Good morning, Readers!
So, I was approached, as I often am, with a scam aimed at separating unsuspecting writers from their money. Most of the time, the emails are from “book clubs” looking to charge authors for the privilege of having their books read. By the way, if anyone reaches out offering to put your book in front of a book club for a fee, TURN THEM DOWN. Money should always flow to the author, not the other way around. If a book club is genuine, they will buy your book and read it without being paid for it. They may approach you to see if you’d be interested in talking to the group. It is up to you if you want to ask for an appearance fee. But you should never, EVER be charged for it.
Anyway, this email was not that (and I receive SO many of those emails). No, this was an email from some (non-existent) literary festive in the UK; supposedly, London. Here is the email:
Dear S. M. Carrière,
What caught our attention about Skylark is the way it explores conflict beyond a simple battle between species. The story’s focus on Commander Bennejin Skye navigating a divided humanity, an alien presence on Earth, and a new threat that forces former enemies to reconsider their differences creates an engaging exploration of survival, cooperation, and the choices made in times of uncertainty.
The Royal Quill Book Festival, taking place in London from 10–13 September 2026 at the Royal Quill Grand Hall, welcomes authors whose stories invite readers to explore new worlds, big ideas, and imaginative possibilities. We believe your novel could connect with festival audiences interested in science fiction, space exploration, alien civilizations, futuristic storytelling, and narratives that examine the relationships between different societies.
Before we move forward, we would love to know two things: is Skylark currently available for purchase online so readers can find and buy it easily, and is there anything currently standing in the way of your participation, whether scheduling, logistics, or otherwise, that we could help think through? If this feels like the right fit, simply reply to this email and we will be happy to share more information about the festival.
With gratitude,
THE ROYAL QUILL BOOK FESTIVAL
Now, I do love Skylark. I have fondness for the very Canadian main character, who struggles with his own darkness, who though profoundly flawed, still stands up for what’s right. Anyway, I was at first quite taken aback… for, like, a split second before my rational brain kicked in with a “hang on…”
No festival of any size would wait this last minute to contact authors to offer an invitation. And no festival in London would invite a Canadian unknown who barely sells any copies of anything.
Certain I would find a scam, I dug just a little bit. It didn’t take much digging, to be honest. The first thing I did was have a look to see if I could find the festival online. A search for the festival name revealed absolutely nothing. Not a good sign. So I followed the link (copy paste) in the email and there was a website!
The landing page looked great, though perhaps needing a better designer to make the dates easier to see. But speaking of the dates, in the email, they were listed as 10-13 September. On the website, it’s the 18-27 of September. Oh dear. It’s not looking good.
I went ahead and clicked on the authors page to see if I would recognise any of the names or works already attached. Well, that made me laugh out loud. The “photos” are all obviously AI generated images. It gets worse. I took a random sample of the authors — their debut author — and looked him up. On the site, their debut author guest is listed as James Hartley, author of The Cartographer’s Son. Cool, cool. So I looked up that name. There is an author by the name of James Hartley, but his author photo revealed a much older gent. The book he’s been credited on the site as having been written by him was not listed in this gent’s author site. Now, there is a book with the title The Cartographer’s Son, but that was written by Xen Zen. Or perhaps by T. Watkins, who also has a book by the same title.
Well, I had my answer, but I looked up another, just in case. This time I looked up their attending poet, Sophia Adeyemi. I found someone by that name on Linked In, but they’re a chemical engineer. Could also be a poet, right? So I looked up the titles of the poems - Inheritance of Light and The Grammar of Grief. There is a book Inheritance of Light, which is poetry. But that looks to be an anthology edited by Ray Gonzalez. What about The Grammar of Grief? Well, there is an essay by Caroline Langston published in 2022 with that title. I could find no works of those titles attributed to Sophia Adeyemi.
And that’s where I stopped, because I was tired and annoyed.
These scams exist because it is a lucrative thing to prey on the hopes and dreams of writers who are just trying to earn a living through their work. It works because it’s so seductive to have someone read and appreciate your work. They throw flattery at you in the first paragraph precisely for this reason.
Hell, I wanted to believe it to be true… that I might be invited to a literary festival in London because someone read my stuff and thought it deserved to be there. But I am not naive. I know that getting discovered this way is incredibly rare - rare by far than the flood of emails I get might lead anyone to believe. I am also very wary of flattery. Effusive simpering immediately raises my hackles in a way I’ll never be fully able to explain.
So… if you are genuinely enthusing at me about something I’ve written, please forgive me for being skeptical. I’m not very good at taking compliments. I’m working on it.
But that is neither here nor there.
The point is, writers, be so, so wary of emails like this. Know that they’re flattering you precisely to drop your guard. Do your due diligence before replying to these emails. Research. It usually doesn’t take much to discover what’s going on.
M’kay? I love you. Your work is important and valid. Even if it feels like no one sees it. Don’t let these people scam you, alright?
Also, if any genuine literary festivals in the UK want to invite me along as a complete unknown, I will be delighted to take you up on that offer… after I’ve researched you some.
Alright, I have to go.
Be good.
Slán go foill!
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