Many people have written about book scams, but I was surprised to receive a letter about an old title of mine, More than Friends. At the moment, I have no plans to re-enter the writing world. I love being a literary agent so much that I wasn’t tempted.
I’m sharing this because the tactic employed is the same as that in a romance scam. Rather than a love affair promised to a lonely person, this is the potential of a friendship with a colleague, one who supposedly admires my work. This ploy is more sophisticated than one that initially asks for money, so it’s easier to be trapped. Also consider that authors who respond flag themselves as susceptible to the trap. And so the games begin.
Because this letter is now my property, I’m not concerned about sharing it here. I am hiding the author’s name even though the email includes her headshot. She is a victim since the sender is impersonating her.
Hi Tamela,
I hope you’re doing well.
I recently finished reading Forever Friends and wanted to reach out personally. I don’t often email fellow authors out of the blue, but your story stayed with me after I finished it, and that usually tells me it’s worth making the connection.
What stood out most to me was the way you explored the lasting impact that family expectations can have on a person’s view of both themselves and God. Kassia’s struggle with feelings of inadequacy felt authentic and relatable, and I appreciated how her emotional journey was given room to unfold naturally rather than being resolved too quickly.
I was especially drawn to the contrast between Kassia’s perception of a distant, disappointed God and the gradual discovery of His grace and acceptance. The spiritual thread running through the story felt thoughtful and meaningful, adding depth to the romance while remaining central to Kassia’s personal growth.
I also enjoyed Teague’s role in the story. His concern for Kassia’s well-being and his desire to remain true to his faith created a compelling balance of compassion and conviction. Their relationship develops in a way that feels grounded in friendship, trust, and shared growth, which made the romance all the more rewarding.
As someone who enjoys stories that blend faith, emotional healing, and genuine character development, I found Forever Friends both uplifting and engaging.
I’m not reaching out to pitch anything. I simply wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the book and introduce myself as a fellow author who appreciates thoughtful storytelling.
Thank you for sharing this story with readers. It was a genuine pleasure to read, and I’d be glad to stay in touch if you’re open to it.
I wasn’t acquainted with this author, who writes thrillers for the general market. By the way? This scammer is clever not to pretend to be someone like Colleen Hoover, who reportedly struggles with so many impostors that she can’t keep track of them all. When the victim receives a letter supposedly written by a lesser-known author, the correspondence seems believable.
So, who is this author? I discovered these comments in a reader’s review of one of her books:
She deals very frankly and very well with bisexuality and sexual fluidity and features multiple awesome bisexual characters. In addition to this being just great for the genre and for LGBTQ representation in general, you also have to consider the many advantages this brings to a thriller. Literally anyone could be a suspect because they’re in love with/in a secret relationship with/sexually coveting someone else. 🙂
Since I doubt readers who praise these elements would seek my books, I also doubt the impersonated author ever read any of mine.
If you’re interested in forming relationships with fellow authors writing in a similar space to yours, I recommend ignoring unsolicited emails and instead bonding with writers you meet through established groups, such as ACFW and AWSA. Talk to writers known to you who can lead you to helpful, prayerful relationships you can treasure for a lifetime.
I receive emails like this all the time. I can tell they don’t actually read my books, but they scan them via AI to try to make an impression. Your advice is right on, Tamela. Thank you for your wisdom.
I receive emails like this from supposed agents, book marketers, and people wanting to use my book for their book club–and I have not even published a book yet. Because of that, it’s easy to see these as scams. But I have wondered how to tell what’s real and what’s fake after I am published. I know not to click on any link from anyone I don’t know and to look the writer up before engaging. But for now I delete these kinds of things.
Wow!! Crazy times! And yeahhh … the letter totally read like AI wrote it. 🙁 Sorry you experienced that!!
Tamela,
I got a letter from the same scammer (I can tell from your description of the real writer). In my case the AI was geared to descriptions of my books on science and Christian faith as found online. My wife alerted me to this, after I had initially answered “her”. I then wrote back saying that I knew she was not who she said she was. Amazingly, she answered, acknowledging her deception, but claiming she was not trying to get anything from me, but only wanted to keep in contact. Obviously I didn’t answer that one. I wonder if anyone is keeping track of the total scam industry, which I would bet is probably wroth billions of dollars at this point.
I get ten to twenty similar emails every day. It’s amazing how badly J.K. Rowling and James Patterson want to get in touch with me, no matter how many times I delete their emails without reading them 🙃 Apparently, these authors spend all day contacting independent authors instead of writing books. How they became so successful and prolific must be an ancient secret!
Talk about timing, Tamela!!!
I left FB for family and close friends only, due to the flood of scammers. Same started with Instagram and Twitter. It’s been exceedingly difficult to build a platform because of this. I closed my Ins. account for about a year started another. Better results. Since the ownership change for Twitter, the situation has improved as well. Numbers are growing again. No longer have to spend an hour blocking these people and bots. They only emerge again with different profiles.
Then I heard about Substack. Within the first month someone targeted me.
To the climax. . .
The interchange didn’t feel right. Couldn’t find any evidence of this guy outside of the Substack profile. And he looked totally legitimate. Found him out. He took on the profile of an artist, whose biography profile didn’t match his. When I confronted him with it, more lies.
Substack removed his profile. I filled out the necessary reports.
I’m still angry about it. I was and am enjoying Substack, a very supportive writing community there. My numbers are growing.
These people are slick, sleazy, and scummy. There are networks of them out there and technology allows them to scam lots of people at the same time. AI, unfortunately, helps them. It allows them to clone faces and voices. I’ve experienced that too.
Can’t be too careful these days.
Glad you saw through it.
Be safe. Happy writing all!!!
Jeannie
Nobody’s tried to scam me. I feel left out!
Seriously, the best praise I can get for my two novels that are Out There is “Good book. I managed to finish it. Hope you write more.”
Anything else gets deleted. I have pancreatic cancer, and don’t need fake-o pen pals.
So creepy. Right now, Ai posts seem to stand out. But I imagine they’ll become harder to spot. Thanks for sharing. It’s sad, because I have gotten emails from real people who are getting started and need some help. But so far they have stood out as real people.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this, Tamela. I had no idea. I appreciate the heads-up on this.