Life just got harder for writers - New scams to avoid

Being an author has never been easy. It's difficult to write a book, and nearly impossible to create one that is "good" (defined as a story that after reading others will tell their friends about it).  Then there are always a mountain of rejections, being taken advantage of by retailers and publishers who take the lion's share of the profits leaving them crumbs, and then there is the whole issue of how to "get the word out" so that people know your books exist.

But lately it's been even harder. Anyone reading my posts knows just how much Robin does for me.  One of the most annoying jobs as of late is organizing the email. She goes through it every day and puts fan mail to my attention, and takes care of any "logistics" stuff like contracts, shipping issues, coordination with copyeditors and Tim (our narrator), and so forth.

With the advent of AI there has been an explosion of what I can only assume are AI generated emails. One category are people who "run bookclubs."

They are remarkably similar and always include some "generic praise" such as: 

"The dynamic between Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater is so good. The contrast between cynicism and idealism, and the moral tension woven into such a concise Riyria tale, sparked great discussion among our members.

They bring up being "featured" but usually don't mention money - not yet. But Robin likes to "play along" and tells them I'd be happy to join the group for an Author Q&A.  Then they do ask for cash (either to cover the logistics of setting up the feature or to pay for "snacks" for the group."

It's all a scam of course, and the simple thing would be to just ignore them, but Robin doesn't like the fact that they are besmirching the bookclub's name without them even knowing it's going on.  So she's been going the next step which is:

1. Contacting the real bookclub to verify they didn't send the request (so far none of them have)
2. Filing a abuse report to Google because these people are impersonating others

It's a time consuming process, and it's no doubt "tilting at windmills" but she feels like she's making a difference in some small way, so who am I to stop her.

But there was a recent email that has been even more nefarious. This one is from a guy (Rob Cox) - with the email robcox.bookpublicist@gmail.com.  He offers various "marketing services" that run from $550 - $6,750. Robin hopes there is a real person and not just an AI because she keeps asking for "more information" to burn his time.  At one point, he offered up an reference: Mark Lawrence with an email address that is NOT Mark's.  But Robin was like a cat with a mouse so she wrote to it with the subject "Hey Mark, is this really you."

And of course a response came back! 

Hi Robin,
Yes, this is Mark.
First, congratulations on Michael’s works in progress! The Cycle, After the Fall, and Blythin Castle all sound like exciting projects, and it’s impressive to see such a strong lineup coming together.

I want to clarify upfront that I don’t work with multiple marketing people, I only work with Rob Cox and his team. They are the ones who have handled all of my marketing and consistently delivered results.

We first connected by email when I engaged them for marketing support for my books. Since then, Rob and his team have been my sole marketing partners, managing everything from strategy to execution.

Before we go further, could you let me know who provided you with my email for a reference? I want to make sure my contact information is only shared appropriately.

If you would like to verify their work or get more details on the results they’ve achieved, you can reach out to Rob directly. I’m confident he and his team can provide all the information you need.

Best regards,

Mark Lawrence

Oh the "balls" on this guy.  Now Robin also sent an email to the real Mark Lawrence, and hopefully he can take action against these guys for using his name to defraud others. But I can't believe how much effort this guy has put into this. He's later sent Robin three other authors as references, and she, of course, hae told them how they are being used.

For many years critics of my writing say that my glasses are too rose-colored. And I'll admit, I try to think better of people than worse - but Dear Maribor, this kind of scum make something that is so hard to begin with so much worse that it's more than a little disheartening.

Okay, I'm off my rant and back to writing.