It’s been a busy year in writing scams (but then what year isn’t?). From the new AI marketing scams, to nasty contract clauses, to publishers behaving badly, to the biggest copyright infringement restitution in history, Writer Beware has been on the beat. If you missed any of our posts, here’s your chance to catch up.
On a personal note, it’s always instructive for me to do these overviews, not just because they help me take stock of how well Writer Beware is fulfilling its mission, but also because looking at the trends and changes of the year just past can give me a sense of what I’ll likely be focusing on in the year ahead. I was a little surprised, for example, to see how much space I devoted to generative AI.
Also somewhat surprising: scams are what most people think of when they think of Writer Beware, but my posts about scams actually comprised less than half of what I published in 2025. Just a reminder that “beware” applies to much more than literary fraud.
A New “Beware”: AI-Driven Nigerian Marketing Scams
Ramping up more quickly than any scam I’ve ever seen, Nigerian marketing scams burst on the scene in the late spring and early summer of 2025, in the form of highly personalized emails from alleged marketing experts with often odd Gmail addresses and a suspicious lack of web presence. Authentic-seeming (AI-generated) plot details, bolstered by (also AI-generated) over-the-top praise, made it seem the purported marketer really had read the books and that the promotional services on offer had been carefully targeted. For payment, writers were referred to Nigerian third parties, described as “assistants” or “payment processors”, via job sites like Upwork or bank transfers to accounts at Wells Fargo and Lead Bank.
Writers reported being absolutely deluged with these emails–multiples per week or even per day. The scammers were also incredibly persistent, willing to engage in lengthy email dialogs to soothe writers’ misgivings, and continuing to nudge or provide new offers even after writers told them to get lost.
By year’s end, Nigerian scams had resolved into four distinct categories: general marketing/PR offers (visibility campaigns, Goodreads promotion, Amazon optimization, and the like); impersonations of book clubs with fake invites requiring a “spotlight” or other appearance fee; “private review communities” supposedly consisting of thousands of readers eager to provide reviews, with payment in the form of reader “tips”; and the Famous Author impersonation scam, where friendly contact by what appeared to be a well-known author was in reality a scheme for paid editing or marketing referrals.
The posts below detail how the scams work (with plenty of examples) and show how I’ve documented their Nigerian origin. I’m pretty sure I was the first to report on them in a comprehensive way. The good news is that the scammers are undercutting themselves by their sheer aggressiveness. When you get multiple similar emails in quick succession, all gushing about your work and making the same offers or pushing the same “opportunities”, it gets hard to take them seriously. I’ve heard from many, many writers who’ve pegged the emails as scams, or who aren’t quite sure and want to check–but only a handful who have actually engaged.
Return of the Nigerian Prince: A New Twist on Book Marketing Scams. This is the first of my posts about Nigerian marketing scams, written a couple of months after they emerged. It provides examples of the solicitation emails and a detailed look at the scammers’ M.O.
Return of the Nigerian Prince Redux: Beware Book Club and Book Review Scams. The scam diversifies, with two new iterations: impersonations of book clubs (often with presence on Meetup.com) and the “tipped reviewer” scam, with faux reader/review communities supposedly eager to provide authentic book reviews.
Army of Bots: Deeper into the Vortex of Nigerian Book Marketing Scams. How the scams are expanding and adapting in response to the reactions and questions they’re encountering from the writers they target, from bot-populated Discord “reader” groups to fancier websites.
If a Famous Author Calls, Hang Up: Anatomy of an Impersonation Scam. The scam’s fourth iteration: impersonating real authors to trick writers into paying for editing or marketing.
In Other Scam News…
Karma’s a Bitch: The Law Catches Up With PageTurner Press and Media. This was absolutely the highlight of my year–Writer Beware-wise, anyway: the busting by the FBI of the CEO, VP, and a US-based associate of one of the worst of the Philippine publishing scams, thanks to the CEO’s and VP’s foolish decision to visit the US for a Christmas holiday. I’ve been following PageTurner’s frauds, and receiving complaints from victims, for years–but the scam was even bigger than I knew.
USA Pen Press: The Ghostwriting Scam of a Thousand Websites. Well, not a thousand. But twenty-nine isn’t too shabby–all falsely using the names of famous writers, claims about books they had nothing to do with, and in some cases, “borrowing” the names of major publishers. (Ghostwriting scams, which pose as publishing service providers, are also based overseas, primarily in Pakistan.)
