May 9, 2025 • 23 mins
In this eye-opening episode, we pull back the curtain on a heartbreaking scam targeting authors—promising dream book deals that quickly turn into financial nightmares. We explore how scammers craft elaborate schemes that seem too good to be true, preying on authors' hopes with promises of massive book orders, media coverage, and exclusive events. But beneath the glossy promises lie red flags: upfront fees, lack of formal contracts, and guarantees that no legitimate publicist would ever make.
Join us as we dissect the common tactics used in these scams, reveal the emotional and financial devastation they cause, and share practical strategies to protect yourself. We also clarify what real author opportunities look like—so you can confidently spot the difference between a genuine offer and a deceptive ploy. Whether you're a new author or a seasoned pro, this episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the complex world of publishing.
Buy Penny's book The Amazon Author Formula
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips
and Author Success Podcast.
This is Penny Sansevierie andAmy Cornell, and first off,
welcome back to the show.
If it's your first timelistening, we are so glad that
you're here.
Be sure to subscribe to theshow so that you get notified.
We do post episodes everysingle Friday and the Amazon
(00:26):
Author Formula workbook is done,done.
I'm very excited.
It's probably coming out by thetime this show hits.
I would say it's probably goingto be up for pre-order in the
next month or so and then it'lllaunch a month after that.
But I'm really excited aboutthat book.
I really want to dive into theshow.
So we're not going to do a lotof preamble to this, because
this, we were talking about thisin the green room and I almost
(00:50):
I, I I'm just speechless.
Um, so let me set the.
Let me just set the stage as anauthor.
Like we're buying for attention, we want all the good things
for our book and then one dayyour publisher tells, calls you
and tells you or emails you andtells you that a major bookstore
wants to buy a thousand copiesof your book and you were doing
(01:12):
the happy dance and then one dayyou realized that it's all a
scam.
Amy, do you want to, do youwant to unpack this new author
scam?
You know what?
And can I just say I mean, Iknow I'm not going to spend too
much time on this, but, man,this makes me so mad, so mad.
I just I have no words to this.
(01:34):
I mean, we spend so much of ourtime guarding the authors that
we work with, and even the onesthat we don't, who come to us
and just say look, can I ask youa quick question?
And these people, just, I mean,and you know, what they have to
realize is that you aredestroying author dreams.
I am so sorry we may have topause the show so I can stay
(01:57):
quiet.
I am so mad right now.
And he needs to do a lap.
Yeah, I know, yeah, I need to.
Yeah, seriously, I need to do alap around the, you know, around
the block.
Yeah, I mean, because that's Imean, and that's one of the
reasons why we do this show isis, yes, both, for sure, to
educate authors, but also toprotect authors, because every
(02:18):
time you turn around there'ssomebody just trying to take
their money.
And also, you know, you justdevastate people when you do
this.
I mean, look, none of thesescammers are going to be
listening to this show as I'mwagging my finger at them, but
this makes me really mad.
Amy, do you want to unpack whatis actually going on here,
because you're the one thatdiscovered this.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yes.
So I read an article thatoutlined this and it just again
it blew my mind at how complexthis was.
So essentially this happened.
It happened to be a Canadianauthor, but this is going around
.
So if you think, oh good, Idon't live in Canada, like no,
so still be careful.
But essentially her publisher,her publishing group and she was
(02:55):
not with a major publisherclaimed that they got an offer,
like Penny said that bookstoresit was multi-tiered, which also
made it sound more legitimate.
So they wanted to buy athousand copies of the book and
host an event.
And they also said they couldget news coverage.
So a thousand copies of thebook, but the author had to
(03:17):
provide them.
You know, the author had to getthe books prepared, so she had
to you know, have them printed,pay for shipping, things like
that for the event.
The event was going to happen.
They charged a fee.
They were going to charge a feefor the event.
That is not entirely unheard ofanymore for really popular
venues.
So I don't want authors tothink like, oh, if somewhere is
charging, they're trying to scamme.
No, just do your due diligence,make sure that's a legitimate
(03:39):
venue and that you know what Imean.
No-transcript.
(04:12):
You know, like that is within arange that a lot of authors, if
they're thinking they'reactually going to sell a
thousand copies and have thisbig event, could wrap their
minds around.
You know, like, okay, $2,600,it's not a small fee, but this
is going to be a big event andthis is going to be my big break
and basically.
So again, all this stuff thatyou know she needed to pay for
(04:33):
the event.
She needed to pay to have thebooks printed and shipped, you
know, locally.
She needed to pay if she wantedto guarantee news coverage for
it.
And the reality check came whenshe actually followed up with
the local TV news station to getmore information on how they
were going to cover it.
