Yes, you may need eggs, but that doesn’t mean these are chickens.
by Anne R. Allen
I’ve blogged often about the book publicity scammers who have been targeting writers in the past few months. The scammers are always on my mind because these crooks seem to think I’m their #1 fan. I get up to 40 publicity scam emails a day, no matter how many I block and report as spam. But most people can discourage them by blocking and spamming.
For some reason, this scammer outfit has decided that my email address will reach pretty much all authors writing in English, including Anne LaMott, E.J. Runyon, Anne Crosse, Ronenn Roubenoff, Timothy R. Baldwin, Isaac D. Roman, and Dee Buckingham-Phillips. And that’s just this week. Gone are the days when they only used my address for authors with “Allen” in their names.
The sheer volume of mail I get from them allows me to see every type of scam email they’re sending out. Some are obviously bogus, but others, which often use flattering AI generated text, can seem professional and legitimate. They are not obvious “AI slop.” But they are just as bogus.
Don’t fall for them.
Writers are apparently the most gullible demographic these days—even more gullible than lonely widows—so a lot of the scam power that used to target older women with romance scams is now aimed at writers.
Remember, if it’s an unsolicited email, there’s a 99.9999% chance it’s a scam. Trying to find out if it’s a scam on your own will probably push you directly into their clutches.
Publicity Scammers Take Time to Groom their Marks
“But they’re so nice!” I see authors say. “And they didn’t ask for any money.”
That’s because they’re pros. The scammers who are now assaulting your inboxes are mostly centered in Nigeria. (As proved by investigations by Writer Beware.) Nigeria has also been the center for romance scams in the past decade—and before that, the famous Nigerian princes.
This means these folks have been scamming people in the Anglophone world for decades. They’re not going to give up after only one email. If you answer them, you’re going to be groomed. They will be charming and professional and provide reasonable sounding answers to your questions. And they don’t mind taking their time.
Very few publicity scammers will immediately ask for $10,000 to make you a star right off, like the old book-to -film scammers—or ask for those outrageous fees for “placement” at a book fair. These people will ask for money in small increments, while showering you with praise. This is called “grooming.” They’re fattening you up for the kill.
For a small initial payment, they may present you with a list of publicity placements they plan to do for you, “when you’re ready to be a bestseller.” Then a few hundred might get you a 20-second “book trailer” (generated by AI of course) to put on your website. Or for $500 or so, you might get that “special spotlight” podcast to share your book with their 50,000 readers in the Northeast South Uzbekistan Voracious Readers of Books Just Like Yours Club. (Or a real book club whose name they’ve stolen from the Internet.) This “prestigious” group has already vetted you and wants to invite you to be their special author of the month.
But places are going fast. We need to know by midnight tonight!
Don’t Fall for the “We Need the Eggs” Argument
There’s an old vaudeville joke where guy #1 says “My uncle thinks he’s a chicken” and guy #2 says, “Why don’t you take him to a shrink?” Then guy #1 says, “We can’t. We need the eggs.”
This is the argument I see authors bring up in so many writing groups. Authors say they’ve paid these scammers for that podcast interview or that 20-second trailer “because my books just aren’t selling.”
I have no doubt their books aren’t selling. Most books aren’t selling these days. The competition escalates by the hour, and fewer people are reading books at all.
But all the book trailers and obscure podcast interviews in the world won’t sell any more books.
In other words, no matter how much you need eggs, you won’t get them from your uncle who is not a chicken.
Those E-Mails are ALL from Publicity Scammers
I wish I could get this through to authors—especially newbie indie authors who don’t know the ropes. Here’s what you need to know: send the emails to spam and block. Don’t reply to any of them. Any reply will bring a barrage of emails with more and more flattery. And eventually, requests for money.
Yes, I know half the solicitations you get are obvious scams, so you assume the others are “more legit.” They aren’t.
Obvious Publicity Scams
- The ones addressed to “Dear Author” or “Hey” that never name the book they’ve “fallen in love” with.
- A request asking if “you ever considered adapting your work for film?” without naming the work.
- An email from someone with an unlikely name like the ones in my inbox this week: Sparkle Digitalis, Brain Steven, Beloveth Beloveth, Zariella Mooncrest, Sam Showdix, Susan Cinematic, or Twist Oliver. (I’m thinking of using Zariella Mooncrest as my stripper name. 😊 )
- The ones that still use the clueless salutation “My Dear” or “Dearest.”
- A “lets be friends” email from a deceased famous author.