A New Scam to Watch For: “Pre-Paid” Agent Commissions. Scammers aren’t really all that smart or inventive. Although Writer Beware’s complaints database includes hundreds of company names, the vast majority of these run versions of the same set of frauds. But I have to admit that this new one is quite clever. Posing as a literary agent working on commission, the scammer offers a fake publishing contract, but to get the promised advance, the author has to “prove” that the agent’s commission has already been paid. Neat, huh?
Guest Post: My Twenty-Four Hour Dream. One writer’s close encounter with a scammer impersonating a producer from MGM Studios and selling the Hollywood dream.
Two to Avoid: Book Order Scams and Fake Reviews. Your publishing service provider (who you may already be having problems with) has great news: physical bookstores want to order thousands of your books for their shelves! Just one catch: you have to pay thousands for printing and/or shipping…but not to worry, you’ll more than recoup your “investment” via royalties. This nasty fraud is a favorite of the ghostwriting scams mentioned above. As for fake reviews, they are bait to draw writers into a scammer’s web.
Bartz v. Anthropic: The Biggest Copyright Infringement Settlement in History
A year ago, a group of authors filed a copyright infringement class action suit against AI company Anthropic over its creation of an enormous library of digitized books to train its Claude chatbot. In addition to buying and scanning physical books, Anthropic also downloaded millions of books and other works that had been illegally uploaded to pirate sites.
Anthropic claimed that this was fair use. The judge in the case agreed–at least for works Anthropic had purchased or otherwise legally acquired. Using pirated works, on the other hand, was copyright infringement, and constituted a case that could go to trial. The judge certified a class of authors whose works were included in the pirate databases downloaded by Anthropic–although, by stipulating that only works properly registered with the US Copyright Office were eligible for inclusion, he effectively locked millions of authors and works out of the class.
Copyright law provides for up to $150,000 in damages for willful infringement (though the actual amount is at the discretion of the court, and in most situations, writers won’t get anywhere near that amount). Even with a class sharply reduced by the registration requirement, Anthropic faced a potentially catastrophic loss at trial. Unsurprisingly, it chose to settle. The $1.5 billion settlement fund is the biggest recovery ever in a copyright infringement case, and it is the rare class action that will pay class members more than peanuts. The estimated payout is $3,000 per included work.
The Anthropic Class Action Settlement: What You Need to Know Right Now. Background on the case and the settlement, how to find out if your works are included, where to file a claim, why authors won’t necessarily get the whole $3,000 per-work payout, and why many authors have been locked out of the settlement.
If Your Publisher Promised to Register Your Copyright, Check Your Registration Now. As I’ve noted, one of the requirements for a work to be included in the settlement is that it must have been properly registered with the US Copyright Office. Many traditional publishers promise to register on authors’ behalf, but the Anthropic settlement has exposed an inconvenient truth: in many cases, publishers failed to do so.
Predatory Opt-Outs: The Speculators Come for the Anthropic Copyright Settlement. In addition to filing a claim, authors have the option of opting out of the settlement, preserving their right to sue Anthropic individually or via another class action. Hoping to reap contingency fees, a company called ClaimsHero tried to recuit authors to opt out, promising to represent them in individual lawsuits and using deceptive online advertising and the (highly speculative) lure of a bigger payout.
Generative AI is Eating the World
Turning Copyright on its Head: The UK’s Proposed AI Copyright Exception. As part of a larger plan to turbocharge generative AI development, the UK has proposed a significant exception to copyright law: allowing AI companies to train on intellectual property without permission, with creators’ only option being to opt out–turning on its head the fundamental principle that copyright is an opt-in system. Copyright is under seige by new technology, and this exception, if implemented, would further narrow writers’ rights.
Generative AI and Coyprightability: Report From the US Copyright Office. Issued in January, Part 2 of the US Copyright Office’s three-part report on generative AI and copyright addresses the issue of whether works that include or are totally the product of AI outputs are copyrightable, and if so, in what circumstances.
Kindle’s New Gen AI-Powered “Ask This Book” Feature Raises Rights Concerns. This feature, which allows readers to ask questions about plot, character, theme, and more and get answers from an in-book “reading assistant”, functions in effect like an in-book chatbot. It’s not clear what rights Amazon is relying on to implement this feature, whose December debut took most publishing people by surprise.