Is it going to be an interview?
Will it happen before or after?
(04:54):
You know what I mean, whichmakes sense, like are we going
to do this before the event,like during whatever?
And basically the news stationbroke it to her and said we
don't do paid coverage, this isnothing that we're tracking,
this is not a thing, essentially.
And that's what finallytriggered and she realized oh my
gosh, none of this is real.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Oh, that is just so devastating.
That is so devastating.
And now thousands of dollars,and you know, now, thousands of
dollars, thousands of dollarsdown the, you know, down the
road, so yeah, so, so, let me bethe first.
So here's, here's the thing,guys, if you're listening to
(05:38):
this and you're just like,you're as horrified as we are,
which I'm sure you are, and youknow, and I hate to say, don't
trust anybody, but don't trustanybody.
I, I would say that there, thatthe problem with this I don't
even know where to start withthis the problem with this is it
is the emotional triggers,right, so the thrill of being
recognized, right, for all yourhard work, the validation,
(06:02):
you're getting a big break.
All of this feeds into this,and this is what is so
infuriating.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It's what every author hopes for when they
decide to write a book, and youknow what I mean.
You want the recognition.
You hope there's somevalidation along the way.
Everybody hopes for a big break, right?
As much as we cover on thisshow in multiple episodes,
trying to keep everybodygrounded and realistic about how
challenging this industry isand why.
(06:29):
Yeah for sure, exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
But I would say also that you know.
So here's one of the biggestthings to look out for, aside
from unrealistic large orders.
Now that's a big red flag.
That is definitely a big redflag.
Not, there was no contract.
(07:11):
Typically with these scams,there's no contract right
Because they can't do a contract.
Because they I mean, I guessthey could do a contract.
It's still not worth the paperthat it's written on.
But, generally speaking, whilethey go to these lengths to
create this multi-tiered scam,they're probably not going to
spend the time on a contract.
That's just my take.
I also think that weird paymentrequests so reputable businesses
(07:37):
like we take credit cards andthen we take ACH, which a lot of
like ACH has really replacedwriting checks.
I used to love I'm sorry, I'mlike 900 years old, I used to
love writing checks, but ACH orlike we never.
We almost never deal with Venmo, we never deal with PayPal, we
(08:00):
never deal with weird wiretransfers, I mean, unless
somebody's like overseas.
And part of the reason for usis that when you have a lot of
different ways to take payments,it just gets really chaotic.
But also these places charge abig fee.
So the majority of reputablepublishing industry people don't
(08:23):
take it because they take a bigfee.
So, I think, weird wiretransfer requests it's usually
always going to be in a wiretransfer, because the majority
of these scams originateoverseas.
Mm-hmm, right, yeah, and I alsothink I mean, amy, like you know
(08:44):
, payments to be on television.
Oh, I know, it just makes methat is also a huge red flag.
Now they may package it in that, well, that's our fee to pitch
you to your local media.
(09:07):
Whatever that number was,$2,500 still feels outrageous,
you know.
And here's the other thing,though, too, is the guarantees
of media.
Like, oh, we're going toguarantee that.
Nobody can guarantee media.
Like, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
No, not even local media.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
You know, not even local media.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, and honestly, even when you're chatting with
reporters and things like that,sometimes things get cut.
You know, editors cut things.
Not all segments make it live.
You know what I mean?
There's so many things that goon to where any guarantees with
media are really just.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
That should be a huge red flag, huge red flag, huge
red flag, you know, and then thethe large, so the large order
that just killed me, oh my gosh.
And so she had her booksprinted and then she had Locally
Yep.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Oh yeah, they were.
They were the bookstore.
Essentially, what it soundedlike is that they told her she
had to get provide the books,but the bookstore was going to
buy them for the event you knowwhat I mean as part of the whole
event package, but she had toprocure them first.
You know what I mean.
All this poor woman, I know.
So she's thinking okay, yes, Ihave to pay to have them printed
(10:17):
and then shipped here, but thebookstore is going to buy them
from me as part of this eventpackage.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
So you know she's out money for a little bit until
the event happens, and thenshe'll break even, at least for
the books Right Now.
Here's okay.
So here's the other piece ofthis, too, is bookstores almost
never buy hugely huge copies,huge numbers of copies of a book
, I mean a thousand books.
Yeah, exactly, I mean you haveto think about that.
Like, be like, be real.
I mean I realized sometimes,when you get hit with something
(10:51):
like this and you think, oh, mygosh, this is amazing, the last
thing that you want to say, say,have to say to yourself, is
who's going to want a thousandcopies of my book sitting in a
bookstore?
Because the answer is basicallynobody.
Nobody has that much, nobodyhas that much storage.
