AI Publishing Scams to Avoid: Cases With Dates and Sources

The AI-related harms to authors we could read about fall into three groups: fake or summary books published under real authors' names or imitating their books, AI-publishing courses that overstate what students will earn, and personalized solicitation emails that AI helps scammers write at volume. We add two non-AI cases that show how the money is taken. The cases below are the ones we could read from a primary source, each with a date. The record we read runs from 2023 to September 2026 and is not a count or a complete map, so this page cannot tell you how common any of these are.

The documented patterns at a glance

Case 1: fake books under an author's name (August 2023)

Jane Friedman's post, originally dated August 7, 2023 and later updated, describes fake books listed under Friedman's name on Amazon and Goodreads. The post lists five fake titles. When Friedman reported them, Amazon replied asking for trademark registration numbers; Friedman had none, and Amazon closed the case and said the books would not be removed. The post later says the titles appeared to have been removed from Amazon and Goodreads on August 8, 2023, which Friedman attributes largely to visibility in the writing community. Friedman believes the books were most likely generated by AI; that is Friedman's assessment. The page we read shows a later date, February 18, 2025. The post is Friedman's own account, and we did not read Amazon's side.

Case 2: summary and imitation books (March 2024)

On March 15, 2024 the Authors Guild reported a surge of what it called sham books. It described scam "summaries" of new titles, including of Marie Arana's LatinoLand the day after its release, and of Roxana Robinson's Leaving and Michael Graetz's The Power to Destroy, both published February 13. It said Stephanie Land found AI "biographies" of Land, one nearly rewording Land's book Maid, which were removed after the Guild made contact, and it listed Kara Swisher biographies and jazz books under invented names, which it connected to Ted Gioia. This is the Guild's report of those cases, not a court finding.

NPR reported on related AI summary books around March 13, 2024, according to a search result we could only see as a snippet, so we do not rely on it for detail. For KDP's own rule on AI content, see KDP AI content disclosure. KDP's content guidelines also say it does not allow companion books based on copyrighted works, such as summaries and study guides, to be published outside the US without written permission from the copyright holder. That sentence addresses outside the US only.

Case 3: an AI-publishing course and the FTC (April 2026)

The FTC announced on April 13, 2026 a proposed $1.5 million settlement with Publishing.com over earnings claims about its "AI Publishing Academy" and "Publishing Accelerator" programs. The FTC release also describes fine-print refund conditions and undisclosed reviews from employees or relatives. This is not a copycat-book case. It is a consumer-protection action about how an AI publishing course was sold. On July 2, 2026 the FTC announced that it had approved a final order in the matter, with the same $1.5 million payment.

Case 4: personalized AI solicitation emails (2026)

This is where the most recent documentation sits. In an alert the page dates February 24, 2026, the Authors Guild says reports of email scams have escalated. It sorts them into book clubs, publicity and marketing, impersonations, publishing or distribution deals, and threats, and says the emails appear to use AI-generated summaries of the author or their work. It stresses that those categories can be real, but that it is extremely rare for an unsolicited email to come from a reputable source.

Writer Beware's September 25, 2026 post shows an email from an editor-impersonation scheme that still had its template text in it, with spaces meant for details harvested from an author's website and retailer listings. Victoria Strauss describes a "boiled-frog approach": long exchanges in which the first contacts mention no fee at all. The post says it is still unknown how these operations are structured or who runs them, while noting that payment data she has collected suggests most come from West Africa. It also says she is hearing from fewer writers who lost money, even as reports rise.

ALLi's news summary, which the page dates May 16, 2026, of a further Strauss warning describes invitations to real book fairs and real radio shows where the invitation itself is fake and a fee follows.

Case 5: the famous author who wants to help (November 2025)

Writer Beware's November 14, 2025 post describes messages impersonating well-known authors, sent by email, direct message or website form. After friendly chat, the fake author refers you to a real literary agent, impersonated through a Gmail address, who then requires paid manuscript work. A second version sends you straight to a marketer. One writer reported spending over £2,000 across several services, including follower-building, and the post says most of the follower accounts were fake or inactive. Strauss calls these AI-driven scams from Nigeria; that is her attribution.