Contract Matters
Why the Bankruptcy Clause in Your Contract May Not Protect You. Publishing contracts routinely include language providing for automatic termination and rights reversion if the publisher liquidates or goes into bankruptcy. In reality, courts rarely honor such clauses.
Moral Rights: What Writers Need to Know. Much of Writer Beware’s audience is American, and moral rights (which include the right to have your work published with your name and without changes that would damage it) are not really a thing in the USA. They’re important in the rest of the world, however, so it’s a good idea for American writers to be familiar with them, and to understand the implications if a publishing contract includes a moral rights waiver.
Contract Controversy (and Change) at Must Read Magazines. When a brand-new company acquired a suite of genre magazines earlier this year, their new contracts sparked controversy with sweeping rights grabs and a moral rights waiver. An outpouring of criticism spurred change, but the process is ongoing.
Protecting Intellectual Property: What Writers Need to Know About Copyright. Copyright is a complex subject about which there are many misconceptions–but it’s at the heart of what we do as writers and it’s important to have a grasp of the basics. This post provides an overview, busts some prevalent myths, and exposes some scams.
Why These Contract Clauses Are Scary. A uniquely terrible contract from a small SF/F publisher stirred controversy at the end of the year. My post identifies the worst clauses and examines why they are so author-unfriendly. It’s not very likely you’ll ever encounter a contract this awful (“uniquely terrible” is not an exaggeration), but understanding why the language is so bad will help you better evaluate other, hopefully kinder, contracts you’ll encounter.
Publishers Behaving Badly
Author Complaints at Clear Fork Press. It’s a sadly familiar story: inexperienced person starts a publisher, acquires too many books too fast, gets into logistical and financial trouble, and starts stiffing authors on royalty payments. Promises are made, but things only get worse: ordering and distribution goes haywire, communication is inconsistent or nonexistent. Authors endure the disorder for far too long before going public with complaints. Such publishers aren’t fraudulent or ill-intentioned, but they harm their authors almost as much as scammers do.
Author Complaints, Conflicts of Interest at Fortis Publishing. What happens when your book coach, ghostwriter, or agent–or all three at the same time–is also your publisher? In this case, nothing good. A textbook example of why there need to be guardrails against conflicts of interest.
Royalties in Arrears: Mango Publishing/Blushing Books/Bottlecap Press. Three publishers that are failing, or have failed, to pay authors the royalties they are due. In the case of Blushing Books, the complaints go back years.
Bankruptcies of Unbound and Albert Whitman & Co Put Authors Between a Rock and a Hard Place. A pair of bankruptcies–in one case by a publisher that strung unpaid authors along for months, and in the other by a publisher that has been the focus of non-payment complaints for years–illustrate the difficulties publisher bankruptcies cause for authors.
Marketing Fails
When an Interview Isn’t Exactly What It Seems: NewYox Media and Its Suite of Magazines. A free magazine interview described as “a remarkable opportunity to connect with a vast, global audience”? Who wouldn’t want that? In reality, the interview is a loss leader: a free product designed to leverage sales, in the form of paid “marketing” opportunities.
Why Cheap Promo Is No Bargain The Promo Website Empire of Alwin Gnanaraj. The internet is stuffed with websites offering cheap marketing and promotion. Just a few dollars buys you online PR for weeks or months or even a year. But marketing is an area where you get what you pay for, and one man’s suite of 25 low visibility, low engagement promotional websites proves the rule.
A Final Thought
Are Writers Uniquely Vulnerable to Scams? Why are there so many scams aimed at writers and publishing in general? Are writers somehow more vulnerable to being defrauded than other creatives? Some thoughts on that question, and why I think the answer is “no”.
thank you for confirming what I have suspected for a while. Yes they are oh so charming when you make an enquiry about publication but there is always an indication of criminal activity.When I was about to submit my ms, the sweet man told me he had 2000 people working under him. Really? I don’t think even the amazon storeroom has 2000 people.
As a new author, I am filled with deep gratitude for finding your blog. You have so much incredible information. I know I have quite a bit to learn and I’m very grateful that you’re putting the effort in to share all of this information which is mind-blowingly wonderful!
The approaches as described have become increasingly common and therefore posted/blogged about. So i suppose we should all be on the lookout for new versions of these scams.
