A smart author sent me a marketing email (spam) from a firm that implies (in their very tricky wording) that his book was “endorsed” by movie producers and their “partners” who are actively seeking a book to turn into a movie or TV show.

Their email also claimed to have numerous industry professionals employed there but the “combined” years of experience for so many people is actually very low. I guess their marketing people haven’t figured that out yet…but they probably will if they read this article.

Movie deals are exceedingly rare yet so many authors pay thousands to these types of firms each year. I’m willing to bet this firm makes the vast majority (if not ALL!) of their income from hopeful authors, NOT from movie deals.

I recommend the author avoid these spammers at all costs but, if he has some spare time, and if he wants to prod them a bit (for, you know, wasting HIS precious time), he should ask them to send him copies of those “endorsements.” Believe me. They don’t exist.

What they sent the author was a form email and it’s highly unlikely that a producer or Hollywood partner has seen his book, and much less endorsed it. If they had, this firm wouldn’t be asking the author for $5K to shop his book around. They’d be asking him to sign a contract in exchange for a share of his future film royalties.

It’s always nice when savvy authors send me copies of these scam emails so our readers can avoid these types of snakes in the future.

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