- They want to be your publicist and please pay with Target gift cards.
- Their address is gmail, not a company domain.
- They have no website and are unknown to Google.
Maybe Not-So-Obvious Publicity Scams
- An offer of a pay-to-play “spotlight” in a book group, podcast, radio show, book festival or TikTok/Goodreads group. (No real groups charge fees)
- An offer to make you a book trailer because nobody without a book trailer can sell books in the current market. (How many book trailers do you seek out before you buy a book?)
- An editor from the Big 5 (sometimes the name of a real editor) wants to know the name of your agent so they can do a deal to republish your book. (The Big 5 doesn’t republish books unless they’re huge bestsellers..)
- An agent (maybe using the name of a real agent) wants to rep your book for a fee. (Real agents don’t charge fees.)
- A scout for Netflix wants to make your fabulous book into a series. (An invitation to drain your bank account.)
- A famous author saw your profile and wants to know about your “writing journey.” (An invitation to be groomed.)
- A reader loves “your book” and wants your permission to write a review. (Another grooming invitation. Nobody needs permission to write a review.)
- Using the name of a real publicist, the scammer promises to do a long list of things guaranteed to make your brilliant-but-overlooked book a bestseller.
- You have a great book, but you’re a moron about publicity, but I’ll make you a star!
These are ALL Bogus
I get all of these nearly every day. All of them are equally bogus. If they start targeting you, don’t go there. Just send to spam and block. Once you’ve shown you’re gullible enough to fall for the first email, they’ll keep at it until you catch on. But that may be after you’ve given them a big chunk of your savings.
And every time you respond to their emails, you’re encouraging them to send more. And more. And more. Many of them to me. 🙁
They seem to think that sending 1000s of emails to the same address will get different results one of these days. The definition of insanity. Why they target some people and not others, I don’t have a clue. Some of the writers they think are at my address are famous bestsellers, and others are obscure one-book wonders, so your book sales numbers don’t seem to affect them. It seems to be totally random.
If you do want a good, legitimate publicist, do your research. They’re out there. Look who their clients are and how well those clients are selling. Edit: Speaking of legitimate publicists, Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts reports that dozens of these scammers are impersonating her. She is way to busy doing real publicity to send unsolicited emails!
For more on the latest on publicity scams, always check Writer Beware.
by by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen and annerallen.bsky.social) May 16, 2026
What about you scriveners? Are you among the “lucky” ones who get targeted by these guys? Have you been tempted to respond to find out if they’re legit? If you responded, what happened next?
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Catfishing in America is #8 in the comedy-mystery Camilla Randall series, but it can be read as a stand-alone.
A romance scam leads to murder, and it’s up to Camilla, her cat Buckingham, and two ‘tween Nancy Drew wannabes to find the killer.
Book available in ebook and paperback at Amazon and paperback at Barnes and Noble
and your local bookstore can order the paperback through Ingram
***
Featured image by Erika Sanchez at Pexels.com
A great article:
Funny, I have been in the self-publishing business for over 35 years and receive very few scam emails or scam telephone calls. It could be that I was very agressive in verbally attacking anyone who contacted me.
As bestselling author J. A. Konrath said,
“Selling hope to the hopeless is big business.”
Quite frankly, most of these scams are so obvious that I question the intelligence of those who fall for them.
I almost agree with these words of wisdom by this legendary riverboat gambler:
“It is morally wrong to allow suckers to keep their money.”
— ‘Canada” Bill Jones
Ernie–You have obviously not seen the latest AI generated emails. They are very convincing. Even I fell for a couple before I read about them at Writer Beware. It’s hard to resist the offer of a review from someone who really seems to “get” your book. Putting down your fellow authors is never a good look. We are colleagues, not rivals.
Anne:
First, you say that I obviously have not seen the latest AI generated emails:
Wrong!
I have received a couple from the book club scams and immediately knew these were scams. For the fun of it, and because it wasn’t very much money, I even tested one out to prove to that there would be not one extra sale or review.
Moreover, writer and blogger Alina Adams has been writing about these scams for months.
She even gets into long conversations with the scammers and is writing a book about it.
Check out two of her recent blog posts here:
Seriously, You Gotta See This; I Can’t Summarize This Book Marketing Scam in a Headline
https://alinaa.substack.com/p/seriously-you-gotta-see-this-i-cant
What Are the Odds ANOTHER Bloomsbury Editor Wants To Publish Me?
