Industry & Advocacy News
January 10, 2025
The Authors Guild is delighted that the FBI’s investigation of PageTurner Press has resulted in the indictment and arrest (PDF) of three individuals behind the operation: Gemma Traya Austin, Michael Cris Traya Sordilla, and Brian Nogales Tarosa.
As members and others may remember, the Authors Guild alerted authors to the PageTurner scam after an elderly author was defrauded of $800,000 by an individual claiming to be a literary agent who convinced him that Basic Books wanted to publish his manuscript but that he needed to forward the funds first.
After sharing this scam alert, the Guild received reports of other authors who had been similarly defrauded. The FBI subsequently approached and interviewed Authors Guild General Counsel Cheryl Davis and asked the Guild to share information about PageTurner as part of its investigation. We provided information we had received from members and others as well as contacts at publishing houses and other organizations who might have helpful information. We continued to update the investigators throughout the year and salute them now for their efforts in finally bringing down the scammers.
We encourage all authors to keep an eye out for these sorts of scams and report them to law enforcement and to the Guild. These investigations may take time, but they can be fruitful in the end.
Click here to read the full indictment (PDF).
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