Brandi is sick. Gordon and I are hovering on the edge of sick. Kid 1 is patient zero who infected all of us. Because Brandi is sick, I decided to look at the emails this week.
I had to reach for a bit of tranquility before responding to the one below, so here is a beautiful lotus for you.
As a fellow writer, I found your profile on amazon and I want to tell you that…
Help me sell my digital book and I will give you 50% share of the revenue. You control the money.
I will send you all the files. You sell it on amazon kindle, or any websites you like on YOUR name, (or my name if you want, but your account ID) then you collect the money and, periodically, you paypal me my 50% share.
You can add the advertisement for my novel at the end of your youtube video file, and/or any other channel as you see fit, and/or make an entire video specifically for my book. Feel free to do anything.
Sound good? If you like the idea but don’t like any specific detail of this offer, let me know and I will modify it.
My name is REDACTED I wrote a book named “TITLE REDACTED” , an English-language comedy erotic fantasy novel. In my opinion. it’s very good and funny book but the competition is really fierce everywhere and I can’t reach any potential customers at all.
Note:
If you like a formal contract, let me know. I can provide it, with My ID card etc.
Only if you want, the name TITLE REDACTED (as well as the cover jpg file) can be changed to your liking, without my permission, for your book entry on the website you are selling it on.
When you try to sell my book on your video, tell the viewers to click on the link on your video that lead to YOUR entry of the book on the website YOU chose to sell it on. DO NOT ask the viewers to search for the word “TITLE REDACTED” on any websites, because that might lead into other entry of the my book (and you will lose your revenue)
For instant chat, you can skype me at my id: REDACTEDWRITING SAMPLE REDACTED. If you are the author reading this, what you wrote is in a screenplay format, not a novel.
No.
Any recommendations you see on this blog are there because we like the work. We will occasionally mention new releases from our friends, and these will be clearly marked so, as in the blog post will have a disclaimer of “The author is our BFF and we are biased.”
We do not use affiliate links when recommending other people’s books and receive no monetary compensation for mentioning other people’s books. Well, Grace Draven took us to dinner, so technically I guess we did receive compensation once.
Look, I get it, it’s hard to break out because there are so many books available now, but this is not the way to go about it. What you are asking us to do would be deeply unethical.
I may need to take Brandi to dinner. Because oy.
????
It sounds like a scan. I don’t know how, but the language is very similar to a scam I got recently about promoting someone’s product on some web pages I manage.
Not a book and the web pages are in no way related to the product… I mostly rolled my eyes and reported it to the email vendor (yahoo).
Yes, they would probably want your banking information at some point to facilitate payment. If it is not a scam still takes a lot of gumption to assume their writing is good enough to be labeled as Ilona Andrews – odds are better to win the powerball lottery.
Hope everyone at House Andrews feels better soon.
+1
So, all I have to do to make money writing is to find a great and successful author(s) which probably means that they are smart BUT idiotic enough to cash out their reputation for a sketchy non-business proposal? Eeeek!
I hope that everyone gets healthy soon because it’s hockey season!
Wowza
Hmm – always a bad idea to get involved in stuff like this. YOU take responsibility for the money. YOU pay me. YOU take the risk. And odds are, down the road there’s a lawsuit saying YOU didn’t abide by the contract, YOU didn’t pay them their just dues, YOU stole their content. I wouldn’t touch this with a 10 foot pole.
+1
Yup. I was reading about various publishing scams and one involves claiming an author stole your rights or trying to steal the rights of the author…. this smacks of that…. ugh.
+1
Hope you feel better!
What the BDH said! Aka wooooowwwwww, that’sa lotta chutzpah, there….????
Thank you Brandie, for defending House Andrew’s from that sorta BS!!!!!
well, thats super rude. and entirely stupid. Not only is that unethical, but it is also likely to blowback on you. I am sorry but either that person thinks they are far smarter than their competition or they think you are stupid, or both.
that sucks that you have to deal with that.
Here’s hoping everyone feels better soon. It a real pain when nobody feels well enough to take care of the little stuff that helps things run smoothly.
The lotus is lovely. Thank you.
