“DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS”

 

  

                        Beware of Scammers Posing as Publishers

 

          The topic for today comes from the1988 above-titled movie starring Michael Caine & Steve Martin, two con men divesting wealthy women of their money.

They were despicable characters with a diabolical skillset—a fictional farse that translates to real life and not-so-wealthy everyday individuals.

Today’s scammers are far more brutal about how they infiltrate the lives of unsuspecting victims, using clever cloaking as talent scouts and brand marketers head-hunting for movies and television development opportunities.

Maybe you haven’t been approached yet, but you should be aware of this not-so-covet operation.

They usually seek authors, mainly indie writers looking to impact the publishing world any way they can get a foot through the door.

These are the perfect targets for said scammers looking to trick their way straight to the bank with your hard-earned money.

You might’ve already been the recipient of unsolicited emails touting your latest or past works. Inviting you to submit your manuscript to major streaming networks or television for review. If not, consider yourself fortunate and savvy enough to trash them if you don’t already have a scam folder made just for these types of junk mail.

I’ll admit it sounds promising but beware. Anything that sounds too good to be true, well, more times than not, it is.

I mean, who doesn’t want that first break-out project touted as a potential creation for a movie or made for TV extravaganza?

Although most of these emails that land in your inbox are scams, there are legitimate opportunities out there. Still, they don’t and won’t approach unless for reasons unrelated to scamming.

You’ll recognize the real ones because you can Google them to view their credentials and submission process.

First of all, they won’t email you or ask you to pay some exuberant amount to get your manuscript before producers looking for new and innovative work for their next project.

Trust me; this is not how it works.

I understand the excitement behind a chance to make all your dreams come true. And they still can, but there’s no need to pay some company you’ve never heard of before to do it for you. So beware of scammers posing as publishers on any level.

Chances are they’re scouting for any opportunity to make their dreams come true also, at your expense.