Featherstone 
Scammers in publishing are evolving—and AI is helping them do it faster
We authors have long been targets for vanity publishers, fake agents, false movie rights deals, and overpriced “support” services. But with the rise of generative AI, the volume and believability of outreach from potentially not-so-above-board players is accelerating.
Last week I received a suspiciously specific email referencing my memoir Honey Farm Dreaming. The sender waxed lyrical about it and then offered to help me boost my website and social channels to increase sales. It was clearly generated by AI scraping just enough public detail to sound convincing.
But these kind of emails don’t just drain our time and attention as we read and filter them, they can drain our bank balance too.
For newer authors or those without a honed scam radar, it would be easy to fall for. These messages sound personal—and who doesn’t love praise—but they’re anything but.
My advice to fellow writers:
✔ Be sceptical.
✔ Use your delete/spam/block tools.
✔ Always check with a trusted writing community before engaging with any unsolicited services.
✔ Stay informed via reputable resources like Alliance of Independent Authors and Writer Beware
And as always…if it sounds too good to be true it is.
Being a part of a writing community and having authors in your circle who you can check in with/bounce things off is a healthy antidote to the bots. The more deceit scales, the more people you actually know in real life will matter.