I’ve published a couple of posts now about the tidal wave of AI-driven marketing scams from Nigeria that has swept over the writing world in the past year or so. A hallmark of these scams has been how abruptly they appeared and how fast they have become ubiquitous. But proliferation isn’t the only way inRead More The post Army of Bots: Deeper Into the Vortex of Nigerian Marketing Scams appeared first on Writer Beware.| Writer Beware
The searchable list of eligible works is available at the settlement website (also see the update below): https://secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup BACKGROUND A year ago, a group of authors filed suit against AI company Anthropic over its creation of an enormous library of digitized books to train its Claude LLMs, arguing that because Anthropic did not seek authors’ permission forRead More The post Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement: An Update for Authors appeared first on Writer ...| Writer Beware
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a rising and extremely prolific marketing scam that I’ve been able to trace back to operators in Nigeria. Using highly personalized (AI-generated) email solicitations that make it seem the sender (always with a Gmail address, always presenting as a marketing or PR expert) has really read the book,Read More The post Return of the Nigerian Prince Redux: Beware Book Club and Book Review Scams appeared first on Writer Beware.| Writer Beware
Scammers are nothing if not inventive. As writers become wise to their techniques, they invent new ones. Here are two newish frauds that appear to be on the rise. As with most writing scams these days, they target self-published authors. The Book Order Scam I’ve written before about book order scams, in the context ofRead More| Writer Beware
This post was originally published at Planetside, SFWA’s online magazine. Copyright is a complex subject about which there are many misconceptions. I was reminded of that this week, thanks to an email from an author who discovered that several of their books were included in one of the databases of pirated works used by theRead More The post Protecting Intellectual Property: What Writers Need to Know About Copyright appeared first on Writer Beware.| Writer Beware
A couple of years ago, while searching the US Copyright Office’s public copyright registration database on behalf of an author wanting to know if their copyright had been registered as required by their book contract, I decided on a whim to check my own copyright registrations. I hadn’t felt any need to do so before.Read More The post If Your Publisher Promised to Register Your Copyright, Check Your Registration Now appeared first on Writer Beware.| Writer Beware
Last year, I began to receive complaints from authors with UK-based Fortis Publishing. Issues cited included poorly proofed and/or formatted books (missing images or chapters, for example); little or no marketing; delayed or missing sales reports and royalty payments; poor communication and failure to respond to emails and questions, editing fees, possible fictitious staff members,Read More The post Author Complaints, Conflicts of Interest at Fortis Publishing appeared first on Writer Beware.| Writer Beware
Well, not actually a thousand. But a lot. It’s been a little while since I’ve written about ghostwriting scams (previous posts include the markers that identify ghostwriting scams and the scams’ misappropriation of the Amazon name and trademarks)…but given how prevalent they are, and their increasing aggressiveness in advertising, especially on Facebook and other socialRead More| Writer Beware
A literary agent recently reached out to me to let me know that one of their authors (a well-known literacy advocate) was being impersonated via a message falsely sent out under the author’s name. The purpose of the message: plugging a “perfect” marketing website called AllKidsBooks (I’ve redacted the author’s name and email address): FromRead More| Writer Beware
Publishing/Marketing/Fake Literary Agency Scams List READ THIS FIRST Below is Writer Beware’s most up-to-date list of names and email addresses used by the many publishing/marketing/fake literary agency scams operating mostly out of the Philippines, and to a lesser degree India and Pakistan, despite their US/Canadian/UK addresses and phone numbers. All of the listings here areRead More| Writer Beware
As if writers didn’t have enough to contend with, the past couple of years have seen a huge rise in scammers posing as literary agencies. I’m not talking here about the imposters who “borrow” the names of real agents and agencies (though they are certainly part of the same problem)–but about scammers who set upRead More| Writer Beware
