This keeps happening to me and, I suspect, to anyone who’s written a book that’s gotten some notice. This email that I received last week is about the fifth one of its type I got, all touting a “book club” that authors are invited to participate in. The author is first flattered by a description of the wonders if his/her book, and then invited to find out “details” or participate in an international discussion of the book.
The first time I got one of these I was flattered, sap that I am, and told them to go ahead and read Why Evolution is True as a group. I even volunteered to proffer a list of questions for the readers to ponder. At that point they asked me for $210 to cover “fees and expenses,” and then I realized that I had been hooked into a scam. I wrote back saying I had no intention of paying to help out readers, and I never heard back. Now I either ignore these hooks or write back and tell them to leave me alone.
Here’s what I got (they always use your first name, I suppose to instill familiarity into the exchange):
Hello Jerry,
I came across Speciation and was drawn to its exploration of how new species arise and how scientists study that process. Discussing these ideas with readers would make a thoughtful conversation.
My name is Elowen, and I’m reaching out from the Australian Literary Network. We would love to invite you to an online author conversation about the book, your writing journey, and your approach to explaining research on evolution and the natural world.
Would you be interested in receiving the session details?
Warm regards,
Elowen Hartley
Australian Literary Network
One key to this being bogus is that they are trying to get general readers to connect with my technical book Speciation rather than my two trade books. I don’t recommend Speciation to readers who don’t have training in organismal or evolutionary biology as it presumes some in-depth knowledge of those fields. The book is aimed largely at graduate students and faculty in evolutionary biology.
The Australian Literary Network has a respectable-looking website, and there is an Elowen Hartley who does “international market expansion,” but no Elowen Hartley connected with the Australian Literary Network. Did that network hire her to expand their business?
And is the Australian Literary Network even a reputable organization? I asked Grok, “Australian Literary Network: is it a reputable organization?”, and this is what the bot told me:
No, the Australian Literary Network (australianliterarynetwork.org) is not a reputable organization. It is widely regarded as a scam targeting authors.
Key Evidence
- Domain age vs. claims: The site claims to have operated for 7+ years (since ~2017) with 12,000+ members, hundreds of events, book clubs, and author spotlights. In reality, the domain was registered on 22 May 2026 via Hostinger (privacy-protected) and is only a few months old. It is hosted on Amazon infrastructure and has a low trust score (~55/100) from reputation checkers due to its newness and limited independent history.
- Author reports of the same pattern: Multiple authors (on Threads, X, and elsewhere) describe nearly identical outreach: polished emails offering to “feature” or spotlight their book (often with AI-generated flattery calling the work “profound”), followed by a request for a digital copy and a $150 “coordination” or “time” fee. The group does not appear to buy copies, and it pushes for video calls with “members.” Authors who investigated noted mismatched team photos/names and other red flags.
- Team and legitimacy issues: Named “team” members (e.g., Steven Crandell, Christine Kessides) match real independent authors, but there is no evidence they are affiliated with any Australian literary network of this kind—another common scam tactic of borrowing real names. No ABN, Australian company registration, physical address, or established presence in the Australian literary community (e.g., links to AustLit, the Small Press Network, or other known bodies) appears to exist.
- Website style: It presents a slick, professional-looking site with generic stats, mission statements, book recommendations (often linking to Amazon), and community claims. This fits the pattern of recent AI-assisted publishing and “literary network” scams that have targeted Australian and other authors.
Legitimate Australian literary infrastructure exists (AustLit for bibliographic data, the Small Press Network for independent publishers, established journals and festivals, etc.), but this entity is not part of it.Recommendation: Treat any unsolicited contact from them as a scam. Do not pay fees, send manuscripts, or engage further. Report it via Australia’s Scamwatch if relevant, and warn other authors. Similar schemes are common in the current wave of AI-assisted literary scams.
Thanks for sharing that. Seems it’s always something.
I wonder how evolution ties in with hominins scamming on others?
