Writer Beware

Latest Posts

Writer Beware: 2020 in Review (Not That Anyone Really Wants to Review 2020)

JAN 8, 2021May 4, 202217 COMMENTS

It's time again for Writer Beware's annual look back at the schemes, scams, and assorted crazy sh*t we encountered in 2020 (and I'm not even talking about the pandemic).

Scammers lie, cheat, and misrepresent. They may claim credentials they don't have, or professional relationships they don't possess. But this is a new trend: multiple scammers impersonating real, reputable literary agents and publishers in order to defraud writers.

The Impersonation Game A scammer posing as Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency attempts to cheat an unsuspecting writer out of $1,400 (which of course the real Jennifer Jackson would never do).

VANITY PUBLISHING AND PAY TO PLAY

James Paul Amstell: A Vanity Publisher By Any Name

DEC 31, 2020September 5, 202429 COMMENTS

A quick “beware” as we bid a glad goodbye to 2020. A guy called James Paul Amstell (aka J.P. Amstell or James Amstell) is madly changing the name of his recently-launched vanity publishing operation, likely in order to evade online warnings (mostly from me). The first iteration, Heart and Goldman Book Publishers, has beenRead More

PUBLISHERS AND PUBLISHING

Spooky Phishing Scam Targets Traditionally-Published Writers

DEC 22, 2020January 8, 20239 COMMENTS

The New York Times has published the story of a strange international phishing scam: unknown actors targeting traditionally-published writers, posing as their agents or editors to obtain copies of their unpublished manuscripts.

Earlier this month, the book industry website Publishers Marketplace announced that Little, Brown would be publishing “Re-Entry,” a novel by James Hannaham about a transgender woman paroled from a men’s prison. The book would be edited by Ben George.

Two days later, Mr. Hannaham got an email from Mr. George, asking him to send the latest draft of his manuscript. The email came to an address on Mr. Hannaham’s website that he rarely uses, so he opened up his usual account, attached the document, typed in Mr. George’s email address and a little note, and hit send.

LITERARY AGENT SCAMS

Attack of the Fake Literary Agencies: West Literary Agency, Stellar Literary Press and Media

DEC 8, 2020September 12, 202334 COMMENTS

Much of what I'm going to talk about in this post, I think most of my readers already know. But I'm getting so many questions about these two scam "agencies"--both of which seem to be super-active right now with solicitations--and providing so many warnings about them, that I think a broader warning is in order.

First, though--because it's relevant to what follows--some tips on evaluating a literary agency's website.

1. There should be a website. A pretty basic starting point.

BUSINESS OF WRITING

#Audiblegate: How Audible-ACX Returns Policy Penalizes Authors

NOV 20, 2020April 28, 202210 COMMENTS

Do you have audiobooks on Audible, either through your publisher or via ACX? If so, you’ll want to head over to author Susan May’s blog. What follows is a long, detailed account of how Audible-ACX has been, in effect, hiding the volume of audiobook returns from authors by lumping them in with sales. Here’s how itRead More

LITERARY AGENT SCAMS

Disssecting a Scam: The Literary Scout Impersonator

OCT 30, 2020April 18, 202320 COMMENTS

I've written several posts about a fairly new phenomenon in the world of writing scams: scammers that falsely use the names of reputable publishing professionals, including literary agents and publishers, to lure writers into paying large amounts of money for worthless, substandard, and/or never-delivered services.

This time, I'm breaking down a very similar scam that, capitalizing on the pandemic-fueled popularity of Netflix and other streaming services (as well as the eternal writerly dream of having one's book translated into film), is appropriating the name of Clare Richardson, Senior Scout for film and TV at the New York office of Maria B. Campbell Associates, to hoodwink writers in an unusually complicated--and expensive--scheme.

Here's "Clare's" initial approach: