I've been expending a lot of words and time lately warning about the latest scam phenomenon to hit the writing world: fake publishing and marketing companies that, through outrageous prices and worthless services, extract enormous amounts of money from unwary writers.

Based in the Philippines (despite their apparent US addresses, phone numbers, and telemarketer names) and preying primarily on the elderly and on writers who've self-published (particularly with one of the Author Solutions imprints), these companies recruit authors with relentless--and highly deceptive--phone and email solicitations. Thanks to the pandemic and the popularity of streaming, one of the most common solicitations at the moment is an "offer" to pitch books to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and others for film or series adaptation.

Some of the scams do provide at least some of the services authors pay for, albeit at seriously inflated prices, often of poor quality. Others just take the money and run. I'm hearing from a growing number of writers who've paid five figures in fees to one--or, in some cases, more than one--of these scams, with next to nothing to show for it. 

The scams share a cluster of characteristics that make them reasonably easy to identify.

- Cold-call solicitations by phone and email (always be wary of these, no matter what they're for)

- Re-publishing offers (since most of their targets are self-published authors)

- Claims of expertise that can't be verified (or can be easily refuted, for instance if they claim years of experience but their web domain was only registered a few months ago)

- English-language errors on websites and in emails and telemarketers with foreign accents (since the scams are owned and staffed by people for whom English is a second language)

- A catalog of junk marketing services (services of dubious value that are cheap to provide and can be sold at a huge markup, including press releases, email blasts, book trailers, social media posts, paid reviews and radio interviews, and the like).

A selection of my posts about the scams--where they come from, how they work, and how to recognize them:

- Army of Clones: Author Solutions Spawns a Legion of Copycats

- Army of Clones Part 2: Twenty-One (More) Publishing and Marketing "Services" to Beware Of

- A New "Beware": Scammers Impersonating Reputable Literary Agents

- Alert: Scammers Impersonating Major Publishing Houses

- Solicitation Alert: LitFire Publishing

- Solicitation Alert: Book-Art Press Solutions and Window Press Club

- Solicitation (and Plagiarism) Alert: Legaia Books / Paperclips Magazine

- Junk Book Marketing: Pay-to-Play Magazines

- Vanity Radio: Why You Should Think Twice Before Paying For an Interview

Below is a list of the scams themselves--at least, the more than 125 I've identified so far (the list is also posted in the sidebar of this blog). You'll note that a number of them operate under more than one name--I suspect the interconnection is much greater than this, but I've only indicated additional names where I've been able to reliably document them.

Some have perished since I began the list--I've noted this, but left their names for the sake of authors who may have been scammed while they were operational.

- Access Media Group (aka Quill Space Media) (Quill Space Media is defunct)

- Ace Media Creative Publication / Ace Media International / APM Media Production (aka Pearson Media Group) (defunct under the Ace name, still doing business as Pearson Media)

- Adaptations Tide

- ADBooks Press (aka Coffee Press / Okir Publishing) (all three names are defunct)

- Adverters, The (aka Sherlock Press)

- Alpha Books Solutions

- Alpha Books United

- Amelia Publishing / Amelia Book Company (aka LitFire Publishing / GoToPublish)

- AnalytIQ (defunct)

- Ascribed LLC (defunct)

- Author Aide

- Author Codex (aka BookSpine Press) (BookSpine Press is defunct)

- Author Media Express (aka Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PR Media Solutions / Pearson Media Groups / Stephenson and Queen / Window Press Club) (Carter Press, PR Media Solutions, and Window Press Club are defunct)

- Author Pro Creatives and Marketing (aka Matchstick Literary) (Author Pro Creatives is defunct)

- Author Reputation Press

- Author Shack (defunct)

- Author University

- AuthorCentrix (formerly BookBlastPro) (defunct)

- AuthorLair

- Authors Avenue Media Group

- Authors Legacy (defunct)

- Authors Note 360 (website still online, but mostly nonfunctional)

- Authors Press (aka Westwood Books Publishing [formerly Greenberry] / Creative Books)

- Authors' Tranquility Press

- Beacon Books Agency (aka Fact & Fiction Entertainment and Literary Agency)

- Black Lacquer Press & Marketing

- Blue Ink Scribble

- BooConn Marketing

- Book Agency Plus (aka BookTrail Agency)

- Book Art Press Solutions (aka Author Media Express / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PR Media Solutions / Pearson Media Groups / Stephenson and Queen / Window Press Club) (Carter Press, PR Media Solutions, and Window Press Club are defunct)

- Book Avenue Publishing (aka Nivra Press) (both are defunct)