And lastly – the dingbat sounds really fake and creepy. Perhaps some of the disinfectant can be used on him / her / them. I’m not sure what the catch is or where it’s hiding, but I am sure there is a catch somewhere.
Be careful, please.
I use to talk to my art teacher about how long it took to become an expert in her field…water colour……10,000 hrs was suggested. (she would spend hrs perfecting her clouds)
How many hours do you think the two of you have put into your trade to reach the New York list?
I’m wondering how many computer viruses the unknown pseudoauthor was trying to transmit.
Oh, WOW. This is so weird, it made my brain itchy. I agree with many of the other commenters; the verbiage used gives the whole message a “Nigerian prince” vibe. Also, I can understand the desperation a new author can feel when trying to get their first work published, but- really? If you’re trying this hard, and still no one wants your work, you might want to re-check the value of said work. This is the craziest, most unethical scheme I’ve seen in quite a while. Just WOW.
[Put’s head in hands and shakes it].
Don’t you wish for simpler more innocent times when all you had to put up with was some Nigerian [prince, government official, deposed ruler, etc] trying to get his money out of the country. All he needs is your bank account details …
And of course I hope Brandi and the family swiftly get over whatever nasty has inflicted itself on you.
I used to collect Nigerian scams. They came in on the fax machine at work and I had a whole folder full of them. I hadn’t seen one in ages, but then got one through my work email the other day. A soldier deployed in Afghanistan wanted me to help him repatriate $7million. Yeah, right. This sounds right up that same alley.
I’m just getting over a sinus infection, so I feel for all of you. Lots of love and liquids and maybe antibiotics.
Wow… that’s just… wow… there was so much wrong with that… I can’t even begin to… just wow…
Wishing House Andrews plus Brandi, a swift recovery.
That email is all kinds of ‘Ew’ , a bit of creepy mixed with dose of ‘the utter nerve’.
OMG! The nerve!!! My BFF’s daughter wrote a book on her struggles with drug addiction and her recovery. She self published it on Kindle and it’s sold well. Why bother you guys with this? Does he want to “suck off your success?” I’m appalled!!!
It’s got nothing to do with books – he’s not a writer and there is no book.
“DO NOT ask the viewers to search for the word ‘TITLE REDACTED'”
It’s a scam pure and simple.
I will give him some points for originality though – this is the first scam I’ve come across targeting authors specifically.
Claire above has the right of it.
You do realize they took out the “author’s” name and book title so they weren’t doing what was asked in any way. If they left that in, that would be a type of promotion.
I know that it was Ilona who redacted the title – the point I was making is he was asking specifically that people didn’t search for whatever the title was. And his capitalization of “DO NOT”.
Yep. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Some more nope inserted here.
Please insert the nopetopus here. Noping right out of nope town.
The nope rope says nope.
Danger noodle says skeedoodle. (What? I’m tired because for some reason I was unable to sleep well last night…)
I’m just going to go back to staring at the pretty lotus, for it is pretty, it is calming, and I just waved my sanity goodbye.
P.S.: Yes to everything you said. Plus a few extra for good measure.
I hope everyone feels better soon.
Sounds like spam. I’ve received emails with similar wording to promote my listings or help sell my product. (eBay,Amazon,etc). Oh, you’ll help me sell that $1 book? Let me click on the embedded link in your email ID10T.
Take Brandi to dinner! Take Brandi to dinner!
Possibly at a restaurant painted with lotus blossoms.
For your amusement:
There’s people who make a hobby of taking down these kind of scammers – Scambaiters.
They pretend to be sucked in by the scam and make the scammer waste time, money and resources as they chase what they think is a sucker.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scam_baiting
Awesome! Real superheroes fighting real crime. Love it!
I agree with the others that I wouldn’t touch this with a ten-foot pole, because of the reasons I +1’d above, but what’s unethical about it? People get paid endorsements all the time. Wouldn’t this be the equivalent of Nike paying Mia Hamm to endorse their shoes?
Not the same at all. For your analogy, Nike doesn’t have Mia Hamm claiming to have made the shoes. This person wants House Andrews to put their name AS AUTHOR. Just….no.
I guess I didn’t understand that. That… doesn’t even make SENSE, though. Not if they’re trying to break into readership.
