I received this heartbreaking email yesterday:

It has been suggested I contact you with what I perceive to be illegal or at least unethical business practices of Ink Shelf Studios, LLC, 16 Somer’s Lane, Commack, NY 11725 11725 and Times Book Publishing, 353 Lexington Avenue, 4th Floor, Suite 400, New York, NY 10016.

I secured their services to print and sell my self published book, (TITLE REMOVED BY WRITERSWEEKLY), around June 24, 2025. They kept charging me one fee after another, accumulating to $187,846 and would not release my royalties $173,047 (to date). They refused to pay me my legally due royalties unless I wired them an additional $95,309 for something about 190 global platforms that they did not explain very clearly and I do not remember authorizing, telling me that it would be returned to me in 48 hours which does not sound right to me. Since I refused to send them that money by the end of the day (Aug 27) they told that I will receive no money and they will appropriate my rights to my book leaving me with nothing. I am 82 years old, this is my first and only book and I am the victim here. I believe this is worth some serious investigating because they have already defrauded me once with a bogus offer from Barnes and Noble to purchase 10,000 books, which I paid $34,000 for printing/shipping and checking with Barnes and Noble afterwards, they said they never do this. That it is a way to get an author to print more books.

I am sharing this because I would not want any other first-time authors to be taken in by this apparent legitimate publisher. I have the resources to fight this but I would not have someone that does not have good resources to become involved with Times Book Publishing or their subsidiary Ink Shelf Studios.

I IMMEDIATELY RESPONDED WITH THIS:

DO NOT SEND THEM ANOTHER PENNY. There are NO ROYALTIES. They’re lying about that to try to get more money out of you. They were never going to pay you any royalties. I looked at your Amazon rankings. They are very low and there are no reviews so your book probably hasn’t earned any royalties at all. That threat is a common tactic the scammers use.

If you paid by credit card, please IMMEDIATELY contact your bank or credit card company, tell them you’ve been the victim of a foreign scam, and insist they issue chargebacks right now on all of the fees.

I wanted to send that to you right away. I’m going to do a deep dive (it’s not going to be pretty) and I’ll email you again in about 30 minutes.

Angela

MY SECOND EMAIL

RE: Times Book Publishing / TimesBookPublishing.com (A.K.A. World Publishing and Co)

Like many scammers, their website is registered in ICELAND.

They have stolen book covers on their website. For example, The Girl Who Lived was published in 2017 but this website wasn’t created until 2024. The three books below, appearing on their website, were published by other companies. I’m sure many of the other covers on their website were stolen, too!

“Virtual offices” are available at their “U.S. address.” (They are NOT in the U.S.)

Notice the syntax error on their Google listing:

Best Book Services Company in USA

They also call themselves “World Publishing and Co”.

Re: Ink Shelf Studios / InkShelfStudios.com

Here’s what’s at their (fake!) U.S. address:

And, guess what? More stolen book covers!

Both websites are being run by overseas scammers.

Lying about royalties to get you to send them another $90K (that you were NEVER going to get back!) is a common scam done by the overseas publishing crime cartel. They target elderly Americans. And, if they can get a few thousand out of you, they’ll keep wanting more, and more, and more.

Sadly, they have also likely shared your name and contact information with other scammers because you’re a victim (and you have money). DO NOT RESPOND TO ANYONE WHO, OUT OF THE BLUE, EMAILS YOU, CALLS YOU, OR CONTACTS YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA. They are ALL scammers. And, if you see a tempting ad on Facebook or elsewhere, do your research before sending them any information, or even one penny.

They can NOT take the rights to your book. I laughed out loud at that one. They are not a legal entity in the U.S. and they have scammed you. That statement by them was ridiculous. And, why would they bother stealing your manuscript when they can make so much more money scamming people?

I recommend having it published by a reputable company located in the U.S. See:

https://writersweekly.com/compare

Authors can save a LOT of money AND heartache by checking this list before sending anybody online any money at all:

11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer

I am available for any other questions you have.

Angela Hoy, Publisher
WritersWeekly.com

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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!