But even then, like bookstores,I mean they.
So when a bookstore acquires abook, especially from a new
(11:15):
author, they may do 10 copies.
10 copies is actually prettysignificant.
I mean, realize that soundslike a pittance, but it's a
pretty significant number.
If somebody orders 50 copies,I'm like, wow, I mean you must
really, because you're competingwith every single book in that
bookstore, every single book.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So they're never going to order.
I mean they're never going toorder huge quantities like that.
No, I mean it's just not goodbusiness to put that much money
into a single title.
That you know what I mean.
Yeah, it's because yeah, youknow.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
And then the other piece of it, though, too, is
that they're never going toorder.
Like, if you're doing a bookevent, 50 max, but 1,000?
Right, amy, you and I both knowwe've done and I'm not saying
this to brag at all, but we'vedone celebrity book signings
where we've had like 300 people,you know, or 500 people at the
(12:16):
max.
I mean, a thousand is just run.
Don't walk from that, becausethat's just that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
They were overreaching with that in the
first place.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because therewas cause, you did some
research on this and there was a.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
There was a Sacramento author.
Yes, this was one of the andthis was just one example.
But I mean they had strong PRsupport.
They were known in the area.
I mean, if everything we talkabout in all of our shows we're
like do this, do this, like allthe right things to do if you
want to start getting localrecognition and start selling
(12:55):
locally, doing events, thingslike that, this author was doing
it and they sold 200 copiesroughly at their event, I mean,
and that's huge, like Penny justsaid.
You know that is huge, but wereally want to put it in
perspective.
Like all the things are goingright.
You are known in your community.
You have a brand.
You know what I mean.
(13:16):
Like I'm sure this person, whenshe was actually approaching
bookstores as well, they knewwho she was.
Yeah, exactly, does that makesense?
Like this is not like oh, wheredid this person come from?
Like this would have beensomebody whose name would have
been easy to if they didn'talready know her as a local
author.
If you looked her up, she'd beall over.
You know what I mean.
(13:36):
She'd have a website, she'dhave a great.
You know what I mean.
You'd just be seeing things.
So this author already had alot going for them.
So this was, this was somethingthat was net, a natural
progression.
This, this level of event, andeven then, 200 copies sold,
which was amazing.
That was a huge win.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, yeah, I mean and I think that, um, so, so I
just I'm, I'm floor, I'm justI'm absolutely floored by this.
I think you know, if, ifthere's, if there's one piece of
advice I know we give a lot ofadvice because we have strong
feelings about many things and Ihave a lot of strong feelings
about this Um, if you're, ifyou're ever questioning it,
(14:16):
don't hit first off, don'thesitate to write us and ask us
like this.
It's just cause this might besomething that you might be hit
by, something legitimate, but itcould also be yet another new
scam that's out there.
Because I got a call.
I got actually a few calls andI ended up calling the bookstore
to let them know.
I got a few calls around fromquote unquote from bookstores
(14:38):
around the country that theywanted to buy my book in bulk.
They didn't give me an exactnumber, so I don't know if it
was a hundred or a thousand, andthey wanted to stock it in not
only in their store but in allof their quote unquote sister
stores, which I mean independentbookstores.
I mean, like Changing Hands inArizona has a sister store, but
(15:00):
the majority of independentbookstores are just a single
store.
But whatever majority ofindependent bookstores are just
a single store, but whatever.
And so they called and said oh,we want to stock your book,
we're so excited.
Blah, blah, blah.
So I actually called thebookstore and I'm like y'all
should.
First off, you could absolutelytell it was a scam, right?
Because the guy could barelypronounce I'm sorry, I don't
(15:20):
mean to sound like, but theirEnglish was not their first
language and you coulddefinitely tell that that's that
had kind of like a scam vibe toit.
So I called the bookstore and Isaid hey, you should know that
this is happening.
I mean, I said maybe you havelike a call center, like a cheap
call center or something thatyou're doing this.
And she said no, I had no ideathis was even going on.
(15:42):
I'm like, well, now you know.
So I don't know, I don't knowwhat you could do.
But I think the first piece ofthis is is you have to verify,
verify, verify, verify, and oneof the ways that you can do that
, obviously, is to get the nameof the bookstore, contact the
bookstore.
(16:02):
You know what I mean, I just.
And then, like I said, I meanthe contract as well.
I mean there has to be acontract for something
especially at this magnitude.
There has to be a contract inplace for this.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yes, and I think it was also.
Yeah, I agree with you, penny,I think it was also suspect that
this one entity was speakingfor the store, for the news, for
all that stuff.
That's very, that's fishy, youknow, unless somebody approaches
you, like you said, with acontract that details like we
(16:41):
work with these local stores, wework with you know what I mean
and that could still be a scamjust because they throw
somebody's name out there, likePenny's experience.
