Author Scam Watch
Published authors get approached constantly. Some of it is real. Most of the unsolicited email is not. These are the patterns worth recognising — what each one looks like, why it works, and how to check an approach yourself without replying to it.
Scam Watch documents common author-targeting solicitation patterns and the methods for verifying them. A listed pattern is a description of how a kind of message tends to work — it is not a legal finding about any individual sender or company, and receiving a message that resembles one is not proof of anything about whoever sent it.
9 of 9 patterns
Mass "we discovered your book" outreach
"We discovered your book" outreach that never checked what you are
Warm, flattering email praising a specific book of yours — sent by software that scraped a list and never verified anything. The praise is a template with a slot in it, and the tell is that the slot is often filled with the wrong thing entirely.
Common scam pattern7 red flagsReviewed 2 September 2026
Advance payment before representation
Advance payment before representation
An offer of representation, a film option, a foreign rights deal or a publishing contract is made conditional on the author paying something first — a registration, a translation, a legal fee, a deposit against a much larger sum.
Common scam pattern6 red flagsReviewed 2 September 2026
Paid editorial coverage
Book club features and author spotlight invitations
An invitation to be featured by a book club — a spotlight, a reading challenge, an award nomination — from a club that exists only in its own emails. The invitation is free; the feature is not, and the price appears only after you reply.
High-risk solicitation pattern7 red flagsReviewed 2 September 2026
Fake literary agent
Fake literary agent approaches
Someone presenting as a literary agent approaches you unsolicited, praises a book they show no sign of having read, and eventually asks for money — a reading fee, an evaluation, a required edit, or a submission package.
High-risk solicitation pattern6 red flagsReviewed 2 September 2026
Retailer account phishing
Fake publishing account warnings
An urgent email claims your publishing account is suspended, your book has been blocked, or your royalties are on hold, and asks you to sign in through a link to fix it. The link goes to a page built to capture the password.
Phishing pattern6 red flagsReviewed 2 September 2026
Guaranteed results
Guaranteed bestseller and income claims
A course, coaching programme or publishing service promises a bestseller, a specific income, or a repeatable system for earning from books. The promise is the product, and the results shown are the exceptions rather than the norm.
Predatory marketing pattern7 red flagsReviewed 2 September 2026
Media outlet impersonation
Impersonation of media outlets and book fairs
An approach uses the name and branding of a real publication, festival, book fair or awards body — usually to sell a package the real organisation does not offer, such as representation at a fair you will never attend.
Impersonation pattern6 red flagsReviewed 2 September 2026
Paid editorial coverage
Paid editorial coverage solicitations
An email offers a feature, interview or review in a publication you have heard of, then asks for a fee to secure the placement. Real editorial coverage is not sold to the subject of it.
Common scam pattern6 red flagsReviewed 2 September 2026
Review packages
Paid review packages
An offer to supply reviews on a retailer — a set number, a guaranteed rating, sometimes a launch bundle. Buying retailer reviews breaches the terms of every major store and puts the book and the account at risk, not just the money.
High-risk solicitation pattern6 red flagsReviewed 2 September 2026
Had one we have not covered?
If you have received a solicitation that does not match anything here, send it over. Real messages are only ever used to document the pattern, and are redacted before any part of one is published.
Send a solicitation