Scam!!
1. Thank you for the pretty lotus. I needed that today, for way too many reasons. (Then, after reading post, I stared it again…)
2. Thanks be to Brandi for having to deal with this. Sorry you had to even know it exists. Just “NOPE. Nope. Nope.” Delete.
3. Hope you are all feeling better very, very soon. The gunk going around right now is all up and down the 1-35 corridor. Some school districts took a 1/2 day off and “de bugged” the school, it’s so bad right now.
4. (Staring at lotus some more). Yep. Lowers the blood pressure. Now searching similar photos to change desktop background…
Beautifulllllll lotus, thank you … And total scam. Besides anyone who follows the Andrew s family blog KNOWs you all would never in a million years do this.
I hope everyone recovers from the virus quickly.
Sorry, to hear that you are all feeling unwell. Hope it passes quickly.
On a completely related-unrelated note. Just finished a book that you might like (it is a free fanfiction).
“Petunia married a biochemist, and Harry grew up reading science and science fiction. Then came the Hogwarts letter, and a world of intriguing new possibilities to exploit. And new friends, like Hermione Granger, and Professor McGonagall, and Professor Quirrel…”
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
https://leanpub.com/hpmor
Wow. That’s pretty ballsy. I agree with others, though, that it’s probably the lead-in to a scam. ????
Def a scam, no way is that legit. Either looking for you to download their viruses or they’re phishing. If you opened any attachments run some virus scans on your machines to be safe. Best not to reply to this kind of thing or you’ll get a lot more of it in the future.
To quote one of your books: “I can’t even.”
Hope you all feel better soon!
Lotus is beautiful, scammers are awful, good assistants are worth their weight in gold, and may everyone feel good very soon.
So succinct!
“I wrote this… in my opinion it is good…” Of course ! If I ever wrote a book I hope it would also be good in (at least in) my opinion ????
It souns quite like a joke.
I agree it’s probably a scam. If it’s not, this is a more extreme version of the lazy student who contacts an author to get the author to write the student’s assigned book report. Yuck. Try to ignore this sort of dreck.
I love what House Andrews writes so much that
(1) I can’t decide which series I like best, and
(2) I’m breaking my habit of silent browsing to post this.
Oooo yeah! Scam city. Part of the price of success. Sorry. Push it out of your brain. Shoo. Shoo. However, the lotus is still a lovely thing. Well worth appreciating quietly. Breath deep, relax, take meds if you have them, and try to sleep through being sick. Soft pillows, quiet room. Ahhmm. Nice bed, cool sheets.
Feel better you all. Thanks for the flower. Oh, and by the way, I have this land….
Ooooh, is it a Kansas sea side property? I’ve always wanted one of those XD
Me too
Extra-aggravating when on the edge of being sick and surrounded by sick people too! I recommend take-out with Brandi in comfy pants. Not just Brandi in the comfy pants, both of you. In different pairs of pants…did I mention I’m sick too? I hope all of you feel better soon!
Thank you for your honest recommendations!! I love Grace Draven’s and Jesse Mihalik’s work – and I started both because of you! Thanks for your integrity.
Gack. Take Brandi to dinner… maybe share some wine or other drink of your choice to dim the memory…..
I also may have a bridge to sell you. ????????
disinfect kid 1 before letting them in the house sounds like is needed. ::laughs:: I though they were over the germ stage. Just kidding. my best friend’s mom taught 1st grade and we always told her she had to disinfect before she came home so she didn’t bring the germs the little kids carried in with her. My friend has a bad immune system so hey everything will get her. All kidding aside.
I hope everyone gets well soon. If I remember correctly if you like lavender burning lavender will help kill germs in the air to help keep a repeat. As always enjoy everything you write even your blogs
Scam? Desperation? I don’t know but good luck to ‘Redacted’ anyway. That took some serious balls, and some seriously flexible morals. Hope you guys dodge the bullet and hope everyone already sick feels better soon.
OK the following may not be appreciated so I’ll apologize in advance. Sorry.
