Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast
Join Penny Sansevieri and Amy Cornell for fun and frank discussions packed with clever ideas, easy-to-implement book marketing strategies, and critical publishing industry knowledge and insight! Designed to help self-published authors and traditionally published authors at any level, the Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast will definitely inspire you with new ideas for how to sell books, grow your platform, and make strategic business decisions as an author. Subscribe today and take that next step toward a more successful, long-term book marketing plan!
Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast
Too Good to Be True? The Author Bookstore Scam That's Breaking Hearts
In this eye-opening episode, we pull back the curtain on a heartbreaking scam targeting authors—promising dream book deals that quickly turn into financial nightmares. We explore how scammers craft elaborate schemes that seem too good to be true, preying on authors' hopes with promises of massive book orders, media coverage, and exclusive events. But beneath the glossy promises lie red flags: upfront fees, lack of formal contracts, and guarantees that no legitimate publicist would ever make.
Join us as we dissect the common tactics used in these scams, reveal the emotional and financial devastation they cause, and share practical strategies to protect yourself. We also clarify what real author opportunities look like—so you can confidently spot the difference between a genuine offer and a deceptive ploy. Whether you're a new author or a seasoned pro, this episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the complex world of publishing.
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Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast. This is Penny Sansevierie and Amy Cornell, and first off, welcome back to the show. If it's your first time listening, we are so glad that you're here. Be sure to subscribe to the show so that you get notified. We do post episodes every single Friday and the Amazon Author Formula workbook is done, done. I'm very excited. It's probably coming out by the time this show hits. I would say it's probably going to be up for pre-order in the next month or so and then it'll launch a month after that. But I'm really excited about that book. I really want to dive into the show.
Speaker 1:So we're not going to do a lot of preamble to this, because this, we were talking about this in the green room and I almost I, I I'm just speechless. Um, so let me set the. Let me just set the stage as an author. Like we're buying for attention, we want all the good things for our book and then one day your publisher tells, calls you and tells you or emails you and tells you that a major bookstore wants to buy a thousand copies of your book and you were doing the happy dance and then one day you realized that it's all a scam. Amy, do you want to, do you want to unpack this new author scam? You know what? And can I just say I mean, I know I'm not going to spend too much time on this, but, man, this makes me so mad, so mad. I just I have no words to this.
Speaker 1:I mean, we spend so much of our time guarding the authors that we work with, and even the ones that we don't, who come to us and just say look, can I ask you a quick question? And these people, just, I mean, and you know, what they have to realize is that you are destroying author dreams. I am so sorry we may have to pause the show so I can stay quiet. I am so mad right now. And he needs to do a lap. Yeah, I know, yeah, I need to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, seriously, I need to do a lap around the, you know, around the block. Yeah, I mean, because that's I mean, and that's one of the reasons why we do this show is is, yes, both, for sure, to educate authors, but also to protect authors, because every time you turn around there's somebody just trying to take their money. And also, you know, you just devastate people when you do this. I mean, look, none of these scammers are going to be listening to this show as I'm wagging my finger at them, but this makes me really mad. Amy, do you want to unpack what is actually going on here, because you're the one that discovered this.
Speaker 2:Yes. So I read an article that outlined this and it just again it blew my mind at how complex this was. So essentially this happened. It happened to be a Canadian author, but this is going around. So if you think, oh good, I don't live in Canada, like no, so still be careful.
Speaker 2:But essentially her publisher, her publishing group and she was not with a major publisher claimed that they got an offer, like Penny said that bookstores it was multi-tiered, which also made it sound more legitimate. So they wanted to buy a thousand copies of the book and host an event. And they also said they could get news coverage. So a thousand copies of the book, but the author had to provide them. You know, the author had to get the books prepared, so she had to you know, have them printed, pay for shipping, things like that for the event.
Speaker 2:The event was going to happen. They charged a fee. They were going to charge a fee for the event. That is not entirely unheard of anymore for really popular venues. So I don't want authors to think like, oh, if somewhere is charging, they're trying to scam me. No, just do your due diligence, make sure that's a legitimate venue and that you know what I mean. No-transcript. You know, like that is within a range that a lot of authors, if they're thinking they're actually going to sell a thousand copies and have this big event, could wrap their minds around. You know, like, okay, $2,600, it's not a small fee, but this is going to be a big event and this is going to be my big break and basically.
