Books to Bait: 7 Common Scams Targeting Authors
In today's digital age, authors face numerous threats to their security, reputation, and finances. Scammers continually develop sophisticated schemes targeting writers at all career stages. Understanding these scams is crucial for protecting yourself and your work.
Today, let's take a look at 7 of the most common scams targeting authors, how we can spot them, and how to avoid them. By staying informed and vigilant, you can focus on what matters most: your writing.
Phishing Emails: The Most Common Threat
Phishing emails remain the most prevalent scam targeting authors. These deceptive messages appear to come from legitimate sources like Amazon KDP, literary agents, publishers, or book review services.
The primary goal of these scams is to steal your login credentials, personal information, or financial details. Once obtained, scammers can hijack your accounts, install malware, or redirect your royalty payments.
One author that we've worked with had several months of payments diverted to a Russian bank account after falling victim to a phishing attack that allowed them to alter their KDP banking details!
Another phishing variation targets unpublished manuscripts. In a notorious case, Filippo Bernardini (who worked for Simon & Schuster at the time) was arrested in 2022 after stealing over 1,000 manuscripts by impersonating industry professionals. Surprisingly, he never sold these manuscripts; he simply wanted to read them before anyone else.
To protect yourself, watch for these red flags:
This is for Apex Authors
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Protecting Your Author Career
As authors, we're particularly vulnerable to scams because we often work independently and may lack the institutional knowledge and support that traditional businesses have. Additionally, our desire for recognition, publication, and success can make us susceptible to offers that seem to provide shortcuts to these goals.
The best protection is knowledge. Stay informed about common scams, maintain a healthy skepticism about unsolicited offers, and verify information before taking action. Join author communities where members share information about new scams, and don't be afraid to ask questions when something seems suspicious.
Remember that legitimate opportunities in publishing rarely come through unsolicited emails or require upfront payments. Success in publishing typically comes through traditional channels: querying agents, submitting to publishers, or professional self-publishing with carefully vetted service providers.
By staying vigilant and informed, you can focus on what matters most—writing great books and building genuine connections with readers. Your author career is too valuable to risk on scams that promise shortcuts but deliver only disappointment and financial loss.
Want to see our 8-step process for what every author should do when they think that somebody might be trying to scam them, complete with a real email we were targeted with and the exact steps that we took to determine if it was real or not? Watch training #574, which was part 2 of our author safety and security trainings, where we went into detail on all of these scams, what to do about them, as well as other strategies for keeping yourself safe online.
