Hey there happy reader!
Sometimes I am awestruck by the number of creative scams that litter my inbox daily. This holiday season, however, the record has been broken – multiple times!
It all started with what seemed like innocent fan mail.
The writer would reference a title of mine and invite me to join their book club for a discussion (something I’ve done hundreds of times with legit groups!) The next email would offer me a slot to speak for a fee. No thanks!
The next scheme offered lovely words about my writing journey, only to offer promotional services that I don’t need. Sheesh!
But the last straw was a series of letters from well-known authors (including Liane Moriarty – she wrote “Big Little Lies”) asking me to join her in a cross promotion.
Now, while you might think that this is very flattering, what really is behind this scam is an attempt to steal my mailing list! I take this very seriously and have reached out to Ms. Moriarty’s agent to let them know that this happened. I’ve also learned how to block a sender from ever mailing me again.
My promise to you has always been that I won’t share your email address with anyone, and I intend to honor that pledge. I plan on being ever vigilant as AI becomes more of a threat to all our privacy and keep your names under lock and key!
And speaking of AI, let me assure you that I never use it in my writing.
Did you know that you now need to disclose if you’ve included AI passages before you can publish a book on Amazon? As a reader, you need to read a book’s description to know if the author has used this technology and you can decide what to read based on how you feel about it. I personally don’t want to read a book written by a robot, but that’s me!
The above just about sums up my mood.
How about you? Any annoying emails littering your inbox? Stay safe out there!!
As always, let me know what you think!
xoxo,
Hilari
P.S. No newsletter next week! Happy holidays, one and all!
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