Speaker 2:So again, all this stuff that you know she needed to pay for the event. She needed to pay to have the books printed and shipped, you know, locally. She needed to pay if she wanted to guarantee news coverage for it. And the reality check came when she actually followed up with the local TV news station to get more information on how they were going to cover it. Is it going to be an interview? Will it happen before or after? You know what I mean, which makes sense, like are we going to do this before the event, like during whatever? And basically the news station broke it to her and said we don't do paid coverage, this is nothing that we're tracking, this is not a thing, essentially. And that's what finally triggered and she realized oh my gosh, none of this is real.
Speaker 1:Oh, that is just so devastating. That is so devastating. And now thousands of dollars, and you know, now, thousands of dollars, thousands of dollars down the, you know, down the road, so yeah, so, so, let me be the first. So here's, here's the thing, guys, if you're listening to this and you're just like, you're as horrified as we are, which I'm sure you are, and you know, and I hate to say, don't trust anybody, but don't trust anybody. I, I would say that there, that the problem with this I don't even know where to start with this the problem with this is it is the emotional triggers, right, so the thrill of being recognized, right, for all your hard work, the validation, you're getting a big break. All of this feeds into this, and this is what is so infuriating.
Speaker 2:It's what every author hopes for when they decide to write a book, and you know what I mean. You want the recognition. You hope there's some validation along the way. Everybody hopes for a big break, right? As much as we cover on this show in multiple episodes, trying to keep everybody grounded and realistic about how challenging this industry is and why. Yeah for sure, exactly.
Speaker 1:But I would say also that you know. So here's one of the biggest things to look out for, aside from unrealistic large orders. Now that's a big red flag. That is definitely a big red flag. Not, there was no contract. Typically with these scams, there's no contract right Because they can't do a contract. Because they I mean, I guess they could do a contract. It's still not worth the paper that it's written on. But, generally speaking, while they go to these lengths to create this multi-tiered scam, they're probably not going to spend the time on a contract. That's just my take.
Speaker 1:I also think that weird payment requests so reputable businesses like we take credit cards and then we take ACH, which a lot of like ACH has really replaced writing checks. I used to love I'm sorry, I'm like 900 years old, I used to love writing checks, but ACH or like we never. We almost never deal with Venmo, we never deal with PayPal, we never deal with weird wire transfers, I mean, unless somebody's like overseas. And part of the reason for us is that when you have a lot of different ways to take payments, it just gets really chaotic. But also these places charge a big fee. So the majority of reputable publishing industry people don't take it because they take a big fee. So, I think, weird wire transfer requests it's usually always going to be in a wire transfer, because the majority of these scams originate overseas.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, right, yeah, and I also think I mean, amy, like you know, payments to be on television. Oh, I know, it just makes me that is also a huge red flag. Now they may package it in that, well, that's our fee to pitch you to your local media. Whatever that number was, $2,500 still feels outrageous, you know. And here's the other thing, though, too, is the guarantees of media. Like, oh, we're going to guarantee that. Nobody can guarantee media. Like, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:No, not even local media.
Speaker 1:You know, not even local media.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and honestly, even when you're chatting with reporters and things like that, sometimes things get cut. You know, editors cut things. Not all segments make it live. You know what I mean? There's so many things that go on to where any guarantees with media are really just.
Speaker 1:That should be a huge red flag, huge red flag, huge red flag, you know, and then the the large, so the large order that just killed me, oh my gosh. And so she had her books printed and then she had Locally Yep.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, they were. They were the bookstore. Essentially, what it sounded like is that they told her she had to get provide the books, but the bookstore was going to buy them for the event you know what I mean as part of the whole event package, but she had to procure them first. You know what I mean. All this poor woman, I know. So she's thinking okay, yes, I have to pay to have them printed and then shipped here, but the bookstore is going to buy them from me as part of this event package.
Speaker 1:So you know she's out money for a little bit until the event happens, and then she'll break even, at least for the books Right Now. Here's okay. So here's the other piece of this, too, is bookstores almost never buy hugely huge copies, huge numbers of copies of a book, I mean a thousand books. Yeah, exactly, I mean you have to think about that. Like, be like, be real.
