Recently, I wrote a blog post arguing that everyone could be a writer. I offered three easy ways to do it and encouraged everyone to give it a try.
Well, I now realize I should have included a warning for the third option, where you self-publish your project. I am not sure I properly warned everyone about scams.
Writing can be a wonderful pursuit. Unfortunately, bad folks try to steal your money. Here are three simple things to watch out for:
Ignore contacts out of the blue. I get emails, Facebook DMs, et cetera, all of the time from folks who want to design a book cover, help publish my book, et cetera. While some of these contacts might be legit, most of them are scams. You send money or gift cards for a service, and *surprise* you never hear from that person again. Don’t fall for it.
Agents don’t require payment. This kinda goes back to the first one. An agent will never ask you to pay them to represent you. It doesn’t work like that.
Let’s be clear here. Yes, agents make money from representing you. However, let’s get real. Are you REALLY going to receive an email or text from an agent asking for upfront payment? Example - “I have contacts with the top 5 publishers. Send me $1,000, and I will get you a contract.” Sounds too good to be true because IT IS.
Stop, take a breath, read. As with all scams, take a moment to really look at what someone sent you. Does the URL look suspicious? Does the email or text contain typos? Is the person asking for personal information? Are they threatening that something severe will happen if you don’t act RIGHT NOW?
Don’t let a few bad people ruin your pursuit of a dream. Unfortunately, we live in a world where we must be vigilant about everything, even something like this.