Just got a report of a scam solicitation w/ contact info harvested from copyright registration lists. The work is unpublished & not mentioned anywhere else; registration included author's cell #, so solicitation was via SMS. Just a reminder that any contact info on a registration is public record.

A twist on lawsuits against AI companies for training on pirated books: an Nvidia shareholder is suing the company for "adopting and implementing an unlawful business strategy" (via @publisherslunch.bsky.social ). Filing is here: lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/wp-content/u...

She opens one beady eye.

I actually left Xitter almost a year ago (& mostly stopped posting there in 2024), but I only just got around to pinning that info on my account. I guess that's what this account picked up. (the only reason I don't delete entirely is so my user name won't be stolen & misused)

@accounts-leaving-x.bsky.social · 2d ago

Victoria Strauss (an American author, reviewer, and prominent advocate for writers) has left X (20.656 followers) Bluesky: @victoriastrauss.com

Impersonation scams targeting writers are an epidemic. To defend yourself: check any out-of-the-blue email that purports to be from a real person in publishing or Hollywood against Writer Beware's Impersonation List writerbeware.blog/2024/03/15/t...

The Impersonation List - Writer Beware

The most pernicious scams focused on English-speaking writers these days come from overseas: publishing/marketing/fake literary agency scams from the Philippines, and ghostwriting/publishing/marketing...

writerbeware.blog

Only somewhat relevant to writing scams, but this site looks to me like a very helpful general knowledge resource on a variety of common scams, including phishing scams, romance scams, AI voice scams, and more www.tuteladigitalis.com

Online Scam Protection & Fraud Prevention | Tutela Digitalis

Expert guides on phishing, investment fraud, romance scams, and AI threats — free education and confidential help from someone who studied scammers.

tuteladigitalis.com

A guide getting $$ back from a scammer, even wire transfers--as long as you realize within 72 hours you've been defrauded. Most scams take much longer to become apparent, but there are still things you can do, like changing passwords & canceling credit cards www.tuteladigitalis.com/blog/get-mon...

How to Recover Money From a Scammer: Honest Odds | Tutela Digitalis

How to recover money from a scammer depends on how you paid. Honest odds by method — cards, Zelle, wires, crypto, gift cards — and why 72 hours decide it.

tuteladigitalis.com

I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful

Good article from the @authorsguild.org on hybrid publishing contracts. Be sure to click the link to the AG's hybrid publishing contract checklist. I'd add that you should definitely check with Writer Beware if you're considering a hybrid--we get many complaints authorsguild.org/resource/wha...

What Authors Should Know About Hybrid Publishing Contracts

The Authors Guild regularly receives requests for contract reviews from authors contemplating hybrid publishing. In our experience, these contracts are usually offered on a non-negotiable basis (with ...

authorsguild.org

"How could such a bad book, that reads like a machine wrote it, get a $2.4 million deal?!" A question asked by someone who has never read a book that got a $2.4 million deal.

Yikes. (This is the future, unfortunately.)

Maggie Harrison Dupré@mharrisondupre.bsky.social · 5d ago

NEW: A PR firm used at least 15 fake personas — equipped with fake emails, fake websites, and in some cases, fake AI-generated faces — to send me dozens of pitch emails about its (very real) clients. Those clients told me they had no idea this was happening. futurism.com/artificial-i...

New #WriterBeware blog post: The AALA has made major revisions to its Canon of Ethics. What's changed, where I think the changes fall short, and questions about the future of the agent profession raised by the issues the Canon has been revised to address writerbeware.blog/2026/07/31/t...

The AALA Makes Significant Updates to Its Canon of Ethics - Writer Beware

For the second time in four years, the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) has updated its Canon of Ethics. The last time, in 2022, the major changes related to packaging and producer fees ...

writerbeware.blog

Hahahaha

Futurism@futurism.com · 7d ago

"I have no idea how to get around this."

Paywalled so I wasn't able to read the article, so I'm commenting based on the summary (yes, I know). Just wow. Responding to AI slop by slopping your own writing? I mean, really? And how is using first person a defense? I see AI scam emails every day, and they're all first person

Manisha Krishnan@manishakrishnan.bsky.social · last wk.

Authors and journalists are doing more first-person (hello 2010s blogging) and embracing "mistakes" in writing to prove they're not chatbots. There's even an “anti-Grammarly" app that leaves in typos and signs off "sent from my iPhone" to create more authenticity: www.wired.com/story/more-t...

Interesting piece on how AI is impacting publishing's supply change. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/b...

How A.I. Books Sneak Their Way Into Stores (Gift Article)

Big booksellers are taking different approaches to dealing with the deluge of titles generated by artificial intelligence.

nytimes.com

Yes. And Google Books and the IA also destroyed the books they scanned (you have to , in order to scan them)

Dr. Ellen Bauerle@bauerle.bsky.social · last wk.