- Book Chambers, The

- Book Magnets

- Book Masters, The

- Book Reads Publishing (defunct)

- Book Vine Press

- BookSpine Press (aka Author Codex) (defunct, but still doing business as Author Codex)

- Booktimes (aka Book Art Press Solutions / Book Art Press Solutions / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PR Media Solutions / Pearson Media Group / Stephenson and Queen / Window Press Club) (Carter Press, PR Media Solutions, and Window Press Club are defunct)

- BookTrail Agency (aka Book Agency Plus)

- Books Scribe

- BookVenture Publishing

- BookWhip (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Carter Press / PR Media Solutions / Pearson Media Group / Stephenson and Queen / Window Press Club) (Carter Press, PR Media Solutions, and Window Press Club are defunct)

- Box Office Media Creatives (aka Buzz Media Creatives) (Buzz Media Creatives is defunct)

- BrandingNemo

- Bright Lights Distribution

- Buzz Media Creatives (aka Box Office Media Creatives) (defunct under the Buzz name, still doing business as Box Office Media Creatives)

- Capstone Media Services (aka Stampa / Stampa Global) (defunct under the Capstone name, still doing business as Stampa)

- Carter Press (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / BookWhip / PR Media Solutions / Pearson Media Groups / Stephenson and Queen / Window Press Club) (defunct, but still doing business as Author Media Express, Book Art Press Solutions, Booktimes, BookWhip, and Pearson Media Group)

- Chapters Media & Advertising (defunct) (aka Techbooks Media (defunct) / Fresh Pages Media and Advertising (defunct) / Editor's Press and Media / Editor's Creative Media (website dead) / Silver Ink Literary Agency) 

- Coffee Press (aka Okir Publishing / ADBooks Press) (all three names are defunct)

- ConquerPress

- Creative Books (aka Westwood Books Publishing / Authors Press)

- Creative Titles Media  (aka TrueMedia Creatives) (both defunct)

- Crest Media Distribution (defunct)

- DC Media Creative

- Diamond Media Press

- Dream Books Distribution (website is dead)

- EC Publishing

- Editor's Creative Media (aka Editor's Press and Media) (website is dead, but still dba under the second name)

- Editor's Press and Media (aka Editor's Creative Media (website is dead) / Silver Ink Literary Agency / Chapters Media & Advertising (defunct)  / TechBooks Media (defunct)

- Fact & Fiction Entertainment and Literary Agency (aka Beacon Books Agency)

- FilmHatch Media Productions

- Filmways Pictures Media

- Folio Avenue Publishing

- Fox Media (aka Silver Fox Media)

- Fresh Pages Media and Advertising (defunct) (see Chapters Media & Advertising)

- Glasslink Solutions

- Global Summit House

- Gold Touch Press

- Golden Ink Media Services (website has a "dangerous page" warning) (aka Pen Culture Solutions   / Green Sage Agency)

- Goldman Agency

- GoToPublish (aka LitFire Publishing / Amelia Publishing / Amelia Book Company)

- Great Writers Media

- Green Sage Agency (aka Pen Culture Solutions)

- Happy Media Consulting (website is dead)

- Haynes Marketing + Media

- Haystack Creatives (aka Rustik Haws) 

- IdeoPage Press Solutions (aka The Writer Central) (defunct under both names)

- Ingress Advertising

- Innocentrix (aka PageTurner Press and Media)

- Jurnal Press

- Kilmer Press Solutions

- Legaia Books (apparently defunct)

- Lettra Press (aka Pen House LLC)

- Lime Press

- LitFire Publishing (aka Amelia Publishing / Amelia Book Company / GoToPublish)

- LitPrime Publishing / LitPrime Solutions

- Mainspring Books

- Maple Leaf Publishing

- Martin and Bowman

- MatchStick Literary (aka Author Pro Creatives and Marketing) 

- McNaughton Books / McNaughton Publishing (website is currently dead)

- The Mulberry Books

- Netsfilm & Media Press (defunct)

- New Leaf Media (not to be confused with New Leaf Literary, a reputable agency)

- New Reader Media

- Nivra Press (aka Book Avenue Publishing) (both are defunct) 

- Odyssey Media Press

- Okir Publishing (aka ADbooks Press / Coffee Press) (all three names are defunct)

- Optage Publishing (defunct)

- Orions Media Agency

- Outstrip (defunct)

- PR Media Solutions LLC (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / Pearson Media Group / Stephenson and Queen / Window Press Club) (defunct, but still doing business as Author Media Express, Book Art Press Solutions, Booktimes, BookWhip, and Pearson Media Group)

- Pacific Books Publishing (defunct)

