Best of Writer Beware: 2025 in Review

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”.