Q –

I have been inundated with emails, including invites to book clubs and all manner of costly assistance. Is this normal?

I have received several detailed emails detailing all the issues with the Amazon setup for my book. A publisher helped me self-publish, sort of (long story of woes there) and I have no access to the author account on Amazon. I am setting up an author page to try to get around no one being willing to help me get into Amazon to check things. So how come my book is getting noticed but in some areas it is failing miserably? What is the deal with the block in Amazon when I am the author?

A – 

First of all, it appears you fell into the trap of a scammer while getting your book published. If they are controlling your Amazon seller account, they’re getting the money from Amazon for book sales.

Remember that any unsolicited email is spam. REPEAT AFTER ME: SPAMMERS ARE SCAMMERS!

1. The complimentary emails from “book clubs” and others are created using AI. Those people have never read your book. And, they have no idea who you are. You’re simply on the scammers’ lists. And, once you respond to one email from them, they’ll keep sharing your email with other scammers. That’s why you’re getting buried in those emails. See:

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

2. The scammers are also now spamming authors, claiming their books aren’t “optimized on Amazon.” Again, it’s all lies. They know nothing about how your book is set up in Amazon’s system.

You’re on a list of authors (potential scam victims) and the scammers are playing whack-a-mole with those folks.

1. They don’t research the books.They simply skim the Internet to get your contact info. after you have a book go up for sale on Amazon.

2. They use AI to create fake complimentary emails.

3. They do NOT have access to your book in Amazon’s system so they have NO way of knowing about your “optimization,” or lack thereof. And, they simply don’t care.

The foreign scammers use very creative ways to separate authors from their money. DON’T FALL FOR IT.

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