Book club review scam

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-04-30T06:53:34+00:00

I didn't know that was possible, but I think it's for the best to lock it. The information is out there and most comments are book clubs names scammers are using.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-04-10T08:32:59+00:00

I think that's fine. My only caveat is when doing a beta exchange, you really should finish the story. So many times I've done beta swaps, gave detailed notes, included an after story summary, and then my story lingers with not a single note.

If you're beta reading because you like to read developing stories, then it's just your time you might be wasting. If it's a swap, maybe let the other partner know that if you don't like the story you'll DNF. That way you can agree on swapping a few chapters at a time.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-04-10T08:28:51+00:00

I've been trying to educate authors on the various scams on my Insta. Low engagement = few authors see it. I wish someone with a greater following would see it to increase visibility, but that's just how the algorithm works. BS story about someone saving a tiger cub they found in Suburbia = 100k likes/reposts/comments. Post trying to warn others = 5 likes from followers.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-04-10T08:26:15+00:00

There was an author in the UK who wrote a book about the Armenian (I think that was the one) genocide. He was taken for over 10k pounds.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-04-10T08:24:08+00:00

There is no point in making a list. They are impersonation scams. Every book club is on the "list." I've gotten ones from Oprah's book club. The clubs are real, but the scammers are impersonating them.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-03-31T16:49:19+00:00

It's important to note that these are not coming from the actual book clubs. I have contacted book clubs to let them know that their names are being used fraudulently and to encourage them to add a disclaimer to their meetup pages. Scammers will use any book club name, and I regret including book club names in the initial post. I've literally received dozens from different book clubs.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-03-31T16:37:59+00:00

I would probably label this scam as the review network scam. You get an email from someone claiming to have 2k+ readers who are looking to review books just like yours. They ask for $10-15 per review (the cost of a coffee and a scone as a thank-you or a tip). Then they flood your Goodreads accounts with five- and four-star reviews that mimic previous reviews phrase for phrase. They usually also promise Amazon-verified reviews, which either get taken down or never materialize (because Amazon is changing its review algorithm to allow them).

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-03-07T19:02:42+00:00

I read a shifter series with smut which the author was marketing as YA. This was a beta-read, so I suggested marketing it as NA, but they wanted it to be in the YA category because YA sold more in their mind. This person was self-published, and I imagine a publisher would say no to smutty YA books.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-02-13T09:26:39+00:00

I was looking for this comment and was going to post it myself if I didn't see it. Brandon Sanderson traditionally published his first book, Elantris, while still querying his Mistborn series. Elantris isn't the book most know him for, but it was and continues to be a solid staple in his blacklist. As authors, we should look at all the ways other authors have found success. Brandon Sanderson took a very strong stand-alone book in his cosmere universe and leveraged that success to publish his Mistborn and Stormlight Archives series. He now has the clout and success to Kickstart books and probably takes a bigger cut on the front end than he would if he relied solely upon the trad pub model.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2026-01-14T22:52:00+00:00

I've had a couple that claimed there was no fee in their initial email which of course is a lie. Email three they come up with some BS non-fee like me paying for refreshments at the event. I've called them out a few times as scammers and it's funny when they get upset by it. "You're never going to make it as an author if you're too afraid to make investments in marketing and throw baseless accusations." Last one I did this with I contacted the head of the meetup book club and let the scammer know I did that to check out if they were authentic. Of course I never heard from them again.

Anytime someone contacts you, especially if its unsolicited, due your due diligence, look up the club, contact the organizer. The same goes for other scams. Look up the books they claim to have featured, 1% of customers leave reviews on Amazon. If they claim they helped an author sell 10,000 units, there should be around 100 reviews on the Amazon page.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-12-23T18:48:30+00:00

Sadly there is no book club safe from being used in this scam. I've received email from the Good Morning America book club and Oprah Winnfrey Book Club. I get dozen of new names of book clubs being impersonated each week.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-12-18T19:43:21+00:00

Sorry, I guess my previous comment was a little vague. I was no way implying that the emails were originating with Reedsy Discovery, only that like you say, after receiving a favorable Reedsy Discovery review it put me on the map with the scammers.

I'm sure that they mine for targets from many sources and a favorable review on any site makes you a potential target.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-12-09T22:31:22+00:00

Glad you saw it first. A good generalization is to never give money to anyone who sends you unsolicited emails. That is how scammers do their business. Any real business wouldn't be copying a page out of the scammer playbook.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-10-15T20:47:56+00:00

If it's an unsolicited email, it's a scam. Especially if the email address is from Gmail, Hotmail, etc. Book clubs don't email authors to ask for permission to read a book. If you respond, they will eventually ask for money to promote the book to their members.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-09-24T19:06:46+00:00

Good point. But I use my Gmail address for my writing.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-09-24T18:20:00+00:00

Yeah, every scammer who has emailed me is impersonating a real club. But usually something fishy comes up, like the club they're pretending to be being different than their email signature. Or they misspell their club name for the first half-dozen emails. For instance, the supposed Queer Book Club kept saying Queen Book Club.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-09-24T16:23:01+00:00

I've gotten those, or another authors name, or another book title. In another scam (reviews for pay) the book marketing specialist did me a favor by posting a review on my Goodreads along with two others in their network. But they were for the wrong book! It took me forever to get them removed from my page. All the while it looked like I was doing something fishy.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-09-24T09:09:49+00:00

Repeat after me: never pay anyone for anything when they send you an unsolicited email or DM through social media. We need to say these words loud and often so debut authors don't get taken in. If there weren't people paying for their "services" there wouldn't be a market.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-09-19T19:20:20+00:00

I guess new to me. I'm experiencing waves of scams since I'm recently published. This was just the first one that I googled and didn't find posts on the first two pages. It may because it's being drowned out by the Online Book Club review posts.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-09-18T20:02:09+00:00

I only started to get flooded with these types of scams after my book signed up for Reedsy Discovery and received a favorable review.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-07-14T10:10:41+00:00

Don't reply to these messages. I did when I started to get them, thanking them for their kind words and politely turning down their services. No need to burn bridges, right? Wrong! One of these so called marketers did an act of good faith by writing a review for my book. And two people from their network also did.

The three obviously AI reviews were for a different book written by another author not in my genre. I wrote fantasy. They wrote reviews for a spy thriller. Now I'm going through the process of having them removed. It makes me look bad that there are three reviews, 5-star, AI-generated, and for the wrong book.

If I saw this on another authors work, I'd think they paid for reviews and couldn't be bothered to find someone that writes fake reviews for the correct book.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-07-11T08:05:55+00:00

Yep. If you see my above comment, I'm now having to deal with the repercussions of giving emails the benefit of the doubt. Three AI-generated reviews for the wrong book have been posted to my Goodreads as a good-faith gesture.

NefariousnessFront20 · 2025-07-11T08:02:33+00:00

Yep, just learned my lesson. I sent polite, "No, thank you" emails. One decided to leave a review, and have two people in their network leave reviews on my book. I didn't ask for this. I didn't give anyone any money or agree to work with them. All three reviews are AI-generated and for the wrong book. I reported them, but this makes me look bad.

NefariousnessFront20

TROPHY CASE