Today's story is something I've covered before. But it's so important for all indie writers, I want to report on it again. And I am delighted to see a piece in the Bookseller this week to act as a touchpoint for such a post.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
The headline begins in as clear a way as one could imagine: “Scam emails impersonating editors ‘on the rise.'” Every day on social media, I see one or more of my author friends sharing the latest such email to arrive in their inbox. Most of the people I know have been in the game a long time and post in the spirit of eye-rolling and “here we go again,” but there are clearly many authors out there into whose inboxes scammers are finding their way who get far enough through the process to part with money before they realize what the truth is. And for that reason, the wider the awareness of what's happening, the better.
How the Editor Scam Works
The Bookseller piece focuses, understandably, on one part of the ongoing issue: scammers purporting to be editors. The approach in this case is simple. An email claims to be from an editor at a well-known publisher. They express an interest in the author's work, ask about books already written and those in the pipeline, and ask if the author has agency representation. At which point you can see where this is going (a helpful recommendation of a trusted agent partner, an enthusiastic response from said agent, and a request for money once the hook is taken).
Those actually working for the publishers in question offer a reminder in the piece of two key things. First, any email coming from them will come from their actual domain name and not a generic email provider like Gmail. And second, if interest is real, authors won't be asked for money.
Author Impersonation Scams
I would add to the emails coming from alleged editors another stream that many writers I know are seeing increasingly in their inboxes: emails purporting to come from bestselling authors writing in the same area. These have an extra level of insidiousness because they appeal to an author's natural desire for peer recognition. Sadly, it is unlikely that J. K. Rowling is enraptured by your last fantasy novel, as it is that Penguin Random House wants to publish your backlist for a fee.
Please stay vigilant, especially as the writing in these scams gets more competent and less strewn with traditional tells.
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