08/18/2026
How Authors Can Spot Email Scams
If your published book is available for purchase online, you have probably seen flattering emails that promise book club attention, marketing exposure, or publishing connections before eventually asking you for money. I never thought I would nearly fall for one, but I did. You’ve seen them and they look like this:
“Dear (Author), my name is Laura, and I represent the Historical Fiction & Family Sagas Book Club community, a vibrant group of over 3,000 readers who … Your book, (Name,) would make a remarkable addition to the challenge. Set against the backdrop of the collapse of a … Featuring your book in the challenge would introduce it to a highly engaged audience …”
These flattering emails somehow find their way into my inbox every day. Do they really want me to speak at this book club? Get free promotion from a nationally recognized marketer? Connect with top agents and publishers? Be listed in the top 100 authors and a NYT Best Seller? The promises are endless (and quite creative).
Of course not. They want your money. These are scams.
But I fell for one. It started out with:
“Hi, Alex, my name is Chris. My sister lent me your book, Arkansas Black, and I loved it. This would be great for our book club. We have 10-15 folks and we meet online at …”
I was skeptical but it sounded so friendly and legitimate. What harm could come from a simple reply? I checked out (their) page and they seemed like a good fit. My email was answered with an equally friendly and supportive response. I needed to pick a date. Once the date and time was confirmed, I got a long email praising my book and summarizing the plot. They even wrote sample book club questions I could use. Then came the pivot:
“There was a small administrative fee the club charged authors to cover the overhead costs …”
BLOCK!
How could I be so naïve? But I was. I wanted to have a successful launch of my latest book, and I wanted folks to read it and like it and say nice things about my writing and validate all the endless hours I spent putting the book together and buy it. I share this with you, so you don’t fall for the same thing.
Tips to Help Spot Author Email Scams
First and foremost, be suspicious of any unsolicited email offering. Most marketing companies, literary agencies, publishers, and editors will not cold call with an email. If you are still unsure of its legitimacy, look closely at the email address the message came from.
Focus on what matters most: everything after the @ symbol. Legitimate companies usually send from their own domain, such as .com or .com, not from a free account or a confusing imitation. The dots, slashes, and extra words after the @ symbol are the most important details to inspect. The stuff before the @ symbol is called the Local Part and merely identifies a mailbox or an alias.
Scammers will register look-alike domains such as .com when the real domain is .com, or add misleading subdomains such as @2.macmillan.com when the real domain is .com. Watch out for unusual top-level domains such as .xyz, .top, .click, and especially .ru, which are popular with foreign scammers.
Beware of add-on paths that look legitimate, such as .development.com/harpercollins. The domain in this example is product.development.com and has nothing to do with HarperCollins.
The difficulty comes when the email appears to come from a member of a book club, festival organization, or authors guild where it would not be unusual for the sender to use a free domain such as or .com. In this case, inspect the body of the message for inconsistencies. The name in the Local Part and domain should match contact information listed elsewhere. With the advent of AI you won’t find any spelling or grammar errors but the salutations and the complementary close may still be inconsistent with local custom and sound unnatural. Pay attention to urgent and pressure statements, and unusual compliments about your writing, often accompanied by an extensive synopsis of your book.
The gold standard for fraud identification is the “pivot” or “ask.” This is when they say something like, “A small administrative fee is required to cover our costs.”
RUN then BLOCK!
No legitimate company or organization will require the author to pay a fee to participate; they should be paying you. If you honestly believe that you are dealing with a legitimate organization, never use money transfer services like Western Union, gift cards, wire transfers, Zelle, or Venmo. Use an old-fashioned check or credit card, something traceable and refundable.
So now you are better prepared to spot email scammers who target authors. How do you slow these emails down and keep them from cluttering your inbox? The first rule is NEVER LIST YOUR EMAIL ONLINE. Robots scrub the internet for email addresses and feed them to scammers. Use a contact form on your author website with a CAPTCHA challenge and remove your email from your media information material. When the fraudsters eventually find your contact-form forwarding address—and they will somehow—simply change it to another. Consider filtering your inbox by blocking phrases like “book club feature,” “honorarium,” “book feature,” and “marketing package.”
I truly believe that these measures will only help for a limited time until the scammers come up with other unsuspecting ways to separate you from your money. Be attentive and cautious, and don’t let these scum ruin your book publishing journey.
https://alexanderblevens.com/2026/08/18/how-authors-can-spot-email-scams/
Lost Meridian Press
