Hello there - if you've just Googled an email address to see if a book club is legitimate and this post has popped up in the results then I have some bad news for you: The offer you're investigating is as legitimate as cryptocurrency from Bernie Madoff.
IT'S JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE OLD INBOX
Yes once upon a time the majority of the scam emails I came from all hailed from cybercafes in a certain part of the world where the occasional Prince or government official tried to make me richer than I could possibly imagine. On the rare occasion I'd get an email on the slightly more creative side where if I sent some money, someone would cast a spell or something and in return I would put the offer through its paces to see how much enjoyment I could get out of it before the sender gave up in ftustration.
Nowadays however my inbox has moved on and the scam emails are largely from made up book clubs that try to convince me that they've seen my book, their made up readers are practically beside themselves to get into to and off this excitement, would I like to buy a mythical book promo?
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS
-Scammers troll Facebook for author pages like mine, looking for email addresses they can spam.
-You'll get an email along these lines:
-As an author you think 'Well isn't this exciting, a massive audience spike wants to read my book!' and you engage with the sender, eventually sending some money over for a service that doesn't exist.
-The scammer gets the cash, you get the heartbreak. Game over.
BUT THERE ARE LEGITIMATE BOOK CLUBS OUT THERE!
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| There are real book clubs out there however these emails are largely scams. |
There certainly are and a shout out to them and you if you're a member of one. However these emails are coming from scammers who use the name of legitimate book clubs (and their owners) but use a slightly different email from what's on the actual book site so everything looks legit. They even include the website details of the legitimate site too to really try and paint the picture that they are who they say they are and you're on the path for book success.
However if you look a little closer at the offer, there's a few red flags that pop up.
-They never mention your name (unless it's obvious on the Facebook page) or the book that apparently kicked off their latest reader revolution. In my case I've written a few books, which one was it that inspired this email to be sent to me?
-Their email address only partially matches the one on the legitimate website.
-They'll mimic book clubs that aren't easy to contact directly so it's not easy to check the legitimacy.
-The emails seem written by AI (because a lot of them from different emails seem very similar)
Luckily it's pretty easy to weed out the fake offers from the genuine (and I'm yet to receive a genuine offer that wasn't out to fleece me of money yet) with just a little creativity.
WHICH BOOK DID YOU LIKE? FAKE TITLE 1 OR FAKE TITLE 2?
Since they never mention which book they're referring to, it's pretty easy to trip them up in your first reply with something along the lines of:
"You didn't mention which book caught your attention though, was it HAMSTERS BATTLE TOASTERS FOR MONEY AND GLORY or perhaps my romance novel BIG CANS AT THE BACK OF THE RECYCLING YARD?'
In no time flat, you should get a reply from the scammer explaining that their readers can't wait to rip into one of those books you mentioned, one you made up literally just moments ago.
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| Exhibit A: Hannah the scammer falls for the fake book trap! |
I'm happy to reveal that I book I made up called Walter's Water Crisis worked so well, I made a video out of it!
SO WHO IS ON THE FAKE BOOK CLUB LIST THEN?
It's not just fake book club emails I've been collecting but also scammers pretending to be famous authors also trying to hook their dirty paws into my tiny profit margins. Suffice to say if their email is on this list, they are as dodgy as a 9th hand Holden Barina and should be avoided like the plague:
novacreative62@gmail.com
janisbrian071@gmail.com
schubertamelie09@gmail.com
kristinhannah72@gmail.com
writer.nicholassparks@gmail.com
authorabbieemmonss@gmail.com
morethanjustreadingbookclub.org@gmail.com (There is a real More Than Just Reading Book Club but this is not their address.)
daniellesteel429@gmail.com (yes hilariously there is some idiot out there pretending to be legendary romance author Danielle Steel!)
vionnalarke@gmail.com
info.freyanina@gmail.com 'Freya Nina Expert' from Nigeria. Will tell you her friend has a picture of your book on her phone.
officialhannahreed@gmail.com - The famous Hannah from above who's readers really want to get into She Broke Into My Back Pocket.
thomaszekiel33@gmail.com
More will be added to the list as these idiots email me!
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