- PageClapp Media

- PageTurner, Press and Media (aka Innocentrix)

- Paper Bytes Marketing Solutions (aka Editors Press and Media / Editors Creative Media / Silver Ink Literary Agency) (formerly Chapters Media)

- PaperChase Solution

- Parchment Global Publishing (aka Word Dominion International)

- Paradigm Print

- Paramount Books Media (website is dead)

- Pearson Media Group (aka Ace Media Creative Publication / Ace Media International / Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / Window Press Club) (Carter Press, PR Media Solutions, and Window Press Club are defunct)

- Pearson's Media and Consultancy

- Pen Culture Solutions

- Pen House (aka Lettra Press)

- Picador Media Works

- Pioneer Productions

- Polaris Interstellar

- Press To Impress Publishing (defunct)

- Primeway Media Services

- Pubkits.com

- Quill Space Media (aka Access Media Group) (defunct, but still doing business as Access Media Group)

- Rainbow Experts

- Readers Magnet

- Right Choice Multimedia (aka West Literary Agency)

- Royale House (defunct)

- Rushmore Press

- Rustik Haws (aka Haystack Creatives) (Rustik Haws website is dead; Haystack Creatives still in business)

- Sherlock Press (aka The Adverters) (Sherlock is defunct, Adverters still in business)

- Silver Fox Media (aka Fox Media Studios)

- Silver Ink Literary Agency (aka Editors Press and Media / Editor's Creative Media / Paper Bytes Marketing Solutions) (also see Chapters Media)

- SPARK Literary and Marketing

- Stampa / Stampa Global (formerly Capstone Media Services)

- Stellar Literary Press and Media

- Stephenson and Queen (aka BookWhip / Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Carter Press / PR Media Solutions / Pearson Media Group / Window Press Club) (Carter Press, PR Media Solutions, and Window Press Club are defunct)

- Stonewall Press (aka Uirtus Solutions) (both defunct)

- Storium Press

- Stratton Press

- Supreme Media Corp (aka Editor's Press and Media and Editor's Creative Media)

- Techbooks Media (defunct) (aka Chapters Media & Advertising (defunct) / Editor's Press and Media / Editor's Creative Media / Paper Bytes Marketing Solutions / Silver Ink Literary Agency)

- Toplink Publishing

- TrueMedia Creatives (aka Creative Titles Media) (both defunct)

- Uirtus Solutions (aka Stonewall Press) (both defunct)

- Universal Book Solutions

- Universal Breakthrough, The (aka The Universal Pages)

- Universal Pages, The (aka The Universal Breakthrough)

- URLink Print and Media

- VHawk Solutions

- Vivlio (a.k.a. Vivlio Hill, Vivlio Hill Publishing, Vivlio Solutions, Vivlio Marketing Solutions)

- West Literary Agency (aka Right Choice Multimedia)

- WestPoint Print and Media

- Westwood Books Publishing (formerly Greenberry) (aka Authors Press / Creative Books)

- Window Press Club (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions, Booktimes, Bookwhip / Carter Press, PR Media Solutions / Pearson Media Group / Stephenson and Queen) (defunct, but still doing business as Author Media Express, Book Art Press Solutions, Booktimes, and BookWhip)

- Word Dominion International (aka Parchment Global Publishing)

- Word Art Publishing

- WorkBook Press

- The Writer Central (aka IdeoPage Press Solutions) (defunct under both names)

- Writers Apex

- Writers Book Publishing House (aka Writers Desks LLC)

- Writers' Branding

- Writers Desks LLC (aka Writers Book Publishing House)

- The Writers Gallery

- YourOnlinePublicist

- Zeta Publishing

(I'm continuously updating this list--adding new companies as I discover them, noting the ones that disappear.)

I know my warnings are having an effect, not just because I'm hearing from writers who've found my posts or my list and have been able to avoid being ripped off, but because some of the scams are getting...a little defensive. Book-Art Press now includes this in its solicitation emails:

The links are to anti-Writer Beware screeds from people WB has exposed.

The grievance is definitely on display in this one, from MatchStick Literary (it also showcases the scams' trademark fractured English):

See ya at Writer Beware, scammers!

UPDATE 12/10/19: I want to highlight this recent comment, which illustrates how ubiquitous and persistent these scams are. Bottom line: if you self-publish, you can pretty much count on being solicited. Be on your guard. (By "GoTo", I'm assuming the commenter means GoToPublish.)

UPDATE 11/13/20: The latest scammer love note, left as a comment here. Good to know I'm still hitting a nerve!

UPDATE 12/30/20: They still love me! I didn't let these comments through, but I did memorialize them.