How I Struck 5 Book Marketing Scammers Speechless - And You Can Too!
A Literal Literary Loser Strikes Back
We all get them. The unsolicited promises to sell hundreds, nay, thousands of copies of our books. Just as long as we pay upfront. And don’t ask any questions.
Talk to them long enough, and all of these great “professional book marketers” eventually reveal themselves as liars, blackmailers, or just plain, old incompetent. Usually, all of the above.
However, it has been brought to my attention that not everyone has the time for the back and forth necessary to get these annoyingly persistent folks to reveal themselves as the charlatans that they are. So here, as a public service, are examples of five responses guaranteed to stop book marketing scammers in their tracks — and get them to leave you alone:
First, there was Arianna Bella who, interestingly enough, also calls herself Faith Charlie in the very same Facebook profile. That certainly inspires confidence! She told me she had promoted many writers to best-seller status. When I asked for a link to any of her promotions, she disappeared. Weird, right?
Then there was Edith Donna. Edith Donna promised, “My name is Edith Donna, and I'm an experienced book promoter with a passion for helping authors connect with their readers. I can help you promote your book through a variety of channels, including social media, email marketing, and online advertising. I can also provide insights on how to create a compelling book description, select the right keywords, and optimize your book's listing on Amazon. Let's chat about how I can help you reach your book promotion goals!”
When I asked Edith Donna which authors she’d promoted to best-seller status, she sent me a most impressive list of recent award-winners. When I said I would reach out to their agents to confirm that she’d been their book marketer, Edith Donna stopped replying. And deleted her Facebook account. Weird, right?
When I did the same with Omolola Anah they threatened to get me for “destroying their good name.” And I hadn’t even done anything yet! Weird.
Clara Miller never wrote back after I responded to her solicitation with “No, thank you, I don’t want my money stolen today.”
And then there was Ykay Starmond. Ykay promised to promote my book at no charge back in November, to show me how wonderful his services were. Every month since then, I’ve followed up to ask if he’s started it yet. He says he’s working on it. Any minute now…
Now, I, personally, enjoy chatting with these folks and seeing how quickly I can get them to either admit their methods don’t get results or get angry and defensive and all but challenge me to a duel to defend their book scamming honor.
But I realize others aren’t as petty as me. So if you just want them to get lost, any of the above should do the trick.
Do you have a favorite method for making scammers return to whence they came from? Please share below!