Kind of similar to Google Books and the Internet Archive, when you think about it. 😐

Muting “Fauci” for today—I can’t bear to read about republicans’ disgraceful and repulsive attacks on this dedicated public servant

In today’s least surprising news, these kinds of certifications turn out to be completely toothless

madeline odent@oldenoughtosay.com · last wk.

shot, chaser

Accuracy is important

Michael Capobianco@michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · last wk.

Quote from a news article: "A spokesperson for Anthropic said more than 91% of authors included in the settlement have claimed their share." This is false and misleading. More than 91% of books have been claimed, but that number includes claims by both authors and publishers.

Scam markers these days: out-of-the-blue solicitation, Gmail & other non-professional email addresses, hyper-personalized text. Here's another: websites built on the free Lovable.app. Gmail scammers like freebies, but this one is their fave. For example: helpingauthorsincreasevisibility.lovable.app

Kindle Unlimited Book Club Community & Making Connection

Helping authors increase visibility, reader engagement, and industry recognition.

helpingauthorsincreasevisibility.lovable.app

Watch out for emails from the "Author Credibility Society" offering "literary radio features"--it's another of the plague of AI-driven Gmail scams & it wants to charge you a fee (which a real, reputable interview show wouldn't do). Here's one author's experience karencommins.com/2026/06/anat...

Anatomy of an Author Scam - Karen Commins

Although I'm still researching and writing my non-fiction book, I received my first scam message for authors! In this article, I point out a wide range of things that reveal the message, sender, and s...

karencommins.com

"You see, with a scam, there’s always a loose thread. You just need to find that thread and give it a gentle yank and it all unravels." One writer's experience with a scam that is unfortunately extremely widespread right now. danielbest1967.substack.com/p/a-cautiona...

A Cautionary Tale: A New Writers Scam

An Amazingly Detailed Scam Aimed At Writers

danielbest1967.substack.com

New #WriterBeware blog post: the Anthropic class action copyright settlement has been approved. Top takeaways from the judge's ruling, who's the biggest winner, and when claimants might (or might not) see the money writerbeware.blog/2026/07/23/a...

Anthropic Settlement Update: Final Settlement Approved - Writer Beware

On Tuesday, Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted final approval to the historic class action settlement in the Bartz v Anthropic copyright infringement lawsuit. At $1.5 billion, it’s the largest reco...

writerbeware.blog

My favorite comments are the ones I get from scammers who want to let me know that they are not to be confused with different scammers that I've featured on my blog

Big winners in Anthropic settlement: publishers. Statement from Bloomsbury: 14,087 of its titles are included, for a windfall of $21 million ($1,500 each--half of $3,000/title payout) (via @publisherslunch.bsky.social) (correcting previous post w/ bad math) www.bloomsbury-ir.co.uk/media/press_...

This comes as no surprise at all if you were around in the early 2000s for the Google Library Project. That set the standard for copyright breach on a mega mass scale. They lost court cases and they still bulldozed their way through with a legal department and budget bigger than most companies.

Ed Newton-Rex@ednewtonrex.bsky.social · 3w ago

Huge new class action lawsuit filed by big publishers and authors against Google this week over AI training. It accuses Google of taking millions of books / articles provided to them for use only in Google Books, Google Play Books, and Google Scholar, and secretly using them to train LLMs. 🧵 1/4

The AI legislation spree continues www.transparencycoalition.ai/news/tcai-re...

TCAI Mid-Year AI Legislation Report: 84 new AI laws enacted in 27 states so far in 2026 — Transparency Coalition. Legislation for Transparency in AI Now.

Lawmakers passed bills on chatbot safety, education and children’s digital lives, medical authorization and mental health, consumer rights, and frontier model oversight. More states are expected to we...

transparencycoalition.ai

Paywalled, but I’m re-posting for the headline

The Bookseller@thebookseller.com · 2w ago

The publishing industry has reported the lowest uptake of AI usage at only 6%, reflecting ongoing concerns around copyright and authorship, the Creative Access 2026 Thrive report has revealed. 👇

This is kind of an incredible website: Why your stuff stopped lasting, who profited, and what's still built right.

Worse on Purpose

The brands you trusted quietly gutted quality to protect margins. Investigative essays on corporate enshittification. Free newsletter.

worseonpurpose.com

Yes.

Courtney Milan@courtneymilan.com · 2w ago

I am deeply sorry that this is not a result that everyone can participate in--there are so many people whose work was stolen who won't see a dime from this, so I know that this will be met with mixed feelings all around.