A Literal Literary Loser is Double Blessed
https://alinaa.substack.com/p/what-are-the-odds-another-bloomsbury
Problem is, most writers are lazy and not willing to do any research. A number of them haven’t developed the necessary critical skills.
Ten years ago, Mark Coker who started the ebook platform Smashwords, warned authors that there was more money being made by so-called book experts such as editors, book cover designers, proof readers, and book marketing experts than there was money being made by the writers.
This warning came from one of his blog posts:
“Darwin will sort out the delusional, pig-headed, and willfully ignorant.”
— Mark Coker
To which I have to add these two quotes that apply:
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.”
— Richard Feyman
“It’s easier to fool people then convince them that they have been fooled.”
— Mark Twain
In short, there will continue to be many writers scammed big time because they
are not willing to develop the critical skills required to avoid these scams.
Here is an example from a writer who recently got scammed in the bedroom community of St. Albert just outside my hometown of Edmonton.
“Alberta writer loses thousands to self-publishing service with little to show
After spending nearly $30,000 to turn his gardening columns into a book, Charles Schroder says he was left with unfulfilled promises.”
https://www.stalbertgazette.com/beyond-local/alberta-writer-loses-thousands-to-self-publishing-service-with-little-to-show-12130489
There are also these words of wisdom that most authors will not like to hear:
“Even the most careful and expensive marketing plans cannot sell people a book they don’t want to read.”
— Michael Korda, former Editor-in-Chief at Simon & Schuster
In short, I can provide a lot of valuable information about book publishing and book marketing but most writers are not willing to listen to it. As Plato said, “No one is hated more than the person who tells the truth.”
Ernie–Alina’s conversation with the scammer is exactly what I mean when I talk about “grooming.” Thanks for the link. It’s tempting to play games with these people, but it only encourages them. The poor man in Alberta fell for the classic vanity press “self-publishing” scam that’s been around for a decade. I often warn against it. These vultures milk people for their life savings. This is why writers need to learn about the publishing business before they try to enter the marketplace. They’re not stupid. Just ignorant.
The only reason I don’t get those scammers is my email is not online anywhere! Thank goodness.
Netflix wants to make my book into a movie? Even scarier if it was the SyFy Channel!
Alex–You’re probably very wise. We were told by our publishers early on that we needed to communicate with readers and be open to dialogue with them. But that was long before scamming authors became big business.
Thanks for this. I’d like to say I’m immune, but I did fall for the review one. 🙁
I have shared this with other authors. Hopefully, this will protect them.
Ruth Ann–So did I! An offer of a review from somebody who really seems to understand your book is almost too enticing to ignore. Until you find out it’s one more ploy from the same scammer gang as all the rest of them. Thanks so much for sharing. If we can save even one author from falling into their clutches, we’ve done a good deed.
I suppose I get some of these. Anything that starts out with book publicity or offers to do anything and it has a dollar sign in the email, I delete. I hadn’t thought about sending those to spam, though. I guess I’ll start.
Fred–Most of these new scam emails never mention money. They simply praise your work in very specific, believable ways (because they quote your best reviews.) It’s hard not to pay attention. You may not have had any yet, but now you’re warned.
And I appreciate it, as I do all your blogs, Anne.
One must wonder how these people live with themselves.
CS–A book I read by a Nigerian author who was once employed by these people said the young people who work for these scammers are told that the US and UK governments “compensate” fraud victims, so this is essentially a victimless crime to them.
I usually get those types at my old Yahoo addy, where spam goes to be ignored until I log in every two to three weeks. My main headache seems to be scams that are inadvertently passed along by FB.
Scammers now use FB’s business partnership programs to solicit partnerships with the sole purpose of stealing your page/private account to do illegal things that will get your banned.
GB–I haven’t touched on that new FB scam yet. So nasty. They use FB’s legitimate emails to send bogus requests for “business partnerships” that are schemes to hijack your FB page. These people are diabolical. FB says we should delete them, but not send to spam because that will send legit FB messages to spam as well. Oh, and I have an old Yahoo address too. It sure is a spam magnet. 🙁
Oh, Anne, up to 40 a day? I wonder how professional these people are if they’re recycling the same email address.
Gone are the good ol’ days when horrible grammar and spelling were the first “scammer alert.”
