Scam Alerts
August 20, 2026
The number, complexity, and quality of scams unfortunately continue to increase — and we ask you to please spread the word to all authors you know. The approaches appear to come from real book clubs, reviewers, famous TV hosts, and movie producers. We recently heard that one writer received emails from someone pretending to be Reese Witherspoon. From what we’re seeing, scammers have learned not to ask for money straight away; they know that this is frequently a red flag for most individuals. Instead, they can try to lead you along before asking for a few hundred dollars (claiming to be for a book club appearance) or sometimes thousands of dollars for other services or opportunities they claim they can provide.
The scams mostly appear to be generated by criminal enterprises based overseas, and so are difficult, if not impossible, to prosecute. The scammers can now use AI to write their approaches and can sound like they’ve actually read your work. We are far from the days when poor use of English and improper capitalization were easy indications of a scam. While many of the email addresses the scammers use are still an easy “tell,” they can also use email addresses that can look quite real — such as “gailhochman@brandtandhochmanliteraryagents.net,” which might fool someone not already familiar with the agent’s real email address.
If you believe an email is from a scammer, do not engage. If you respond to a scammer email, it may confirm that your contact info is “real” and a potential candidate to be approached again with another scam.
The fact that these scams are becoming so widespread means that the scammers are continuing to find victims. We want to remind members that you can forward questionable emails to us, so that we may review them and assess whether they are likely to be a scam. We have also heard about solicitations being made by phone. If you happen to answer one of these calls, please remember not to agree to anything during the call. Even using the word “Yes” can be recorded and used later. We caution authors to stay on their guard and view any unsolicited approach with a wary eye; even those that do not initially ask for money can lead to solicitations down the road.
If you hear of a scam, please email us at staff@authorsguild.org, so we can investigate and raise awareness. Help us fight these people who prey upon authors.
