors to.

2. They have stolen book covers on their website (copyright infringement and fraud) for books published by other companies years before this website existed.

The list goes on and on and on. I can’t continue to do your research for you.

Again:

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!)

I’ll be blunt. It’s like you’re either looking to get scammed, or you’re trying to waste my time. I am a very busy person. I gave you the tool you needed (the link above). Instead of using it, you chose to write to me again instead of doing your own REAL research.

AI is GARBAGE. Don’t use it.

Good luck to you,

Angela

He was mature enough to write back and he apologized. I appreciated that.

RELATED



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



Read More "Ask The Expert" Articles

Fall 2023 24 Hour Short Story Contest






“I paid Times Book Publishing $8K+, and then…”

 

Q-

I just read your report about Times Book Publishing/ TimesBookPublishing.com I paid them to publish two of my books. We have a contract stating I have 100% copyrights to my books but now I’m being asked for my KDP, Facebook, and Instagram credentials, which was a major red flag to me. That’s why I started searching them, and found you. Is there any way I can get my books from them so I can have a legitimate publisher publish my books? I paid them to do my illustrations for my children’s book. I’m a new author and these are my first two books. What can I do moving forward? I consider the $8,000+ a loss but what choices do I have regarding getting my books? Thank you for your advice and help. I greatly appreciate it.

– RJ 

A-

If they actually did any work on your books (doubtful!), and if you have copies of those files, go ahead and use them at a reputable publisher like BookLocker. With their track record, they will NOT be coming after you. Their website is registered in Iceland, their U.S. address is fake, etc., etc.

Definitely do NOT give them your login credentials to any site or platform whatsoever!!!

One of the foreign scammers recently hijacked an author’s websites after she gave them access. She can’t get her websites back and they are trying to extort money from her to give her access again (which they never will).

RELATED



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



 

This Defunct Publisher’s Authors are STILL Finding Their Books for Sale Online!

Q – 

I published 3 books with Infinity Publishing (InfinityPublishing.com), later called Fast Pencil (FastPencil.com).

I have never received any royalties. My books are still online and I’m not sure what the next steps are. It’s been years. I have four more books any suggestions ?

Judy 

Hi Judy,

You may not hear back from them since they also shut down their third site. In order to get your files, I recommend threatening to report them to their state’s attorney general. The online form is here:
https://www.mass.gov/how-to/file-a-consumer-complaint

Try to contact Bo Mesing here:
bomesing@fastpencil.com

He has responded to other authors but that was several months ago.

Here is (or was) their address:

Fastpencil, Inc.
517 Boston Post Rd
Sudbury, MA 01776-7600

You can also report them to Amazon for copyright infringement since they no longer have the right to sell your books. Advice on how to do that is RIGHT HERE.

If you want BookLocker to republish your book, we’ll be happy to help and we’ll give you our disgruntled author discount. We offer that to authors who are moving to BookLocker from another company. 🙂

RELATED



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



A NEW WAVE OF SCAM EMAILS IS TARGETING AUTHORS! “My book club wants to review your book!!”

 

Q –

Angela,

What do you know about this book club?

They asked me to pay 99 euros for developing information about my book. They also wanted a PDF which, I’m sure, they would run through AI to get all the info they want in about five minutes.

I asked for a sample of a previous write-up, and they refused to provide it, claiming it was only for their members. At that point, I stopped all communication.

If this is something new, it may be worthwhile to put out an alert. The first email I got was very convincing and flattering. They probably thought I would simply cough up the money without investigating.

A – 

It’s definitely a scam. The scammers have seemingly overnight created a ton of fake book clubs to scam authors.

Here are the hallmark signs to look out for!

1. They SPAM YOU. Remember that SPAMMERS ARE SCAMMERS. Spam is when somebody approaches you unsolicited (through email, social media, or even your website), and tries to sell you services. NEVER, EVER respond to spammers or people who cold call you on the phone. If you respond, they will NEVER leave you alone! And, assume they are all scammers BECAUSE THEY ARE!