But still, like the fewerdetails, the more suspicious you
should be for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Right, Exactly.
And didn't you say that?
Or wasn't it in that articlethat they were asking for all
the money up front?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yes.
So like, yeah, the newscoverage, that was something
that you had to pay for up front, well ahead of the event.
All these things you had to.
You know what I mean.
The fee for the event had to bepaid for well ahead of the
event, like before anything wasbooked, before dates were chosen
.
You know what I mean.
It's like oof.
So, yeah, definitely anybody.
Any pressure to pay up front forsomething that has not been
(17:26):
confirmed through the sourcesdirectly.
So, like Penny said, contactthe bookstore, contact the media
outlet they claim that you'regoing to get coverage from or
that they're going to bring outto the event.
You know, do all of thosethings first before any money
changes hands.
You know, because even in thatcase, you know, you just you
never know.
(17:47):
And to your point earlier, penny, about the local media you know
, maybe it was in the fine printthat they were just going to
pitch local media, but that'salso something to be careful
about too.
You know, understand exactlywhat you're getting, because we
see that a lot with a lot ofthese.
You know we've done shows onfilm and Netflix scams and
(18:07):
things like that, where authorswill come to us and say I'm
getting a Netflix deal, or I'mgoing to hear from a Netflix
person when in reality, if youread the fine print, you're just
paying somebody a ton of moneyto fake, convert your book into
a you know a script and thenquote, unquote, pitch it to the
(18:28):
right people, yes, but authorssee that you know like, because
again you want it to be your bigbreak.
So you miss those details thatsay this is not a sure thing,
this is pretty much a pitch.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Right, exactly, and you and you know I mean listen,
with AI, chat, gpt can turn yourbook into a screenplay.
You don't have to pay somebodyto.
I mean, I'm not suggesting thisis not me telling you this is
how you do it, but you know whatI mean Somebody saying they're
going to.
There was a, there was acompany, and they actually
wanted us to send the business.
(19:04):
I'm like, do I look like I justfell off the turnip truck to
you?
They, um, they wanted to, sothey, they would produce a book
video like a little one minutetrailer for $20,000, amy, and
then they were going to use thattrailer to get them a movie
(19:24):
deal.
I'm like, are you?
And the guy kept emailing meand he was.
Finally I told him I'm like,buddy, listen, yeah, really, I
mean you, you need, you needsome to make some better life
choices, because you were, oh no, but this really works and
these are who we've worked with.
And I'm like I don't know any ofthese people or any of these
(19:45):
movies, maybe like, maybe theywere big hits on some rando
Island where one person lives orsomething.
Right, right, I mean it.
Just it's really.
So I think that ask goodquestions, verify writer beware
is a really good site and thereis a contact, there's a contact
(20:07):
portal in there.
Victoria Strauss has done justamazing work for years and years
and years.
There's a contact portal inthere that you can actually ask
if they've heard of it or youknow what they think, or
something.
The service that writer bewaredoes for authors is just
tremendous.
Um, so we're, we're you knowwe're always really, we're
(20:28):
always really grateful for thestuff that they feature, because
now more than ever, yeah,there's just there's so so many
ways for um that authors cangive up their money to something
that is never going to net themanything.
It just makes me so mad.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
And, like you said, we get emails from clients, past
clients all the time that runthings by us, and not all of
them are total scams, but justsome of them are presented in a
way that makes them seem likeyou're getting more than what
you really are.
Yeah, so it might be alegitimate company, but
deciphering what you're actuallygoing to walk away with for
(21:06):
your investment is different,you know, than what they present
superficially.
Yeah, yeah, and so that'salways something, too, that you
know.
I try to help with when they,when they send things our way
and go is this really worth mytime, like?
Is this?
Is this appropriate for me?
You know?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, exactly yeah, and we always appreciate that.
And I and I have to say I'venever seen in in my 24 plus
years in being in business, I'venever seen as many author scams
as there have, as we have seenin the last year.
Yeah, it's wild, truly, it'sjust, it's really.
Yeah, it's really crazy.
So you know, I know that it'sthis, know that this is kind of
(21:46):
a little bit of a discouragingshow.
It's not meant to be, it's justmeant to be more of a.
We're here to help you sharethe show with some author
friends that you know or awriter's group, just again, not
to promote the fact that we wanteverybody to listen to this
podcast.
But forewarned is forearmed.
So you know you got, you got toprotect yourself and we don't
(22:08):
want anybody falling for this,for this crazy bookstore scam
and you know bookstore scampeople, if you're listening to
this podcast, seriously shame onyou for for stealing an
author's dreams and their money.