But the thing is, there must be some authentic, kosher promoters out there and some of them must be able to improve sales for writers, but how is one to find them (supposing I want my stuff promoted) because now one feels that one can’t trust anyone.
In the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be adding a section to the Writer Beware website (as distinct from this blog) on marketing and promotion that will hopefully help answer some of your questions. I’ll be announcing it here, so watch for that.
I look forward to reading your article on marketing and promotion, Victoria. I was scammed out of a relatively small amount of money, probably by one of the Nigerians with that classic Gmail address that didn’t faze me at all because I have a Gmail account and so does my sister. Anyway, I also gave $1200 US, which converted to almost $1800 Canadian in my currency, to my publisher, Lulu. They are a self-publishing house and they are perfectly legit, but I feel that I wasted my money. No, worse, I feel that they fraudulently represented their talents and my work with their persuasive verbal skills and me, with my pathetic author ego, I fell for it. Excuse long rambling sentences! All of this is to say that I regret giving my money to Lulu way more than to the actual scammer, so if you could address that, I would appreciate it. I also spent about $2000 US to promote my novel with various bloggers in 2019 to no avail. However, I did some organic marketing on my own with my first nonfiction book and I sold about 18,000 copies. So I’m really leery about paying any money for marketing because I don’t believe anymore it’s a surefire bet, especially for unknowns like myself, I think all the money for marketing and promotion is a waste, but I certainly hope you can prove me wrong!
How can I find out if my Copyright and ISBN numbers were registered? This is all very complicated! A year ago I checked on several books I had recently written in an email from Ricardo. One I had written in 1996 was registered but the ones written in 2024-25 had not. Does this mean anything that I need to find out about? Franklin Tainter
Here’s the place to search if your copyright was registered: https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/. Registration gives you certain legal rights (such as the ability to go to court to defend your copyright if it’s infringed) but isn’t required for copyright protection. By law, you have that the moment you write down the words.
ISBNs are purchased from authorized providers, but they aren’t registered. If you have one, either your publisher purchased it, you got it from a platform like KDP that provides them to self-publishers, or you bought it yourself. There’s nothing else you need to do. (ISBNs are unique to the book: they can’t be re-used or transferred.)
Thank you for all the information.
It made me realize I’m not even good enough for scammers to bother with me.
The AI-generated offers of marketing are endless. The ones I receive usually praise “your book” or “your work” in very general terms. Uh, scammer, I have 15 books out; which book/work are you complimenting? So frustrating to those of us who would like to find “real” marketing assistance.
Interesting. The ones I’m getting are very specific, but I did get one a few months ago that went on and on extolling the virtues of a book that I wrote 20 years ago and it’s been out of print everywhere for years.
Writers are so much more passionate about what they produce than
say, someone in the shoe business. Our product is our identity. And the
constant rejections eat away at it. It leave us vulnerable to any kind of
hope. Yes, we are more at risk. And your Writers Beware very lone scammer
list prove it.
I agree. Apparently, Victoria doesn’t because she said in the last line of her article that she didn’t think so so I would like to hear her logic. I can’t think of any other area in my life where my defenses would have been down as much as with my writing. I would never fall for a computer scam or a romance con or anybody calling me or some text that comes in telling me I owe parking fees or fines. My writing is a different story. I was convinced my scammer had read my book — totally convinced.
Writers need to avoid a company called The Empire Publishers. Their address claims they are based out of Sugar Land, TX. After they took me for several thousands of dollars, I contacted law enforcement and they do not exist in that location or any other that can be found. I will not go into all the details but they do a great job of convincing the author of their marketing, but they will only give you enough to make it look like they are promoting your work as they convince you to purchase more of their bogus marketing packages.
I’m very sorry for your experience with The Empire Publishers. I found its website, and based on what I see there, it’s a type of scam I’ve written about here. I see one obvious false claim on their website: they say they started up in 2011, but their web domain was registered in 2023.
Victoria–I’m being deluged with promo offers, many with long, glowing reviews of my books. How can I stop this spam? I’ve been blocking each, but I’m receiving more than 10 a day for months. Do you know the source? Help!
I’m so sorry you’re being bombarded! You aren’t alone; I get emails daily from writers in the same boat. My guess is that the source is the Nigerian scammers mentioned in my post, who use generative AI to personalize their emails.
