I have not experienced a publishing scam in almost twenty years. Back in the early aughts, while figuring out the new prospect of self-publishing my first book, I did receive a few letters and emails from individuals and companies with questionable ethics and motives. It took some due diligence on my part to discover the scammers’ intentions. But that was before the creation of AI. The other day, I received my subscription email from attorney Matt Knight from his blog Sidebar Saturdays, where he detailed a recent scam attempt. I have to admit that he dealt with this particular scam with more tact than I would have. Read the full article here.
“I’ve learned that the best opportunities-and the worst scams-often begin the same way: with a compelling story.”
Matt Knight, Sidebar Saturdays, Publishing Scams Are Getting Smarter, July 25, 2026
What scares me the most is how AI can readily access all the necessary information for a good scam: your work/career; background; SM accounts; previous publications; even unpublished works stored in cloud software, for a successful scam. They compliment you, play on your ego, betting you’ll be so flattered that you won’t think twice about falling for their sycophantic scam.
The addition of AI certainly makes it harder and harder to differentiate which offer is a scam and which is legitimate. Best to keep your head about you; think it through before reacting to the stroking of your ego by the scammers. Praising you is how they get you-every time. It’s the sticky sweet and tricky nature of false praise. Unless you arm yourself with the understanding that this is how they work.
“In the age of AI, publicly available details can be collected, summarized, and woven into a polished message in minutes. A highly customized message is no longer proof of legitimacy.”
Matt Knight, Sidebar Saturdays, Publishing Scams Are Getting Smarter, July 25, 2026
Publishing scams continue to rise and it behooves every writer out there to be smart and learn how to recognize potential scammers. Protection of IP (intellectual property) as well as your personal information is paramount these days. One of my previous blogs details what writers need to know and how to preserve their IP. Clean up your online life: SM, pictures, blog posts, personal information (especially via data mining sites, where anyone can access public records on you), etc. Make it harder for scammers to find out so much about you, to find your weak spot. Because they’ll look – actually their AI tools will look – and they will find you.
Here’s some good advice from Matt’s blog post on publishing scams – I recommend printing it out and taping it near your computer, so you won’t forget…
What Every Writer Should Do
Whenever you are contacted about your writing:
Verify the sender independently.
Ask to correspond through an official company email address whenever practical.
Research editors and agents through independent sources—not links contained in the email.
Confirm that the person’s public professional role matches what you are being told.
Verify the specific email address, not merely the existence of a real person with the same name.
Do not send unpublished work until you are satisfied with the recipient’s identity.
Never feel rushed.
Never treat flattering or highly personalized language as evidence of legitimacy.
Professional publishers understand due diligence. Scammers count on excitement outrunning judgment.
(I reread his post, including the emails he got from the purported scammer. I did notice the email, bloomsbury@paulbaggaley.com, seemed backwards. Normally, one’s name comes before the @ sign and the company name follows it. That would set off alarms for me.)
Mestengo Books 