2. Most of them use Gmail email addresses. Even if they don’t, RUN!

3. They start out with incredible praise about your book…but it’s all FAKE. They use AI to create that in a nanosecond. We discussed this in detail on our last podcast episode. Here’s how fast it works. Go to chatgpt.com or another AI service. Type this into the search box: Write a complimentary email for (your name), about (his/her) book, (your book title).

Here’s an example: Write a complimentary email for Angela Hoy about her book, BOOK PROPOSALS THAT WORKED! Real Book Proposals That Landed $10K – $100K Publishing Contracts.

This is what was created in a nanosecond by deepai.org:

Subject: Congratulations on Your Inspiring Book, BOOK PROPOSALS THAT WORKED!

Dear Angela,

I hope this message finds you well. I recently had the pleasure of reading your book, BOOK PROPOSALS THAT WORKED! Real Book Proposals That Landed $10K – $100K Publishing Contracts, and I wanted to take a moment to commend you on such an insightful and empowering resource.

Your book offers invaluable guidance and real-world examples that truly demystify the process of securing publishing contracts. I appreciate the transparency and practical advice you provide, which I’m sure will inspire many writers to pursue their publishing dreams with confidence.

Thank you for sharing your expertise and success stories; your work is a wonderful contribution to the writing community. I look forward to seeing more of your impactful work in the future.

The scammer then adds some copied/pasted marketing verbiage underneath, trying to empty your wallet.

4. It’s ego marketing. According to Google: “Ego marketing is a strategy that appeals to a person’s sense of self-importance, status, and achievements, often by highlighting exclusivity or prestige.”

No matter how flattering the email, KNOW that the person (it’s most likely a bot) contacting you has NOT read your book. They are rubbing your ego (a very effective marketing technique!) to try to get your money. DON’T FALL FOR IT!!!

5. They make it sound super secret/exclusive. One actually told me I’d have to pay $20 just to get their website URL. She (I know it was a dude overseas) wouldn’t even tell me the name of the group. It was a big secret because they didn’t want “other authors pounding down their door.” Yeah, right…  They were using a Gmail email address and, clearly, there was no actual website. Even if they do have a website, IT’S STILL A SCAM! Again, spammers are scammers! If they have to resort to spamming to get money, their business SUCKS and they are DESPERATE!

6. They may make it sound like it’s a group of friends who talk about, and then post reviews for authors’ book. IT’S NOT! It’s some dude in Nigeria, the Philippines, or elsewhere who just wants your MONEY. And, if you give them money, you’re never getting it back!

7. They want you to “tip” the reviewers. One asked me to send a check for $440 so the scammer could “tip” her “book club friends” $20 each. It took four emails for her to finally admit it was NOT free.

8. Unprofessional! Oddly, many of those fake book club emails are filled with very unprofessional emojis.

Here is an example of one I received this week (click to enlarge):

 

 

They probably do that to fool authors into thinking it is just a real individual who likes books, and who has friends who like books. IT’S NOT!!!

Oh, and here’s an email from a super lazy scammer! Unfortunately, authors are falling for this garbage, too!

Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2025 20:08:31 -0400
From: Asher Walter <asherwilliam407@gmail.com>

Hi Angela,

I came across your book and was impressed by your work. Many books go unseen simply because readers haven’t found them yet. Would you be interested to a quick chat about ways to help your book reach more readers?

I asked him what book he was referring to. His went online and found one of my books but, in his email, he misspelled the title.

9. It’s not a real person! They can create thousands (or more) of these fake emails with just a few clicks on a keyboard. Their computers can send them out en masse, playing the numbers game. They know a certain percentage of suckers will fall for it. DON’T BE A SUCKER!

We are hearing from dozens of authors each week about this scam. Please, please, please share this post with your author friends and groups so they won’t fall victim to this disgusting crime wave!

RELATED



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



WE CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP!!! Scammer Words Stratum / wordsstratum.com Asks Us to Remove Warning about Another Scammer Because They’re Losing Money!!