Yeah, yeah.
So anyway, thank you so muchfor listening to the show.
Again, make sure to subscribeso that you get notified every
(22:28):
time that there is a new episodewhich we can publish every week
and share the show withsomebody that you know um, that
could be helped by it and leavea review or send us your review.
We love reviews.
We always check them.
We love hearing from you.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
We'll see you next time.
(22:49):
Bye-bye.
Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips
and Author Success Podcast.
This is Penny Sansevierie andAmy Cornell, and first off,
welcome back to the show.
If it's your first timelistening, we are so glad that
you're here.
Be sure to subscribe to theshow so that you get notified.
We do post episodes everysingle Friday and the Amazon
(00:26):
Author Formula workbook is done,done.
I'm very excited.
It's probably coming out by thetime this show hits.
I would say it's probably goingto be up for pre-order in the
next month or so and then it'lllaunch a month after that.
But I'm really excited aboutthat book.
I really want to dive into theshow.
So we're not going to do a lotof preamble to this, because
this, we were talking about thisin the green room and I almost
(00:50):
I, I I'm just speechless.
Um, so let me set the.
Let me just set the stage as anauthor.
Like we're buying for attention, we want all the good things
for our book and then one dayyour publisher tells, calls you
and tells you or emails you andtells you that a major bookstore
wants to buy a thousand copiesof your book and you were doing
(01:12):
the happy dance and then one dayyou realized that it's all a
scam.
Amy, do you want to, do youwant to unpack this new author
scam?
You know what?
And can I just say I mean, Iknow I'm not going to spend too
much time on this, but, man,this makes me so mad, so mad.
I just I have no words to this.
(01:34):
I mean, we spend so much of ourtime guarding the authors that
we work with, and even the onesthat we don't, who come to us
and just say look, can I ask youa quick question?
And these people, just, I mean,and you know, what they have to
realize is that you aredestroying author dreams.
I am so sorry we may have topause the show so I can stay
(01:57):
quiet.
I am so mad right now.
And he needs to do a lap.
Yeah, I know, yeah, I need to.
Yeah, seriously, I need to do alap around the, you know, around
the block.
Yeah, I mean, because that's Imean, and that's one of the
reasons why we do this show isis, yes, both, for sure, to
educate authors, but also toprotect authors, because every
(02:18):
time you turn around there'ssomebody just trying to take
their money.
And also, you know, you justdevastate people when you do
this.
I mean, look, none of thesescammers are going to be
listening to this show as I'mwagging my finger at them, but
this makes me really mad.
Amy, do you want to unpack whatis actually going on here,
because you're the one thatdiscovered this.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yes.
So I read an article thatoutlined this and it just again
it blew my mind at how complexthis was.
So essentially this happened.
It happened to be a Canadianauthor, but this is going around
.
So if you think, oh good, Idon't live in Canada, like no,
so still be careful.
But essentially her publisher,her publishing group and she was
(02:55):
not with a major publisherclaimed that they got an offer,
like Penny said that bookstoresit was multi-tiered, which also
made it sound more legitimate.
So they wanted to buy athousand copies of the book and
host an event.
And they also said they couldget news coverage.
So a thousand copies of thebook, but the author had to
(03:17):
provide them.
You know, the author had to getthe books prepared, so she had
to you know, have them printed,pay for shipping, things like
that for the event.
The event was going to happen.
They charged a fee.
They were going to charge a feefor the event.
That is not entirely unheard ofanymore for really popular
venues.
So I don't want authors tothink like, oh, if somewhere is
charging, they're trying to scamme.
No, just do your due diligence,make sure that's a legitimate
(03:39):
venue and that you know what Imean.
No-transcript.
(04:12):
You know, like that is within arange that a lot of authors, if
they're thinking they'reactually going to sell a
thousand copies and have thisbig event, could wrap their
minds around.
You know, like, okay, $2,600,it's not a small fee, but this
is going to be a big event andthis is going to be my big break
and basically.
So again, all this stuff thatyou know she needed to pay for
(04:33):
the event.
She needed to pay to have thebooks printed and shipped, you
know, locally.
She needed to pay if she wantedto guarantee news coverage for
it.
And the reality check came whenshe actually followed up with
the local TV news station to getmore information on how they
were going to cover it.
Is it going to be an interview?
Will it happen before or after?
(04:54):
You know what I mean, whichmakes sense, like are we going
to do this before the event,like during whatever?
And basically the news stationbroke it to her and said we
don't do paid coverage, this isnothing that we're tracking,
this is not a thing, essentially.
And that's what finallytriggered and she realized oh my
gosh, none of this is real.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Oh, that is just so devastating.
That is so devastating.
