As if authors don’t have enough to deal with given the changing landscape of the publishing industry, there’s a new scam afoot. I went to Amazon last evening to check on something and was startled to learn that I had supposedly published a new book two days earlier.
Someone has used Amazon Digital Services to publish a 37-page Kindle book with my name and part of the title of my actual “Who Do You Think You Are?” companion book. I don’t know how this was permitted to happen since I have a long-established author’s page at Amazon, but I’m currently using the copyright infringement process (there is no option to cover exactly this situation!) to lodge a complaint and have it removed.
I’ve also posted a review to warn folks in the interim.
I count my lucky stars that I am literally the only person in the world with my name, and pity authors with common names who might have more difficulty proving that such a faux-book is an attempt to profit off of them.
* sigh * If these scammers would use a fraction of their ingenuity doing something useful instead of ripping off hard-working writers, they might actually accomplish something!
This is exactly why I am so reticent to publish anything online or as an eBook. If my publisher wants to extend into eBook format, fine, but I’m not going to work my butt off and let some dirtbag steal my stuff. Copyright law is in as much a mess as the tax code is! There’s no way I could afford to go after someone legally. And so, until the law is “more friendlier” I will publish in print only. (and maybe send Bubba to break their legs!) LOL
— Tracey Karcher
Until you can get this resolved, have you considered writing a “review” on Amazon stating this is NOT your book and is a violation of your copyright.
UPDATE: I’m going to check a few times over the next few days, but it looks as if all the 1-star comments folks made on Amazon worked! The book no longer appears when you search for “Smolenyak,” and error messages pop up if you try to revisit pages where it used to be. Thanks a million to everyone who helped get this swift action!! Genies rock!!
Thanks for the share and good luck getting rid of this scum