I have enough eggs too, thank goodness. Maybe if we all refuse to interact with them, they’ll go away and find a new scam. Yeah, right. That’ll never happen …
Kathy=- Yeah. They don’t seem to have it all under control. There’s also the problem with their name generator. Some of them just use two first names, like Grace Joy or Jack Fred, like the old romance scammers, but others really screw up with their comical names like Sparkle Lucy, and yesterday’s Twist Oliver. Their AI can compose pretty plausible pitches, but when it comes from a Boobsie Relative, or Klutz Dianne, it loses a little of its enticement. 🙂 (All real names from these emails. I’ve started a list of the funny ones.)
so far I could have appeared at the Edinburgh Book Festival and a handful of other literary gatherings of a similar ilk, on CBS, on PBS, on a double-dozen book clubs (“just a small appearance fee…”, I’ve had several editors from the Big 5 asking for the name of my agent (or just asking me to contact them directly for a lucrative collaboration…), and of course dozens upon dozens if not hundreds of offers to review my book which they loved (could you please send us a link to it?), or create a foolproof marketing plan, or do a “cinematic” book trailer, or any iteration of these things, all of which they would forward to me if I was “open to it”, just let them know…
Seriously, I do ignore them, but sometimes I come down to the computer on any given morning to twenty or more of these things in my inbox. IT IS EXHAUSTING.
Alma–These are exactly what I’m getting. I’m with you 100%. It is exhausting to have to send dozens of these to spam every single morning. I’ve got a little game going with myself that I’ll make French toast for breakfast if I have a morning with none of this spam. So far I haven’t had French toast for six months. Interesting that we both have initials at the beginning of the alphabet. I wonder if they choose their targets alphabetically. Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone!
A first this week, Anne! I received an email from an agent at my OWN agency (not my agent) wanting to represent me for film. It was an impersonation, which I was quick to recognize – the subtle thing to look for is the email address ending gmail, instead of .com. An agent will have a agency.com email address. Everything else about it looked legit (she does work there). But what a boo-boo, as I’m already with that agency!!
Melodie–Oh, that’s a first! Impersonating somebody from your own agency. For all their AI cleverness, they sure don’t do their homework, do they? That seems to be the latest scam, impersonating real agents and Big 5 editors. They keep coming up with schemes, but they won’t work if they send to the wrong people. I wish they’d give it a rest.
I have had some of these scam emails, but fewer than many other authors. Maybe Canadian authors aren’t targetted as much? Or maybe it’s because I’m not on Facebook or other social media. When one of those flattering messages does appear, it’s an automatic spam and block.
Interesting about those weird names; you would think AI could come up with more plausible monikers.
Audrey–It’s probably because you’re not on social media. A lot of the scammers mention my FB profile. So much for needing to be on social media to sell books, right? Those names are hilarious. Today I got one from Ozymandias Wealth. A recent fave is Thane Cawdor. They must educate their AI on classic English literature. Can you imagine somebody naming a baby boy “Ozymandias”? 🙂
I suppose he’d end up being called “Oz.” 😀
Please note that the scammers also use the names and reputations of legitimate book review sites offering features or reviews for a fee to authors, but the contact details in the email belong to the scammer, not the blogger they are impersonating. I’m currently dealing with this issue.
Shelleyrae–Thanks for the update! I didn’t know they were impersonating book bloggers,too! How nasty. Book bloggers have to deal with enough, like all those people who don’t read the guidelines and want you to review genres you don’t read. Sorry you’re going through that.
Thanks, Anne, for continuing to beat the drum about these scammers. They’re getting more refined and sophisticated every week.
The most convincing recent one purportedly came from a facilitator of a Goodreads subgroup with 37K followers. She had singled out my book THE VILLAIN’S JOURNEY for presentation to a focused group of authors interested in improving their craft and invited me to present it to them. The group actually exists and appeared to check out. But it still smelled fishy…
I didn’t answer. A few hours later, a followup arrived, warning the residency they were eager to offer me would be filled by someone else if I didn’t respond.
Residency, huh?
I scrolled down posts in that group and found a message that scammers had impersonated them.
Guess I’ll never find out where that residency might have been. Sigh.
Debbie–I had a similar offer with my book The Author Blog. They said they wanted me to teach somewhere in Ireland. I’d love to go to Ireland, but it was just one more scam. I don’t think you missed a real offer. Authors who want to teach at conferences and retreats usually sign up for a service of some kind so they can get on lists sent to the conferences. Still, it’s fun to fantasize…
Anne:
Further to my first comment above, I do get some people trying to scam me but not of the nature of most of the ones mentioned. I just received one that is similar to about five I have received in the last six months:
THIS IS THE EMAIL I RECEIVED:
Ernie J. Zelinski,
We trust this email finds you in good health. We heartily welcome you on our book promotion platform. We’re thrilled to announce Promo Pricing. Work with our own dedicated team of book experts to promote your book “GREAT FRIENDS ROCK : How to Find Them — And Keep Them!”. Whether you’re looking to boost visibility, or engage with your readers.