And now thousands of dollars,and you know, now, thousands of
dollars, thousands of dollarsdown the, you know, down the
road, so yeah, so, so, let me bethe first.
So here's, here's the thing,guys, if you're listening to
(05:38):
this and you're just like,you're as horrified as we are,
which I'm sure you are, and youknow, and I hate to say, don't
trust anybody, but don't trustanybody.
I, I would say that there, thatthe problem with this I don't
even know where to start withthis the problem with this is it
is the emotional triggers,right, so the thrill of being
recognized, right, for all yourhard work, the validation,
(06:02):
you're getting a big break.
All of this feeds into this,and this is what is so
infuriating.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It's what every author hopes for when they
decide to write a book, and youknow what I mean.
You want the recognition.
You hope there's somevalidation along the way.
Everybody hopes for a big break, right?
As much as we cover on thisshow in multiple episodes,
trying to keep everybodygrounded and realistic about how
challenging this industry isand why.
(06:29):
Yeah for sure, exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
But I would say also that you know.
So here's one of the biggestthings to look out for, aside
from unrealistic large orders.
Now that's a big red flag.
That is definitely a big redflag.
Not, there was no contract.
(07:11):
Typically with these scams,there's no contract right
Because they can't do a contract.
Because they I mean, I guessthey could do a contract.
It's still not worth the paperthat it's written on.
But, generally speaking, whilethey go to these lengths to
create this multi-tiered scam,they're probably not going to
spend the time on a contract.
That's just my take.
I also think that weird paymentrequests so reputable businesses
(07:37):
like we take credit cards andthen we take ACH, which a lot of
like ACH has really replacedwriting checks.
I used to love I'm sorry, I'mlike 900 years old, I used to
love writing checks, but ACH orlike we never.
We almost never deal with Venmo, we never deal with PayPal, we
(08:00):
never deal with weird wiretransfers, I mean, unless
somebody's like overseas.
And part of the reason for usis that when you have a lot of
different ways to take payments,it just gets really chaotic.
But also these places charge abig fee.
So the majority of reputablepublishing industry people don't
(08:23):
take it because they take a bigfee.
So, I think, weird wiretransfer requests it's usually
always going to be in a wiretransfer, because the majority
of these scams originateoverseas.
Mm-hmm, right, yeah, and I alsothink I mean, amy, like you know
(08:44):
, payments to be on television.
Oh, I know, it just makes methat is also a huge red flag.
Now they may package it in that, well, that's our fee to pitch
you to your local media.
(09:07):
Whatever that number was,$2,500 still feels outrageous,
you know.
And here's the other thing,though, too, is the guarantees
of media.
Like, oh, we're going toguarantee that.
Nobody can guarantee media.
Like, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
No, not even local media.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
You know, not even local media.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, and honestly, even when you're chatting with
reporters and things like that,sometimes things get cut.
You know, editors cut things.
Not all segments make it live.
You know what I mean?
There's so many things that goon to where any guarantees with
media are really just.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
That should be a huge red flag, huge red flag, huge
red flag, you know, and then thethe large, so the large order
that just killed me, oh my gosh.
And so she had her booksprinted and then she had Locally
Yep.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Oh yeah, they were.
They were the bookstore.
Essentially, what it soundedlike is that they told her she
had to get provide the books,but the bookstore was going to
buy them for the event you knowwhat I mean as part of the whole
event package, but she had toprocure them first.
You know what I mean.
All this poor woman, I know.
So she's thinking okay, yes, Ihave to pay to have them printed
(10:17):
and then shipped here, but thebookstore is going to buy them
from me as part of this eventpackage.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
So you know she's out money for a little bit until
the event happens, and thenshe'll break even, at least for
the books Right Now.
Here's okay.
So here's the other piece ofthis, too, is bookstores almost
never buy hugely huge copies,huge numbers of copies of a book
, I mean a thousand books.
Yeah, exactly, I mean you haveto think about that.
Like, be like, be real.
I mean I realized sometimes,when you get hit with something
(10:51):
like this and you think, oh, mygosh, this is amazing, the last
thing that you want to say, say,have to say to yourself, is
who's going to want a thousandcopies of my book sitting in a
bookstore?
Because the answer is basicallynobody.
Nobody has that much, nobodyhas that much storage.
But even then, like bookstores,I mean they.
So when a bookstore acquires abook, especially from a new
(11:15):
author, they may do 10 copies.
10 copies is actually prettysignificant.
I mean, realize that soundslike a pittance, but it's a
pretty significant number.
If somebody orders 50 copies,I'm like, wow, I mean you must
really, because you're competingwith every single book in that
bookstore, every single book.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So they're never going to order.
I mean they're never going toorder huge quantities like that.