Case 6: repeated invoices in a package scam (not documented as AI-related)

Writer Beware's September 18, 2026 post reports on a lawsuit, drawing on the court filings. We read the post, not the filings. Raymond Love paid $3,200 in January 2023 for a publishing package from a company called Wiley Book Writers, then paid for fake distribution deals, insurance and a book-fair "showcase", investing nearly $50,000 in all. He received $3,000 and 50 hardcover copies. Love sued in April 2025 and, according to the post, won judgments in August 2026, including $75,000 against four defendants. The post warns that collecting may be hard. The post does not describe AI as part of this scheme. We include it because the pattern of one sale leading to many invoices, paid to several company names, is the part to recognize.

Case 7: impersonating an author organisation (May 2024, not documented as AI-related)

Writer Beware's May 17, 2024 post describes a phishing email impersonating the Alliance of Independent Authors that offered members a 95% discount on entering the Best Indie Book Award (BIBA), and calls it "a phishing scam." The post does not mention AI, so it is included as a general author-targeting scam, not as an AI case.

What KDP says about impostors

Amazon's own account security page, as read on 2026-11-08, gives several usable facts for checking a claim that someone is from KDP.

• "KDP is a free self-publishing service", and it says it does not offer fee-based services such as editing or book design.
• KDP does not ask you to reveal your Amazon password or full bank account details, and says it will not ask for banking information or passwords over email.
• Phone support from KDP starts with a call request through the Contact Us form on its website.
• It warns that larger traditional publishers and movie studios "rarely approach authors out of the blue".
• Impostor companies "may advertise their services and appear in internet search results", which does not mean they are affiliated with KDP.

The page says you can report suspected impersonation to Amazon, and it names the Authors Guild, Writer Beware and the Better Business Bureau as resources.

What we could not document

We found no FTC consumer alert specifically about AI-generated book scams. We read no 2026 copycat-book case from a primary source. We therefore make no claim about how common any of these are today, or about scam types we did not read a source for. Claims elsewhere about how much money these schemes take, or which ones are growing, are not something we can confirm.

Practical checks

These are general precautions, not findings from the cases, though each is tied to something documented above.

Before you reply to an unexpected email

• Look at how it found you. The Authors Guild says publishers and agents principally do not use cold outreach. A message that knows your plot has not necessarily read your book, because the template in Case 4 fills those details in.
• Check the address, then check again. The Guild lists free email domains and fictitious lookalike domains as red flags, and says a professional-looking address alone is no guarantee.
• Find the organisation yourself. Go to its site directly rather than through an emailed link, particularly for awards and discounts, and contact it there to confirm.
• Watch the phrasing, without relying on it. Strauss lists "I recently had the opportunity" (and variants), "What stood out most" and "Warm regards" as phrases she often sees. Scams change, so treat a phrase as a prompt to check and never as proof either way.

Before you pay anyone

• Treat earnings claims as marketing. Look for refund conditions in the fine print, and for how reviews were obtained.
• Be careful of the second invoice. In Case 6 the first purchase was followed by larger ones. Ask why payment is going to a company with a different name.
• Distrust guaranteed royalties. The Guild lists these as a red flag, along with requests for upfront fees.
• Be careful of introductions. An "agent" or "author" who sends you to one specific paid editor or marketer is the pattern in Case 5.
• Price-check offers. Compare any paid "publishing" package with what the tools cost on their own pages, as listed in the self-publishing software stack.

To protect your name

• Search your name and titles on Amazon and Goodreads from time to time, and know what rights Amazon may ask you to document. In Friedman's case it asked for trademark registration numbers, and Friedman had none. KDP's intellectual property FAQ points to a notice procedure for copyright infringement.

If you have already replied or paid

These steps are general advice, except where a source is named.

• You can stop replying at any point. Do not send more money, personal details or files.
• Keep every email, invoice and payment record.
• If you paid or shared financial details, contact your bank or card issuer promptly.
• If your KDP account may be compromised, use the steps on KDP's security page.
• For impersonation, the Authors Guild says to report the account to the platform it came from.
• For threats, the Guild's alert says not to engage, to contact local law enforcement if you feel in immediate danger, and to report to the platform and to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. Its alert says some recent threats have included pirating an author's work.
• Writer Beware collects reports and warnings, and its site lists current scams.

If you think we have a case wrong, see corrections and our editorial policy. Other topics are on the AI policy and law hub. This is general information, not legal advice.

Last verified 2026-11-08. Rules and prices change: check the linked primary page before you rely on this.