Watch out for the slimeball fraudsters

Before signing any contract, do your homework first.

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January 11, 2020 8:03am EST

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I'm pretty peeved this morning, Friend.

Sorry for the foul mood, but I'm angry at all the fraudulent companies trying to take advantage of authors with phony book-marketing and promotion schemes. What set me off? I got solicited by one of them just last weekend. And boy, did they make a mistake trying to scam me because I'm naming names and coming after them.

The call came up on my cell phone from a 619 area code and looked legit. When I answered, I immediately knew I was talking to someone at a foreign telemarketing boiler-room operation. I was going to hang up—but a few words into his pitch, I knew I had to learn more.

The guy on the phone said he was from Readers Magnet and that the publisher of my book—he mentioned them by name numerous times—had contacted his company, gave them my phone number, and asked them to reach out to me. He said my book showed incredible sales potential, and with just the right marketing and promotion, I could hit best-seller status within days. He made it sound very convincing that my publisher and Readers Magnet had a working arrangement to find the best authors and books for this very special offer. I asked a lot of questions: How did they get my phone number? Why was my book selected? What kind of marketing packages did they offer?…Until I couldn't take it anymore.

"You've made a big mistake," I told him. "Yes, I have a book, The End: 6 Steps To Take Your Manuscript To Marketplace In 6 Weeks. And yes, my publisher is BookBaby."

"But BookBaby doesn't have any agreement with your scammy company to contact authors. How do I know? Because I know everyone BookBaby does business with. It's your bad luck that you happened to try to scam the president of BookBaby, and you need to cease and desist these illegal telemarketing schemes." I may have used more colorful language and the call ended rather suddenly. We're discussing the next steps to try to shut them down, including working with the Consumer Protection Agency or taking up our own civil legal action.

Let me be clear: BookBaby has no relationship with slimeball fraudsters like Readers Magnet. And we never, ever give away our authors' information to anyone else. If you happen to get one of these calls, please email our customer service team at [email protected].

Readers Magnet is one of a growing number of Philippine-based fake publishing and marketing companies that try to extract enormous amounts of money from unwary writers through outrageously priced phony book-marketing services. Read this article that lists many of these bad actors as compiled by Victoria Straus, the co-founder of the publishing industry watchdog group Writer Beware, that has been tirelessly exposing frauds like Readers Magnet and many others.

It's unfortunate that authors need to be aware of scammers and learn how to avoid them. Like everything else, it's buyer beware, so research any company you're considering before signing any contract. I encourage you to check out this post I published months ago that provides tips on "How To Spot Self-Publishing Scams."

Don't fall prey to these scammers and become another cautionary tale. And if someone from Readers Magnet or any other company on Writer Beware's list calls you—give them a piece of your mind and hang up! Feel free to insert your own colorful language before you do.

All the best,

Steven Spatz
President, BookBaby

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Watch out for the slimeball fraudsters

Before signing any contract, do your homework first.

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