Speaker 1:I mean I realized sometimes, when you get hit with something like this and you think, oh, my gosh, this is amazing, the last thing that you want to say, say, have to say to yourself, is who's going to want a thousand copies of my book sitting in a bookstore? Because the answer is basically nobody. Nobody has that much, nobody has that much storage. But even then, like bookstores, I mean they. So when a bookstore acquires a book, especially from a new author, they may do 10 copies. 10 copies is actually pretty significant. I mean, realize that sounds like a pittance, but it's a pretty significant number. If somebody orders 50 copies, I'm like, wow, I mean you must really, because you're competing with every single book in that bookstore, every single book.
Speaker 2:So they're never going to order. I mean they're never going to order huge quantities like that. No, I mean it's just not good business to put that much money into a single title. That you know what I mean. Yeah, it's because yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:And then the other piece of it, though, too, is that they're never going to order. Like, if you're doing a book event, 50 max, but 1,000? Right, amy, you and I both know we've done and I'm not saying this to brag at all, but we've done celebrity book signings where we've had like 300 people, you know, or 500 people at the max. I mean, a thousand is just run. Don't walk from that, because that's just that's crazy.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:They were overreaching with that in the first place. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because there was cause, you did some research on this and there was a.
Speaker 2:There was a Sacramento author. Yes, this was one of the and this was just one example. But I mean they had strong PR support. They were known in the area. I mean, if everything we talk about in all of our shows we're like do this, do this, like all the right things to do if you want to start getting local recognition and start selling locally, doing events, things like that, this author was doing it and they sold 200 copies roughly at their event, I mean, and that's huge, like Penny just said. You know that is huge, but we really want to put it in perspective. Like all the things are going right. You are known in your community. You have a brand. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Like I'm sure this person, when she was actually approaching bookstores as well, they knew who she was. Yeah, exactly, does that make sense? Like this is not like oh, where did this person come from? Like this would have been somebody whose name would have been easy to if they didn't already know her as a local author. If you looked her up, she'd be all over. You know what I mean. She'd have a website, she'd have a great. You know what I mean. You'd just be seeing things. So this author already had a lot going for them. So this was, this was something that was net, a natural progression. This, this level of event, and even then, 200 copies sold, which was amazing. That was a huge win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean and I think that, um, so, so I just I'm, I'm floor, I'm just I'm absolutely floored by this. I think you know, if, if there's, if there's one piece of advice I know we give a lot of advice because we have strong feelings about many things and I have a lot of strong feelings about this Um, if you're, if you're ever questioning it, don't hit first off, don't hesitate to write us and ask us like this. It's just cause this might be something that you might be hit by, something legitimate, but it could also be yet another new scam that's out there. Because I got a call. I got actually a few calls and I ended up calling the bookstore to let them know. I got a few calls around from quote unquote from bookstores around the country that they wanted to buy my book in bulk. They didn't give me an exact number, so I don't know if it was a hundred or a thousand, and they wanted to stock it in not only in their store but in all of their quote unquote sister stores, which I mean independent bookstores. I mean, like Changing Hands in Arizona has a sister store, but the majority of independent bookstores are just a single store. But whatever majority of independent bookstores are just a single store, but whatever. And so they called and said oh, we want to stock your book, we're so excited. Blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 1:So I actually called the bookstore and I'm like y'all should. First off, you could absolutely tell it was a scam, right? Because the guy could barely pronounce I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound like, but their English was not their first language and you could definitely tell that that's that had kind of like a scam vibe to it. So I called the bookstore and I said hey, you should know that this is happening. I mean, I said maybe you have like a call center, like a cheap call center or something that you're doing this.
Speaker 1:And she said no, I had no idea this was even going on. I'm like, well, now you know. So I don't know, I don't know what you could do. But I think the first piece of this is is you have to verify, verify, verify, verify, and one of the ways that you can do that, obviously, is to get the name of the bookstore, contact the bookstore. You know what I mean, I just. And then, like I said, I mean the contract as well. I mean there has to be a contract for something especially at this magnitude. There has to be a contract in place for this.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I think it was also. Yeah, I agree with you, penny, I think it was also suspect that this one entity was speaking for the store, for the news, for all that stuff. That's very, that's fishy, you know, unless somebody approaches you, like you said, with a contract that details like we work with these local stores, we work with you know what I mean and that could still be a scam just because they throw somebody's name out there, like Penny's experience. But still, like the fewer details, the more suspicious you should be for sure.