I’ve noticed you mentioning the fam (animals and humans) getting sick a lot lately. I’m not sure if I’m misremembering, but I don’t recall you guys having so many health issues back at your previous home. Disregard this as crazy talk if it offends or annoys, but your new home (gorgeous house that it is) might have bad fengshui. If you believe the woowoo stuff, and I do because I’m crazy superstitious regardless which culture it’s from, you can Google ways to counteract it. Something simple, like placing a piece of furniture a certain way or hanging a bagua mirror on the outside of your front door can change or deflect negative energy. I don’t recommend doing the bagua trick if you have someone living across from you. My mom was having horrid luck a few years ago and her maid discovered that their neighbor’s mother in law across had installed a small bagua mirror on their front door– sending all their bad luck to my mom. Things got really nasty for awhile after that. In the end, mom put up an even bigger mirror and the actual neighbors (not the mil) apologized and took theirs down. I doubt many in Texas would know wtf a bagua is, but it isn’t very neighborly ????????♀️
It’s not fengshu. It’s a virus that is spreading through I-35 corridor. Kid 1’s friend in College Station is down with the same symptoms and she is quite a bit away. But thank you anyway.
Glad you declined – the whole thing just struck me as weird.
O_O
Get well soon
So sorry, House Andrews is feeling poorly again. When Brandi, and you feel better, certainly a nice dinner out is in order.
In the meantime, I would suggest a nice warming Tulsi Ginger Chai, or other tea of your choice to start testing your 500+ tea recommendations.
Be well. Ignore scammers. Don’t cry in the weeds. Much positivity and healing to you.
1) Sympathy for all in House Andrews who are feeling lousy 🙁
2) The lotus flower is lovely 🙂
3) Definitely a scammer, and a few others nailed it – that is pretty ballsy behaviour, trying to pull that dreck on NYT best selling author.
4) The “Landscapes” theme for the desktop backgrounds in Windows 7 has some very lovely, calming photos ranging from gorgeous canyon shots to French lavender fields to waterfalls. It’s likely Windows 10 has something similar. Best of all, it’s free!
Strangely enough, though, there’s a meme I came across on Facebook that I found gives me a sense of peaceful enjoyment whenever I see it. It’s titled, “Humpty Dumpty had a great fall”, and has 4 frames with Humpty Dumpty in charming autumn scenes. It was created by Rachel Greenberg, who never expected it to go so viral. Here’s a link to a site where anyone can see it and read the story behind it: https://worldwideinterweb.com/this-humpty-dumpty-fall-meme-is-the-most-wholesome-thing-youll-see-all-week/
Best wishes and good health to all.
I hope you and your family get better soon.
Love that lotus photo. It is incandescent!
As for the email, it might be a scam but even if it isn’t I can see how some people might think it’s alright to do such a thing. Just consider how the word ‘hustle’ has been mainstreamed from ‘shake/toss’ to ‘illicit/fraud’ to ‘ambitious, fire in the belly forward-momentum’.
I think ethico-compromised should become a recognised condition/disease like pyromania.
By the way, I love the recommendations that you give. Because I trust your taste, I will often give your recommendations a try. They might pull me outside of my comfort zone or they might be something I haven’t heard of before and I like that. So, please keep on keeping on. There have been a lot of hits and some misses but that’s less of a risk than I take when I go to a bookstore and go “let’s pick out something from someone I’ve never heard of”. So, thanks! Please keep providing recommendations!
“… and I want to be a Paperback Writer ….”
You guys get all the fun emails 🙂 All I get are Chinese sellers wanting me to write reviews for a “reduced price” of their products (which is the price they wanted all along)
I’m sorry the e-mail was disturbing ,,, but it read like something in, “The Onion.”
I feel like I should apologize,,, because I smiled all the way through it.
As Catalina would say — I can’t even.
Wow. Squared. OTOH, take care and get well.
On a positive note, last month you blogged about two series that you liked – Chronicles of the Warlands by Elizabeth Vaughan and Broken Lands by T.A. White. I enjoyed them very much and I’m so happy that you recommended them!
Oh yeah, totally a scam. Notice that they said not to search for the title of the book at the end of the pitch? Its probably because they stole somebody else’s book. If there even is a book at all.
Wow. Some people.