Q – 

Dear Angela,

I just published a YA realistic fiction. It was released just over two weeks ago. I was contacted by Best Seller Book Writing (@bestsellerbookwriting on Facebook). This company promised that I would be able to get my book into Barnes and Noble in about 90 days if I worked with them. Right now, my book is on Amazon.

I now feel like this is a scam. As a teacher in CT, every penny I have counts! I did, thankfully, pay with a credit card.

Should I file a claim? Please, your guidance would really help!

Thank you,
Lisa

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A – 

Re: bestsellerbookwriting.com

Yes, it’s an increasingly common scam. They were going to make YOU pay them money, telling you they would print your books and get them into B&N stores. That’s not how it works. Bookstores pay for books (not the author).

Worse, these types of scammers never print the books anyway. They take the author’s money and disappear.

Their U.S. address in “New York” is fake (a virtual office). I clicked on their name on Facebook, and then on transparency. They’re in Pakistan.

Immediately issue a chargeback with your credit card company. If the credit card company or bank tries to tell you to work it out with the vendor, tell them you were scammed by a foreign company, and demand they IMMEDIATELY issue the chargeback.

Thank Heaven you used a credit card! Authors who send a bank transfer can’t get their money back. If they pay via an online payment platform, like Paypal, they might get money money back, but probably won’t. Scammers move money out of accounts very quickly.

Please see:

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!)

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