Speaker 1:Right, Exactly. And didn't you say that? Or wasn't it in that article that they were asking for all the money up front?
Speaker 2:Yes. So like, yeah, the news coverage, that was something that you had to pay for up front, well ahead of the event. All these things you had to. You know what I mean. The fee for the event had to be paid for well ahead of the event, like before anything was booked, before dates were chosen. You know what I mean. It's like oof. So, yeah, definitely anybody.
Speaker 2:Any pressure to pay up front for something that has not been confirmed through the sources directly. So, like Penny said, contact the bookstore, contact the media outlet they claim that you're going to get coverage from or that they're going to bring out to the event. You know, do all of those things first before any money changes hands. You know, because even in that case, you know, you just you never know.
Speaker 2:And to your point earlier, penny, about the local media you know, maybe it was in the fine print that they were just going to pitch local media, but that's also something to be careful about too. You know, understand exactly what you're getting, because we see that a lot with a lot of these. You know we've done shows on film and Netflix scams and things like that, where authors will come to us and say I'm getting a Netflix deal, or I'm going to hear from a Netflix person when in reality, if you read the fine print, you're just paying somebody a ton of money to fake, convert your book into a you know a script and then quote, unquote, pitch it to the right people, yes, but authors see that you know like, because again you want it to be your big break. So you miss those details that say this is not a sure thing, this is pretty much a pitch. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly, and you and you know I mean listen, with AI, chat, gpt can turn your book into a screenplay. You don't have to pay somebody to. I mean, I'm not suggesting this is not me telling you this is how you do it, but you know what I mean Somebody saying they're going to. There was a, there was a company, and they actually wanted us to send the business. I'm like, do I look like I just fell off the turnip truck to you? They, um, they wanted to, so they, they would produce a book video like a little one minute trailer for $20,000, amy, and then they were going to use that trailer to get them a movie deal. I'm like, are you? And the guy kept emailing me and he was. Finally I told him I'm like, buddy, listen, yeah, really, I mean you, you need, you need some to make some better life choices, because you were, oh no, but this really works and these are who we've worked with.
Speaker 1:And I'm like I don't know any of these people or any of these movies, maybe like, maybe they were big hits on some rando Island where one person lives or something. Right, right, I mean it. Just it's really. So I think that ask good questions, verify writer beware is a really good site and there is a contact, there's a contact portal in there. Victoria Strauss has done just amazing work for years and years and years. There's a contact portal in there that you can actually ask if they've heard of it or you know what they think, or something. The service that writer beware does for authors is just tremendous.
Speaker 1:Um, so we're, we're you know we're always really, we're always really grateful for the stuff that they feature, because now more than ever, yeah, there's just there's so so many ways for um that authors can give up their money to something that is never going to net them anything. It just makes me so mad.
Speaker 2:And, like you said, we get emails from clients, past clients all the time that run things by us, and not all of them are total scams, but just some of them are presented in a way that makes them seem like you're getting more than what you really are. Yeah, so it might be a legitimate company, but deciphering what you're actually going to walk away with for your investment is different, you know, than what they present superficially. Yeah, yeah, and so that's always something, too, that you know. I try to help with when they, when they send things our way and go is this really worth my time, like? Is this? Is this appropriate for me? You know?
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly yeah, and we always appreciate that. And I and I have to say I've never seen in in my 24 plus years in being in business, I've never seen as many author scams as there have, as we have seen in the last year. Yeah, it's wild, truly, it's just, it's really. Yeah, it's really crazy. So you know, I know that it's this, know that this is kind of a little bit of a discouraging show. It's not meant to be, it's just meant to be more of a. We're here to help you share the show with some author friends that you know or a writer's group, just again, not to promote the fact that we want everybody to listen to this podcast. But forewarned is forearmed. So you know you got, you got to protect yourself and we don't want anybody falling for this, for this crazy bookstore scam and you know bookstore scam people, if you're listening to this podcast, seriously shame on you for for stealing an author's dreams and their money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So anyway, thank you so much for listening to the show. Again, make sure to subscribe so that you get notified every time that there is a new episode which we can publish every week and share the show with somebody that you know um, that could be helped by it and leave a review or send us your review. We love reviews. We always check them. We love hearing from you. Thank you so much for tuning in. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
