RHYS BOWEN: If you are a fellow author you will identify with this post. I am currently being driven crazy with fake offers to feature my books. From pretend book clubs ( my favorite so far was the Manhattan book club), fake trailers, etc. Below are some of the offers I received this week.
Sometimes I try writing back, saying that they don't need my permission to feature my book. Book clubs do it all the time. When I am in a bad mood I reply why the hell would I choose an unknown, unproven source to promote my books. And an even worse mood : You are not Sandra Smith. You are Mr. Mboko in Nigeria. Shame on you.
But nothing seems to deter them. And my worry is that I'll miss a real offer from a lovely book club, who'd like to chat with me, or a real invite to a podcast. I have to point out some are so real that I'm almost taken in. I got an offer from Traci Thomas, whose podcast Stacks is very popular. It sounded real enough but... I ran it by my publicist who responded instantly "that's not Traci's address."
I suppose there are enough self published authors desperate enough to pay someone to "spotlight" their book. Spotlight seems to be the red light. It appears often in their posts.
I hope you are doing well.
I am sending one last brief note to see if you would be open to a featured spotlight for From Cradle to Grave with The Metro Philadelphia Book Club. Our members have a strong appreciation for historical mysteries that combine rich atmosphere and wit, and we would be honored to feature your work within our community.
If this opportunity is of interest to you, please let me know and I will gladly provide the next steps and submission details.
Thank you again for your time and for the wonderful stories you share with your readers.
Warm regards,
Paul
Organizer
The Metro Philadelphia Book Club
My name is Maren Jovita, and I specialize in connecting authors with engaged readers through curated book clubs and structured reading challenges.
Your book, Vanished in the Crowd: A Molly Murphy Mystery, immediately caught my attention. The setting of New York during the vibrant 1909 Hudson-Fulton celebration creates a fascinating backdrop for mystery and intrigue.
I hope you’re doing well. I just wanted to follow up briefly on my earlier message regarding our invitation for you to be featured in The European Book Club Author Spotlight for [Her Royal Spyness]. From Marie Jeff.
I review your book Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure, and I truly admire the resilience and courage you bring to Ellie Endicott’s story. Navigating betrayal in pre-WWII England while forging a new path filled with friendship and love creates a rich and emotionally engaging narrative that resonates deeply with readers.
As I read through the overview, I could easily envision how this story could translate into a cinematic trailer. The blend of personal reinvention, suspense, and the charm of 1930s England provides a strong visual and emotional hook that would immediately immerse viewers in Ellie’s journey.
As head staff editor at Lakewood Publishers, I work with authors to create cinematic trailer concepts that highlight the heart and drama of their stories.
Tailored Media is currently identifying select titles for our upcoming production cycle, and Vanished in the Crowd: A Molly Murphy Mystery has been flagged for its high cinematic potential. Our department specializes in developing high-caliber trailers that bridge the gap between regional publication and a dominant global digital presence, ensuring your narrative carries the visual authority required for today’s market.
To demonstrate the impact of our creative approach, we have developed a professional trailer script specifically for this book. This concept is engineered to capture international audiences within the first few seconds of engagement, visualizing the grandeur of the 1909 Hudson-Fulton celebration and the electric atmosphere of New York City as it clashes with the "sinister" disappearance of a brilliant scientist, providing a scalable asset for both regional and global marketing campaigns.
Would you like us to send the script over so you can get a feel for the cinematic vision we have for your work?
Best regards.
Jeffrey Eben,
Creative Director | Tailored Media
https://tailoredmedia.co.uk/
Signal: +1 (458) 331-3006
Sophisticated Media for the Discerning Eye
Gunnery House, 9‑11 Gunnery Terrace
Royal Arsenal, LONDON SE18 6SW, UK
Note from Rhys: his email address was another country and that is not a British phone number.
My friend Lee Goldberg has great fun with his scam emails. He gets them from fake famous authors, like James Patterson. He writes back outlandish things. Dear Tana : I'm surprised you still want to talk to me after what happened. I want you to know that the rape charge was dropped but I am still in jail.
To a male writer he wrote, "You have a nerve to contact me after what you did to my wife."
The funniest one was when he got an email from fake Rhys Bowen. Now I know I've arrived!!!
So how do my fellow authors deal with this constant annoyance? I now just delete but they keep following up three or four times.
We're mystery writers. Can we come up with a fiendish way to send poisonous spiders through the internet to them???
Oh, good grief . . . I thought I'd heard all the scams, but this is the most preposterous thing; I guess the scammers think we're all stupid . . . I wish I had an answer for dealing with them although I have to say sending them poisonous spiders seems like a very good idea . . . .
ReplyDeleteI am now back to AI pretending to be a guy telling me I am wonderful. So scammed author no more.
ReplyDeleteBut... I am mindful that scams are not new. The earliest I remember reading about is a complaint from (I think Mesopotamia of a person complaining the copper received was not the amount he paid for. Crooks and honest people live on and with AI perhaps forevah.. goddess help us.
Rhys, you have all my sympathy. Several times a week, and occasionally more than once a day, I get emails (often from people with only first names) telling me how much they love one of my books, with lots of blah-blah about it clearly taken from my website and the back cover They explain about the wonderful PR they can offer me--zillions of Amazon reviews, long reviews in major media, etc. Sometimes the letters are inarticulate, but often they're quite well-written, almost surely by Chat GPT or some other AI. I fell for the first one, which was a couple of months ago--it wasn't quite so extravagant in its offers. I had an email exchange to learn more, but when the person with their own PR "company" wouldn't send me a website, I cut off contact. Since then, I just don't answer. But it's still a big nuisance.
ReplyDeleteI get scam email addressing me as the author of that day's blog post.
ReplyDeleteWow. I guess just delete delete delete, but how annoying.
ReplyDeleteOh, Rhys! Diabolical! Fiendish! A pox on all scammers!
ReplyDeleteWorse yet, some of thee look real! Gah!
I mark as Spam and block the sender, but it's annoying. I wouldn't reply, though - that confirms that they got the right email address. Sending poisonous spiders through the mail, now - that I would consider!
ReplyDeleteWow, I wouldn't be able to tell that some of these were fake. If I were bombarded by all these scammers, I would have a hard time maintaining a belief in the goodness of humankind. (Selden)
ReplyDeleteIf it is something the least bit suspicious, I refuse to engage, because by responding you have proven that they reached an actual person. Using Duck Duck Go, I might try to research the name, but usually I just report as spam and block.
ReplyDelete