Oh, the scams!

[I. J. Parker]

Ever since I made the mistake of allowing someone to do an e-mail campaign for me (my agent suggested it might be a good idea), I have been bombarded with mail (both snail and e) from the same outfit. They change their name periodically. Perhaps because word gets out. Last year they were Airleaf. Now they are Author Celebrity Associates. And they offer instant fame! For money. The costs rise with every new campaign.

The latest bit made me sit up. The bold headline read: "Imagine The Hell Screen as a starred Review!"

(Now mind you, THE HELL SCREEN already has a starred review -- from PW and legitimate).

I'm being offered:

three professional reviews,

a guarantee of three new, impartial reviews, including Kirkus (what's up with Kirkus, I wonder)

a feature of my book and any past reviews on www.starredreview.com

a reading of the book and a written review from Author Celebrity Associates

and the posting of all reviews on five more websites, including amazon.

All this for a measly $ 1,500.00

They are miracle workers -- who apparently don't bother to check out the clientele.

Be warned!

[I. J. Parker]

Ah. Yes, that makes sense, Terry. I suppose people do that. It wouldn't affect overall sales in the long run, but someone might be impressed with a single day's amazon ranking. I believe I'll pass.

[terry bowman]

If you're even considering an email "viral" campaign, which in some cases is not a bad idea, your best bet is to do it yourself. Start with a select group of friends and ask them to mushroom it out to their friends. Sales numbers on the Amazon website can be moved significantly (albeit for short periods of time) with in a day if you can inspire a lot of people to buy your book at the same time.

[I. J. Parker]

Exactly! I did a double take on this myself. No wonder they keep changing the firm's name.

[J.D. Rhoades]

Wait...they guarantee a starred review on Kirkus?

Do Kirkus' lawyers know about this?

[Naomi Hirahara]

Oh, I.J. This is crazy.