No, I mean it's just not goodbusiness to put that much money
into a single title.
That you know what I mean.
Yeah, it's because yeah, youknow.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
And then the other piece of it, though, too, is
that they're never going toorder.
Like, if you're doing a bookevent, 50 max, but 1,000?
Right, amy, you and I both knowwe've done and I'm not saying
this to brag at all, but we'vedone celebrity book signings
where we've had like 300 people,you know, or 500 people at the
(12:16):
max.
I mean, a thousand is just run.
Don't walk from that, becausethat's just that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
They were overreaching with that in the
first place.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because therewas cause, you did some
research on this and there was a.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
There was a Sacramento author.
Yes, this was one of the andthis was just one example.
But I mean they had strong PRsupport.
They were known in the area.
I mean, if everything we talkabout in all of our shows we're
like do this, do this, like allthe right things to do if you
want to start getting localrecognition and start selling
(12:55):
locally, doing events, thingslike that, this author was doing
it and they sold 200 copiesroughly at their event, I mean,
and that's huge, like Penny justsaid.
You know that is huge, but wereally want to put it in
perspective.
Like all the things are goingright.
You are known in your community.
You have a brand.
You know what I mean.
(13:16):
Like I'm sure this person, whenshe was actually approaching
bookstores as well, they knewwho she was.
Yeah, exactly, does that makesense?
Like this is not like oh, wheredid this person come from?
Like this would have beensomebody whose name would have
been easy to if they didn'talready know her as a local
author.
If you looked her up, she'd beall over.
You know what I mean.
(13:36):
She'd have a website, she'dhave a great.
You know what I mean.
You'd just be seeing things.
So this author already had alot going for them.
So this was, this was somethingthat was net, a natural
progression.
This, this level of event, andeven then, 200 copies sold,
which was amazing.
That was a huge win.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, yeah, I mean and I think that, um, so, so I
just I'm, I'm floor, I'm justI'm absolutely floored by this.
I think you know, if, ifthere's, if there's one piece of
advice I know we give a lot ofadvice because we have strong
feelings about many things and Ihave a lot of strong feelings
about this Um, if you're, ifyou're ever questioning it,
(14:16):
don't hit first off, don'thesitate to write us and ask us
like this.
It's just cause this might besomething that you might be hit
by, something legitimate, but itcould also be yet another new
scam that's out there.
Because I got a call.
I got actually a few calls andI ended up calling the bookstore
to let them know.
I got a few calls around fromquote unquote from bookstores
(14:38):
around the country that theywanted to buy my book in bulk.
They didn't give me an exactnumber, so I don't know if it
was a hundred or a thousand, andthey wanted to stock it in not
only in their store but in allof their quote unquote sister
stores, which I mean independentbookstores.
I mean, like Changing Hands inArizona has a sister store, but
(15:00):
the majority of independentbookstores are just a single
store.
But whatever majority ofindependent bookstores are just
a single store, but whatever.
And so they called and said oh,we want to stock your book,
we're so excited.
Blah, blah, blah.
So I actually called thebookstore and I'm like y'all
should.
First off, you could absolutelytell it was a scam, right?
Because the guy could barelypronounce I'm sorry, I don't
(15:20):
mean to sound like, but theirEnglish was not their first
language and you coulddefinitely tell that that's that
had kind of like a scam vibe toit.
So I called the bookstore and Isaid hey, you should know that
this is happening.
I mean, I said maybe you havelike a call center, like a cheap
call center or something thatyou're doing this.
And she said no, I had no ideathis was even going on.
(15:42):
I'm like, well, now you know.
So I don't know, I don't knowwhat you could do.
But I think the first piece ofthis is is you have to verify,
verify, verify, verify, and oneof the ways that you can do that
, obviously, is to get the nameof the bookstore, contact the
bookstore.
(16:02):
You know what I mean, I just.
And then, like I said, I meanthe contract as well.
I mean there has to be acontract for something
especially at this magnitude.
There has to be a contract inplace for this.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yes, and I think it was also.
Yeah, I agree with you, penny,I think it was also suspect that
this one entity was speakingfor the store, for the news, for
all that stuff.
That's very, that's fishy, youknow, unless somebody approaches
you, like you said, with acontract that details like we
(16:41):
work with these local stores, wework with you know what I mean
and that could still be a scamjust because they throw
somebody's name out there, likePenny's experience.
But still, like the fewerdetails, the more suspicious you
should be for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Right, Exactly.
And didn't you say that?
Or wasn't it in that articlethat they were asking for all
the money up front?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yes.
So like, yeah, the newscoverage, that was something
that you had to pay for up front, well ahead of the event.
All these things you had to.