This isn’t something I know a great deal about, but depending on what email program you’re using, it is possible to block country-specific spam with geoIP blocking or specific IP or domain-blocking software. I’m afraid I don’t have any recommendations there; you’ll need to do some research. Other than that, individual deleting and blocking is all you can do.
I’m so sorry. I only get about one a week now. Do you know where your email address is online? If you could take it down or remove the @ that might make a difference. I had two of my email addresses on my website for years, but the only place I ever got the scammer letters was to my yahoo account, which is connected to my Amazon account. Is there some way scammers can get our info from Amazon? I wouldn’t think so. But you might want to do a keyword search for your email address to see where it appears online.
Writers beware of Loft Books, UK. They published a story of mine in September 2025 and have never paid me £50 they owe despite signing a contract and multiple requests, broken promises.
Yes, this article is excellent. Why are the scammers targeting authors? Are we vulnerable? Three of my books have been targeted; I get at least five a day. Last year, before I was alerted, two of the scammers got me for a small sum.
I appreciate your work very much. I was contacted by email, and by phone yesterday, by someone from the International Book Awards committee, or some such organization. They began by telling me that my book, “A Room Without Doors”, was singled out as an outstanding piece of work and that I had won the award of “Red Carpet” recognition and interview at their gala in February, in Phoenix, Arizona. It wasn’t until the end of the email that I was told my discounted price was less than $4,000.00. The exact price escapes me. I searched for their email after reading your post but it has disappeared in my “deleted” email file.
Please comment when you can.
I’ve gotten questions about the International Book Awards, which in my opinion is a profiteering award (an award where the main goal is to make money for the sponsor). If you ever find the email, would you forward it to me? beware@sfwa.org
Victoria, your blog is so helpful! I always read it when it arrives in my inbox. Having to be always on guard ain’t fun, but it beats the alternative.
I am getting several emails from publishers and marketers that want to promote my book. My suspicion of them being a scam is that they are so detailed about my book. It’s wonderful that the people are describing my book so perfectly and lengthy that it makes me feel like they are using AI to make this sales letter. I suppose it is normal to make a sales letter so flowery that I should not be able to resist it. Instead, all this flattery is turning me off that it is fake. I have noticed a couple that are slippery in naming their company with words that a switched around or replaced. I go to a separate tab to the website to see if it is legitimate. I might notice that the search does not come up with the total name of the company with nothing about the representative you might get to talk to. The email of who sent it is spelled wrong, one of them spelled as “…boook…” in the sender’s email address. There are some that look real, but I don’t like many of them.
How do you ever know a legitimate offer? I am pretty much turning down everyone as I am just fed up with all of this sucking my time and attention. But there must be some real live promoters out there. How will I know?
I dare say that a lot of paid promo is pretty much useless. Maybe not a scam per se, but if the only requirement that reviewers/ book club promoters/ advertisers have is payment from the writer, what credibility do they have in the eyes of readers?
Stick to the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) recommended sites for awards, promotions, etc.
Best of luck.
I think that as a rule of thumb, you can be pretty sure that legitimate offers will not come to you out of the blue. Reputable marketers really don’t acquire clients by spamming them, whereas for scammers, it’s their main recruitment method. Reputable marketers, like reputable agents and publishers, expect you to come to them–not the other way around.
You can never totally say never in the writing/publishing biz, and it’s just barely possible that there might be a legitimate offer in the mix. But it’s orders of magnitude more likely that any out of the blue promo offer or outreach is a scam. So you’re safest just using your block function and delete button.
Thank you for the information. I am one of those writers who received dozens if not hundreds of email to promote my books.
The question is: how do legitimate promoters get noticed? I’m pretty certain I flushed a few real promoters in my harshest.
I work with Barringer Publishing for my debut novel and am now on my second in the series. He is a legitimate hybrid publisher located in Naples, Fl. I am in Florida, also. So far, he has done everything stipulated in the contract. Best of luck.
I think that as a rule of thumb, you can be pretty sure that legitimate offers will not come to you out of the blue. Reputable marketers really don’t acquire clients by spamming them, whereas for scammers, it’s their main recruitment method. Reputable marketers, like reputable agents and publishers, expect you to come to them–not the other way around.
You can never totally say never in the writing/publishing biz, and it’s just barely possible that there might be a legitimate offer in the mix. But it’s orders of magnitude more likely that any out of the blue promo offer or outreach is a scam. So you’re safest just using your block function and delete button.