Where we specialize in helping writers like you maximize the visibility and impact of their work through targeted campaigns and promotional strategies.
We do by this (Premium Plan):
1. We will send out the newsletter to our 92K subscribers.
2. We will list your book on The Bookpinks Home page for one week.
3. We will send out 180 Promotional tweets and post them on our different social media channels.
4. We will send out two Facebook posts every day.
5. We will send out 60 Instagram posts.
6. We will send out one Instagram story every day.
7. Your book will be listed on our site for 2 years with a purchase link.
You can choose a book and date that suits you.
Ava Taylor
THIS WAS MY RESPONSE TO AVA:
Hello Ava;
Yes, I will consider any marketing program that helps sell more of my books.
Indeed, I will consider anyone who wants to promote my books on a percentage of the profits I will earn based on the increase in sales during the promotion.
We can do this by monitoring the print sales with Bookscan. (You do have a Bookscan account, don’t you? I have one. It only costs $2,950 a year.)
Insofar as ebook sales, I will send you regular screen shots of my Kindle sales on Amazon, ebook sales on Kobo, and ibook sales on Apple.
Presently the print edition of “Great Friends Rock” makes a profit of $2.40 per copy and the ebooks earn a profit of $2.49 per copy.
I will pay you half (50 percent) of the increase in profits that you generate for me during the period of your marketing program for me.
That’s a pretty good deal, wouldn’t you say?
If I have to pay upfront, forget it.
This I know: YouTube videos, book clubs, and book trailers are vastly overrated including the use of AI, Awards, Professional Editing, and many of the other marketing tools that so-called book experts try to sell to authors.
Fact is, none of these so-called experts have made one cent selling their own books. Keep in mind that I have made over $4,000,000 from my books.
I say this as a self-published writer who has written 20 books and has sold well over 1,125,000 copies of my books, I have 3 books that are true international bestsellers — ones that have each sold at least 100,000 copies in the print edition. My books have been published in 22 languages in 29 countries.
Just a note that my success has been a result of 75 of my own unique “marketing” techniques that 95% of authors and so called “book marketing experts” — not to mention AI — are not creative or clever enough to come up with. These “marketing” techniques involve what my competitors are NOT doing — instead of what my competitors are doing.
One more note: Because of my creativity in book marketing over the years, I just got Simon & Schuster to be the US Distributor for my self-published books including the 25th Anniversary Updated Edition of “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.” Check it out here:
“How to Retire Happy Wild, and Free” on Simon & Schuster
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-to-Retire-Happy-Wild-and-Free-25th-Anniversary-Updated-Edition/Ernie-J-Zelinski/9781927452257
If you would like to promote “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free” based on my terms above, the print edition makes a profit of $6.53 per copy and the ebooks earn a profit of $5.70 per copy.
Again, I will pay you half (50 percent) of the increase in profits that you generate for me during the period of your marketing program for me.
I have attached the PDF of why “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free” is the “The World’s Best Retirement Book” based on three metrics.
.
P.S. I do hire true experts and will pay big dollars (such as $1,000 US an hour I paid to Charlie Hoehn) for their book coaching or consulting services. But they have to show me exactly who they have helped and how much they have helped any particular author. Charlie Hoehn likely learned just as much from me as I learned from him — but I learned some valuable things from him! If you would like to know what I learned, you will have to pay me $1,000.
Ernie J. Zelinski
International Best-Selling Author, Unconventional Career Expert, and Prosperity Life Coach
Author of the Bestseller “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free”
(Over 475,000 copies sold and published in 11 languages)
and the International Bestseller “The Joy of Not Working”
(Over 320,000 copies sold and published in 17 foreign languages)
Ernie–That’s classic junk marketing. It may come from an actual junk marketer, not even an outright scam. But none of this stuff has worked for a long time. Vanity presses love to push this stuff on their authors. But I’m pretty sure your response will show them they’re way out of their league with you. 🙂
Then there’s the very heartfelt letter from a “fan” filling you with compliments and when you reply just to say thanks, that’s when they drop the bomb.
A.J. I’ve had a few of those. Mostly they pretend to be Margaret Atwood or Liane Moriarty or other famous author, but sometimes they pretend to be just plain folks who “fell in love” with my “work.” All the same scam.