You know what I mean.
The fee for the event had to bepaid for well ahead of the
event, like before anything wasbooked, before dates were chosen
.
You know what I mean.
It's like oof.
So, yeah, definitely anybody.
Any pressure to pay up front forsomething that has not been
(17:26):
confirmed through the sourcesdirectly.
So, like Penny said, contactthe bookstore, contact the media
outlet they claim that you'regoing to get coverage from or
that they're going to bring outto the event.
You know, do all of thosethings first before any money
changes hands.
You know, because even in thatcase, you know, you just you
never know.
(17:47):
And to your point earlier, penny, about the local media you know
, maybe it was in the fine printthat they were just going to
pitch local media, but that'salso something to be careful
about too.
You know, understand exactlywhat you're getting, because we
see that a lot with a lot ofthese.
You know we've done shows onfilm and Netflix scams and
(18:07):
things like that, where authorswill come to us and say I'm
getting a Netflix deal, or I'mgoing to hear from a Netflix
person when in reality, if youread the fine print, you're just
paying somebody a ton of moneyto fake, convert your book into
a you know a script and thenquote, unquote, pitch it to the
(18:28):
right people, yes, but authorssee that you know like, because
again you want it to be your bigbreak.
So you miss those details thatsay this is not a sure thing,
this is pretty much a pitch.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Right, exactly, and you and you know I mean listen,
with AI, chat, gpt can turn yourbook into a screenplay.
You don't have to pay somebodyto.
I mean, I'm not suggesting thisis not me telling you this is
how you do it, but you know whatI mean Somebody saying they're
going to.
There was a, there was acompany, and they actually
wanted us to send the business.
(19:04):
I'm like, do I look like I justfell off the turnip truck to
you?
They, um, they wanted to, sothey, they would produce a book
video like a little one minutetrailer for $20,000, amy, and
then they were going to use thattrailer to get them a movie
(19:24):
deal.
I'm like, are you?
And the guy kept emailing meand he was.
Finally I told him I'm like,buddy, listen, yeah, really, I
mean you, you need, you needsome to make some better life
choices, because you were, oh no, but this really works and
these are who we've worked with.
And I'm like I don't know any ofthese people or any of these
(19:45):
movies, maybe like, maybe theywere big hits on some rando
Island where one person lives orsomething.
Right, right, I mean it.
Just it's really.
So I think that ask goodquestions, verify writer beware
is a really good site and thereis a contact, there's a contact
(20:07):
portal in there.
Victoria Strauss has done justamazing work for years and years
and years.
There's a contact portal inthere that you can actually ask
if they've heard of it or youknow what they think, or
something.
The service that writer bewaredoes for authors is just
tremendous.
Um, so we're, we're you knowwe're always really, we're
(20:28):
always really grateful for thestuff that they feature, because
now more than ever, yeah,there's just there's so so many
ways for um that authors cangive up their money to something
that is never going to net themanything.
It just makes me so mad.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
And, like you said, we get emails from clients, past
clients all the time that runthings by us, and not all of
them are total scams, but justsome of them are presented in a
way that makes them seem likeyou're getting more than what
you really are.
Yeah, so it might be alegitimate company, but
deciphering what you're actuallygoing to walk away with for
(21:06):
your investment is different,you know, than what they present
superficially.
Yeah, yeah, and so that'salways something, too, that you
know.
I try to help with when they,when they send things our way
and go is this really worth mytime, like?
Is this?
Is this appropriate for me?
You know?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, exactly yeah, and we always appreciate that.
And I and I have to say I'venever seen in in my 24 plus
years in being in business, I'venever seen as many author scams
as there have, as we have seenin the last year.
Yeah, it's wild, truly, it'sjust, it's really.
Yeah, it's really crazy.
So you know, I know that it'sthis, know that this is kind of
(21:46):
a little bit of a discouragingshow.
It's not meant to be, it's justmeant to be more of a.
We're here to help you sharethe show with some author
friends that you know or awriter's group, just again, not
to promote the fact that we wanteverybody to listen to this
podcast.
But forewarned is forearmed.
So you know you got, you got toprotect yourself and we don't
(22:08):
want anybody falling for this,for this crazy bookstore scam
and you know bookstore scampeople, if you're listening to
this podcast, seriously shame onyou for for stealing an
author's dreams and their money.
Yeah, yeah.
So anyway, thank you so muchfor listening to the show.
Again, make sure to subscribeso that you get notified every
(22:28):
time that there is a new episodewhich we can publish every week
and share the show withsomebody that you know um, that
could be helped by it and leavea review or send us your review.
We love reviews.
We always check them.
We love hearing from you.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
We'll see you next time.
(22:49):
Bye-bye.
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