Fake book clubs target authors with AI-written scam pitches
The Guardian reported authors are being invited to bogus Zoom "book club" events that ask for a contribution fee before the host's story falls apart
The Guardian reported that author Snigdha Poonam received an email inviting her to discuss her book Dreamers with a Seattle-based life-drawing group, CAM Life Drawing, claiming 1,943 members. The invitation came from "Timothy Firth," but a follow-up email requesting a "contribution fee" for promotion, coordination and administration was signed by "Stephen," organiser of a different group, Community Improv LA, sent from Timothy's email address. The email also contained an apparent leftover AI prompt reading "MAKE IT MORE PROFESSIONAL," according to the outlet.
Poonam agreed to pay only after the event and joined a Google Meet with roughly 20 attendees, none with cameras on, who asked AI-sounding questions and spoke, despite using apparently white profile pictures, with what she described as a west African accent, The Guardian reported. The outlet also reported that novelist Marsh Rose exchanged 29 emails with a "Chicago LGBTQ Book Club" impersonator and wrote on WritersWeekly.com that the Zoom voices sounded like her friend in Nigeria rather than Chicago-based members. A separate author was asked for a $100 contribution to cover snacks for an online-only event, the outlet reported.
Here's the tell: a real book club never asks you to pay for the privilege of being discussed. If an invitation arrives with a "contribution fee," a slick poster, and a request that sounds flattering but vague, that flattery is the hook, not a compliment. The author in this piece did the right thing — she Googled the group, found the organiser's real identity didn't match the voice on the call, and only agreed to pay after the event, which is how she caught it at all. My take: treat every unsolicited "we love your book" email as a cold call until proven otherwise.
From the Coral Wire edition of Fri, Oct 30 2026 · Coral Index 15/100 (Storm warning)
Coverage — 3 outlets
Every outlet found reporting this story.
- Authors Are Getting Convincing Scam Pitches by the Dozens: Here’s How to Spot the Red Flags – Express Press Release Distributionexpress-press-release.net
- Fake film deals and emails from top agents: who is behind the explosion in literary scams? | Scams | The Guardiantheguardian.com
- Literary Scams Hit Authors With $55-to-$350 Fees as AI Fuels Global Fake Deals | Zetikzetik.com