book scams & Rejection
- Gail Stelter
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
The life of a writer is filled with ups and downs, and sometimes the downs seem to take over. Since I last wrote, I have had a harsh rejection, been subjected to book scams, and I am in the middle of cataract surgery. I have font size set at 27 so I can write to you. My right eye tells me there is a bright new world around me, but I can’t see properly to read or write. Hopefully, the left eye surgery, coming up this week, will straighten this out. In the meantime, I will share with you about scams and rejection
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Scammers delighted in my recently published book. I decided to talk about this in my recent edition of Writing on the Senior Side. I also investigated the current research on the top five scams in Canada. My Writing on the Senior Side story, called A Whole New World of Scammers, can be found on my website. For this edition of Gates Open, I have copied the first section about book scams as follows:
“Hello, yes, this is M. Gail Stelter, and yes, that is my book.”
The high-pitched accented voice is difficult to hear and to understand. She rambles on about an award and tells me her company will do … I can’t hear, and I am suspicious.
“Please put all you are trying to say to me in an email and send it to me. Please know that when you do, I will thoroughly check you out to make sure this is not a scam. I am sorry if I sound a little harsh, but I have been scammed before.”
She is happy to accommodate my request, records my email address, and our phone call terminates. There is no email. Guess it was a scam.
Two days later: Hello, yes, this is Gail Stelter, and yes, that is my book.” The voice sounds familiar. “Did you call here a couple of days ago?”
She assures me that she did not. She tells me she is calling from the UK. It’s around 7 pm here, so what time would it be in the UK? Midnight? Really, who are these scammers? I tell her the same spiel. Put it in an email, etc. There is no email.
Both of these came on the phone, our landline. Other attempted scams have entered our home this way: credit card scams, Revenue Canada, bank scams and more. We are done. Cancel the landline. There, that feels better.
Wait, perhaps I shouldn’t feel better yet; there was more to come. Emails: For just $3500, Jeff will make me a best-selling author. It’s just a one-time payment. Jeff’s address is Fort Worth, Texas, so make that 3500 US dollars. He could be legit or maybe not. I don’t purchase anything from an unsolicited email. Delete. Mary tells me she has read my book and loves it. She even quotes and refers to my book, using only the words from the summary on the back cover, which have been included in descriptions on Indigo, Amazon, etc. Mary writes book reviews, and for a reasonable price, she will write a great review of my book. I laugh. I want to tell her that paying for a book review is unethical and not my style. I want to tell her I know she didn’t read the book. I don’t. Delete says it all. There are several emails similar to Mary’s.
Next, it’s my cell phone. Anna is also from the UK. Well, at least the time of day works. She has read my book and wants to arrange a podcast. I tell her that sounds delightful and, by now you know my drill…put it in an email, etc. She says she understands completely. The email arrives a few minutes later, complete with a detailed explanation and additional information, including links to the website and the podcast on YouTube. My son is visiting and takes it upon himself to check it out. It seems on the up and up. Anna includes a beautiful review of my book, one that obviously shows she has read it. I emailed Anna back expressing my interest. That was twelve days ago. No response from Anna. I am not sure what to think, but the word scam comes to mind. I hope I’m wrong, not just because of the review and the podcast, but because occasionally it would be nice to have my increasingly cynical and suspicious mind be wrong.
I decide to do a little reading/research. Among the articles I read is this excerpt from Australia in The Guardian:
” Self-publish and be scammed: Jon’s tale of heartbreak.” It highlights the boom in fraudsters using AI to supercharge book swindling. Eight years of dedication were poured into the pages of Angel of Aleppo, Jon Cocks’ debut historical novel. Inspired by his wife’s grandmother, a survivor of the Armenian genocide of the early 20th century, it was a labour of love, distilled from thousands of hours of research and oral testimony. The retired South Australian high school teacher’s project carried the weight of family history and historical truth. It was precisely this emotional gravity that rendered him vulnerable. In six months, Cocks has lost almost A$10,000. It wasn’t vacuous adulation that hooked him but the political and moral significance the solicitations attributed to his work. The pitches argued that his years of emotional investment deserved a global audience befitting a historically vital narrative; that an advanced marketing campaign would deliver his message to the world.”
“And here’s me stupid enough to think these people were for real,” he says. “It still makes me angry – I rant for a bit, then I calm down again. I’m 70, I don’t want to bring on an episode.”
Jon’s story is so upsetting. I hurt for Jon. I understand how easy you can be scammed. To have worked so long and hard on your labour of love, your book and then to be scammed. It’s sad. ….
We live in a whole new world of scammers, writers beware.
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Rejection is hard for me. I have difficulty separating my self-worth as a writer from the rejected story. At first, when I submitted a short story to publication and it was not selected, I didn’t tell anyone. However, I bounced back when several small micro fiction stories were selected and when stories were accepted in a literary magazine and an anthology. I understood that this is part of my new life as a writer. The breakthrough was when I submitted a short story, and it was rejected, but I had faith in it and myself, so I submitted it to another publication, where it was accepted. That little story has become my symbol of going forward after rejection. The story is called Love and Gas Money, and it is on my website. I still smile when I think of it.
So why am I writing about rejection now when I thought I had come to terms with it? Because my most recent rejection was harsh and spoke to my writing talent and ability. It hurt. It put me back to the beginning of this writing journey, and I struggled to recapture my belief in my writing. I still struggle, but I am now ready to say, forget about them and keep going. I do believe in the story, and I will go back to it, edit one more time (cause that’s what we do) and submit it somewhere else. I like this story, and the two “readers” who read it before I submitted it liked it too. We’ll see what happens.
A final thought on rejection: Don’t ever think that if you can’t stand the heat, you should leave the kitchen; instead, think of your writing passion and believe in yourself. Writing is a craft, and we are always improving and recreating it.
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What’s next on Gates Open:
Update on my book 21 Smithfield Drive
Stuck in the middle of my cozy misery
Exploring Character
I try to write Gates Open every two weeks, but sometimes life happens.
I hope you are writing and having fun doing so.
See you soon, Gail
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