Hello Manuscript Workers!
A couple weeks ago, I received an email from someone I don’t know. It opened with, “Just listened to your interview on Princeton UP Ideas Podcast. Nice work getting on such a respected show! Are you interested in being a guest on more shows like this?” The message went on to tell me about a company that would pitch me as a guest on other podcasts (for a fee I assume, although they didn't mention that and I couldn’t easily find fee information on their website, which I looked up separately, careful not to click any links in the email itself).
While there are legitimate independent publicists who can help authors book podcast interviews, this email immediately set off my spidey senses. For one thing, although this pitch had some personal details like my name and the name of a podcast I’ve appeared on in the past, this pitch didn't feel genuinely personalized. I was on the Princeton UP Ideas Podcast because I published my book with Princeton UP, not because I did any particular extra work to get on “such a respected show.” And in fact, my Princeton UP Ideas episode was actually cross-posted from another podcast in the New Books Network. Anyone who knew my work or had listened to the episode would know these things.
I can’t say whether the company that sent this email was trying to scam me. They may be a legitimate PR company that really does help scholarly authors get on good-fit podcasts (which is a service a busy author might legitimately be willing to pay for). But even if they were legit, I'm turned off by marketing techniques that try to play on my vanity or present an authentic personal connection when there isn’t one.
One of the (many) problems with the opacity of the book publishing process is that it leaves authors vulnerable to exploitation. When you don’t know how the publishing process is supposed to go, it can be hard to discern when someone is trying to take you down the wrong path.
I’ve definitely noticed an uptick in scammy emails around the release of my recent book. Scammy emails can come from people who claim to be publishers, editors, publicists, or marketers. They offer things that seem like they could be helpful, such as opportunities to promote my book to interested audiences. Some of them even include details about my books that feel quite specific, but the way they present the details smacks of text generated by AI. Fortunately, I've seen enough of these messages over the past thirteen years in which I've been authoring books to spot the red flags and delete these uninvited messages or mark them as spam when they seem particularly egregious.
For anyone out there who is not certain whether they’d be able to spot a publishing scam right away, here are some red flags to keep an eye out for:
- Vague or impersonal messages that don’t show awareness of what you do or what your work is about. In most cases, it’s the author who will seek out a publisher or other service provider, not the other way around. It’s possible that a legitimate publisher, editor, or other professional could reach out to you directly to express interest in working with you, but I would expect that to be a very personalized reach-out and they should demonstrate clear awareness of what you do. They should also provide some convincing evidence that they can meet your particular needs. Anything that reeks of a form letter is probably spam.
- A stranger wants you to pay for something. It’s not that you will never have to pay for things in the process of getting your book published. If you want to work with a professional developmental editor or independent publicist, for example, they will charge for their services, and they do deserve to be paid rates commensurate with their experience and expertise. But if someone you don’t know is reaching out to you directly and offering to do something for your book in exchange for money, they deserve a lot of scrutiny to make sure that they can deliver on what they are promising. Again, in most cases, it’s the author who will do the first approach when they are ready to pay for a needed service.
- Unrealistic promises. No legitimate publishing professional can guarantee book sales. Even the best publishers, editors, and publicists in the world can’t make people buy your book. If someone is promising something that seems sketchy and/or too good to be true (e.g. “I can guarantee your book hundreds of positive reviews on Amazon!”) it probably is.
If you spot one of the above red flags, it doesn't always mean “this person is definitely engaged in fraudulent activity.” But if you are getting a sketchy feeling from anyone in the publishing world, they are likely not a good fit for you, even if they are part of a legitimate enterprise.
If you receive a publishing-related message that feels sketchy but you’re not totally sure, feel free to forward it to me at laura@manuscriptworks.com. I can give you a quick thumbs up or thumbs down on whether it looks like a scam to me or not. You can also check out Writer Beware which is an extensive resource on “the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls” or this recent webinar from the Authors Guild.
Speaking of Amazon reviews, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a rating and review for Make Your Manuscript Work to help other scholarly writers discover this resource. I’ve been deleting the scammy offers as they’ve come in, so I’d love it if I could get some more legitimate reviews going over there. (If you've already left a review, know that I've read it and it made my day!) Thank you so much!!
Keep scrolling this newsletter for more resources for scholarly writers...
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This newsletter is coming to you from Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD, professional developmental editor and publishing consultant. I help scholarly writers navigate the book publishing process with more ease and agency.
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