Why Authors Are Perfect Victims

What to do about impersonation, offers that are too good to be true, and the flattery trap

Remember a mere two years ago when spam emails actually looked and felt like spam emails? When they weren’t flooding your inbox to the tune of two or three per week, or even two to three per day? When spam wasn’t tied to the names of famous authors, or agents, editors, and publishing professionals?

Well, we’re not there anymore, and our inboxes are officially a preying ground. Late last year I wrote a Substack post about the various kinds of emails my authors were getting—from famous authors to book clubs to book and film agents to editors.

It didn’t seem possible that it could get worse, but it has. Victoria Strauss’s recent Author Beware post, “Watch Out For This Scam Impersonating Editors at Major Publishing Houses,” tackles the heart of the problem, and if you’re an author, read it—comments included.

Obviously these scams are working or they wouldn’t be on the rise. One of my authors emailed me recently to tell me she was so excited that an agent had reached out to represent her. This author’s book is three years old, hasn’t sold tremendously well, and she doesn’t have a new book out. I told her, gently, this doesn’t happen. Agents will not pursue you unless your book has sold upwards of tens of thousands of copies, and certainly not three years post-publication, when nothing new has happened with your book for months. It’s more pressing than ever to remind yourself every time you open your inbox: If it’s too good to be true . . .

Earlier this year, I got opened my own inbox to find an invitation to teach memoir in Europe next year. I thought it was a scam because of course I did. I typed into Google the name of the woman who’d emailed me and the name of the company—and Google pulled up no results. Not a good sign! When I told her as much, she sent me all manner of evidence to prove that it was a real offer, and I agreed to schedule a preliminary call.

Her email response said:

And sorry for sounding like a “Nigerian prince” promising you the moon and the stars, I’m sure once you’ll hear more details, you’ll realise there’s quite a bit of work needed, but it is all worth it! :)

Strauss points out in her post about impersonators that this is exactly what these emails are—the “Nigerian Prince” scam updated for the creative economy. And since AI has eliminated any human effort cost (as always, shoutout to the tech bros for thinking through the consequences of their actions with such care), we’re drowning.

So far, none of my authors has confessed to me that they’ve lost money in these schemes, but they probably have. That said, I actually think the damage is more emotional than financial. Authors are perfect victims because we all believe in our books and we crave validation. Authors spend years toiling on their book babies, and there are few who don’t think their books should get or should have gotten more recognition. Perhaps the biggest tragedy of this kind of exploitation is that AI scams dampen authors’ enthusiasm, making them suspect of everything. The constant onslaught of these kinds of emails (and texts and phone calls) erodes trust and exhausts all the players involved.

These scams follow a playbook:

flattery → relationship → payment → disappearance

Flattery, dear authors, is not a thing in real book publishing circles. True publishing professionals are practically conditioned against it. So while compliments can be real, flattery should immediately result in a delete, don’t bother. Don’t waste your time. Do not get sucked in.

The challenge for authors is to ignore the specificity of these emails. AI is very good at generating personalized, book-specific praise with just a few keystrokes from the predatory party. Combine that with the use of real names from industry professionals, and you’ve got the makings of a sophisticated trap.

Just this week one of my authors forwarded me an email she got from “me,” impersonated (see below). Receiving this made me feel angry and violated. It made me think about the author who might fall for this scam and its real-world impact on She Writes Press and our reputation. Unfortunately, I’m one of huge number of publishing professionals who’s being impersonated in this way, and I commend Victoria Strass (again) for bringing attention to this matter with her Impersonation List. There are a lot of names on this list, my own included.

Frustrating to the extreme is that there’s nothing to be done. The scammers are after money, but in the process they’re corroding the interpersonal connections that are the heart of the publishing industry, and the AI tools that allow them to do this are only growing more sophisticated. In 2025, Americans lost $20.9 billion as a direct result of internet scams, a eight-fold increase since 2020. Undoubtedly we can credit AI for that supercharge.

Meanwhile, I was ready to write off the company that’s inviting me to come teach in Europe, and if the woman reaching out to me hadn’t been more persistent, maybe I would have lost that opportunity. So we’re losing both ways.

What to do:

• Check the email addresses first. If they’re coming from gmail and have a bogus handle, that’s an automatic tip-off.
• Research the person and the company that’s reaching out to you. In the case of my European contact, I couldn’t find her by Googling her, but she was able to provide me with her LinkedIn profile, the company address, and references.
• Check the references. If they don’t pan out, walk away.
• If you can’t help yourself and you do bite, watch out for pressure tactics, pressuring or aggressive tones, promises that sound too good to be true.
• Never give your credit card over the phone ever and no matter what. Any company that’s taking money from you should be able to send an invoice, which gives you another layer of checking out their details. But hopefully you never even get to this point!

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Here’s the email from my impersonator. The brackets are mine to protect my author’s work. Note the bogus email (dead giveaway), but also the signature line which went so far as to capture a screen shot from the She Writes Press website.

From: Writer <info.writerpress@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 25, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Subject: The emotional pull behind [specific book title]
To: <lbgschwandtner@gmail.com>

Hello [author name],

I hope you’re doing well.

I recently came across [specific book title], and what really stood out was the emotional tension at the heart of Carla’s journey—especially the idea of carrying a buried past while being presented with a single wish that could change everything. That internal conflict between protecting oneself and risking love creates a strong, relatable pull throughout the story.

The presence of the [specific series info] adds a unique layer of intrigue, but it’s the emotional stakes—Carla’s guarded nature and the possibility of opening up again—that make the story feel personal and engaging. The way you bring your characters to life and draw readers into their emotional world is clearly a strength in your writing.

At She Writes Press, we work with authors who are crafting character driven stories with emotional depth, helping them expand their reach through strong editorial development and wider distribution, while still allowing them to retain full creative control.

Given your blend of paranormal elements with heartfelt, relationship focused storytelling, I believe your work aligns well with audiences we help authors grow into.

I would love to explore whether there is an opportunity to support the continued reach of [specific series title] series. Would you be open to a brief conversation?

Kind regards,
Brooke Warner
Publisher, She Writes Press

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Dear readers, share your stories with me, please. It helps all of us know what’s going on to hear reports from others. What’s been your experience with this? What are you doing in response beyond just deleting? Any good tips for reducing the sheer volume of these emails in your inbox? Thanks for reading and sharing!