Q – 

——– Forwarded Message ——–
Subject: WRITERSWEEKLY QUESTION – Eddie Foster
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2025 21:42:22 +0000
Reply-To: sales@wordsstratum.com <sales@wordsstratum.com>

Hello Angela,

I hope you’re doing well. I’m reaching out on behalf of Words Stratum (https://www.wordsstratum.com) regarding the article published on your website titled:

“Scammer Word Stratum (wordstratum.com) Tries to Hoodwink Angela”
Article link: https://writersweekly.com/ask-the-expert/scammer-word-stratum-wordstratum-co-tries-to-hookwink-angela

It seems that our company, Words Stratum (with a double “s”), is being mistaken for the entity mentioned in that post, Word Stratum (single “s”). We are not associated in any way with that company. Unfortunately, the similarity in names has confused potential clients who come across that article when searching for us. This has led to repeated misunderstandings and, in some cases, direct financial impact.

Additionally, the domain wordstratum.com is now inactive and listed for sale, which further confirms that the company referenced in the article is no longer operational.

In light of this, we kindly request one of the following:

Either a clarification note at the beginning of the article, such as:

“Note: This article refers to wordstratum.com, not to wordsstratum.com, which is a separate and unrelated company.”

Or, if possible, a title/meta update (or removal) to help prevent ongoing confusion for readers and clients.

We’d deeply appreciate your help in clearing up this misunderstanding. Please let us know if you’d like any verification, company documentation, or further details from our side.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Warm regards,
Eddie Foster.
Team Words Stratum.

– Eddie Foster ( sales@wordsstratum.com )

A –

Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2025 18:41:08 -0400
To: sales@wordsstratum.com <sales@wordsstratum.com>

Oh, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie…

You’re going to be sorry you wasted my time and yours today.

Your website has been added to our list of scammers.

You weren’t even on our radar yet so thanks for the head’s up, buddy! And, we’re ALSO going to give you a VERY SPECIAL shout-out in this week’s issue of WritersWeekly! No, you don’t need to thank me but it’s very sweet of you to offer! You deserve it!

We’ll be sure to share that on our social media channels as well. From now on, when someone Google’s your company’s name, the warning about you is going to pop right up on top of the Google search engine results! Congrats!! It’s an honor to get so much visibility!!!

Oh yeah! I almost forgot. I already reported you to Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. You’re welcome! 😉

Angela Hoy
Publisher
WritersWeekly.com, Inc.

READERS: Here are the two companies’ logos side by side. Whaddya think? Same company or not? 

RELATED



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



 

Scammers are Highjacking Authors’ Accounts, and Then Blackmailing Them!

 

Q – 

I just read your report regarding Timesbook Publishing. I paid them to publish two of my books. We have a contract stating I have 100% copyrights to my books but now I’m being asked for my KDP, Facebook, and Instagram credentials, which was a major red flag to me. That’s why I started searching them and found you.

Is there anyway I can get my books from them so I can have a legitimate publisher publish my books? I paid them to do my illustrations for my children’s book. I’m a new author and these are my first two books.

What can I do moving forward? I consider the $8,000+ a loss but what choices do I have regarding getting my books? Thank you for your advice and help. I greatly appreciate it.

A – 

Did they ever send you the illustrations? And, were they sized correctly, and 300 dpi?

Definitely do NOT give them your login credentials to any site whatsoever!!!

One of the foreign scammers recently hijacked an authors’ websites after she gave them access. She can’t get her websites back and they are trying to extort/blackmail money from her to give her access again (which they never will anyway). She’s now out of business.

UPDATE:

The author sent me two of the illustrations. First, they were clearly AI generated. Second, there is no bleed on the images so they can’t be used for printing. Essential parts of each illustration would get cut off. They’re worthless.

She needs to find a legitimate publisher that IS located in the U.S., and that isn’t a scammer.

And, she can find a vetted, REAL illustrator RIGHT HERE.

RELATED



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



 

DON’T BE FOOLED! How AI Helps Scammers Write “False Praise” about Your Book!

 

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



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



“Who can I trust?!” This is a Question We’re Receiving from Authors DAILY Now!

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



HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!



 

 

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