The Latest Literary Scam: Emailing the Long-Dead Legends of 20th-Century Literature
In these first few years of the AI era, tens of thousands of published writers have received emails that begin something like this: Dear Fred, “I’ve long admired your novels, but feel that Windsong Malaise is the best yet. You
In the age of artificial intelligence, a new form of literary scam has emerged. Writers who have published works in the past are receiving emails that appear to be genuine praise and recommendations from a federation of 137 book clubs. These letters are designed to persuade the authors to join a particular book club's reading list.
The scam takes advantage of the fact that many writers have not been updated on the death of their contemporaries who may appear on the cover. One example cited is a writer who received an email about George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" despite Orwell having passed away in 1950. The AI engine had read the book but did not know Orwell's death date and used the name of another author on the cover to send the message.
The scam plays on the fact that Goodreads Listopia lists are widely searched by readers for specific themes and topics, and positioning a book on these lists can provide lasting benefits in terms of visibility and discoverability.
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