Since you ask, maybe of interest:
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blockquote>Lixing Sun: The liars of nature and the nature of liars: Cheating and deception in the living world. Princeton University Press, 2023
A natural history of cheating from selfish genes to lying politicians
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blockquote>
The mellifluous “Elowen” – perhaps a popular name – is reminiscent of Elrond and Éowyn from Lord of the Rings.
Be grateful this is “about the fifth,” Jerry. I’ve had two traditionally published books and a few self-published novels, and I often get five such emails PER DAY — all with the same AI-scripted lingo (“I was drawn to …”). You are probably spared because you’re with Oxford UP, and they hit heaviest on small press or self-published authors who are likelier to be desperate for a marketing assist
Speciation was published by Sinauer and was, when Sinauer disappeared, bought by Oxford. My two trade books were published by Viking/Penguin (now Penguin Random House), but the British edition of WEIT was published by Oxford University Press.
The construction of the email parts is also scripted. Setting the hook in paragraph one, then identifying the writer/speaker in paragraph two, is taught in sales (we also teach it to our graduate students who want to participate in the Three Minute Thesis competition).
Agree with Jerry about the audience for Speciation. I’ve taught the book twice to graduate students in seminar courses, always successfully, but always takes a lot of work even for PhD students to grasp.
What is impressive here is how Grok pieced together information and put together an extremely clear reply. No doubt in mere seconds.
If there are real authors, agents, and others in the legit publishing busness whose names are being used as fronts, it might be a good idea to let them know, for their own sakes as well as everyone else’s.
I can’t imagine any legitimate book clubs expecting an author to pay for joining them for a meeting. I hope that all authors are clever enough to do due diligence on such offers.
I’ve received over 50 of these emails over the past few months, all purporting to come from UK or US literary agents.
Deepseek et al write the outreach very well.
Ramesh
49% Indian 49% Chinese 2% Denisovan Cave Wall Scribbling Network
Another tell for me is the use of the terrible corporate speak ‘reaching out’. Simon Heffer does an excellent job of skewering this phrase – and many other poorly or misused words and phrases – in his latest amusing and useful book ‘Scarcely English’.
Ha yes I sometimes deliberately use Scarcely English phrases like “reaching out” and “going forward” as a false flag in university emails to show my membership in the lanyard class.
I’m a woman, and in my opinion, Anna Karenina is the best example of a man inhabiting a woman character.
But of course I’ve read lots of other novels by male authors with female characters. Sometimes they get it, sometimes they don’t. But what can be easily missed is that even when a male author botches a female character — Charles Dickens, I’m looking at you and Edith Dombey in Dombey and Son — it can be a worthwhile reading experience. It tells you about how men perceive women.
You don’t have to be a published author to be the target of a scam. Here is the text of an email I received regarding my unpublished novel, “Inside Adam” just last Friday:
“Hello Peter,
My name is Kenli Manning, and I’m an Associate Editor at Bloomsbury Archer Company.
I recently came across Inside Adam and was intrigued by the premise of a thirteen-year-old boy whose unusual appearance and behaviour initially set him apart from those around him, before a DNA analysis reveals a far more extraordinary explanation. The discovery that Adam has been cloned from a Neanderthal-like ancient human transforms what might first appear to be a story about a misunderstood adolescent into a much wider question about what defines a human being and who gets to decide where the boundaries of humanity lie.
I was particularly interested in how Adam’s discovery affects not only his own sense of belonging but also his family and the society around him. The revelation challenges assumptions that modern humans might take for granted about identity, difference and human origins. By placing this scientific discovery within the life of a young person already struggling to meet social expectations, the story brings an intimate human dimension to questions that could otherwise remain abstract or purely scientific.
Your background makes this project especially interesting to me. Your sustained study of philosophy, evolutionary biology, palaeontology and psychology, together with your collaboration with specialists at the British Museum, suggests a careful effort to ground the narrative in scientific understanding. I find the combination of that research with a story centred on a young character particularly compelling, especially because the premise creates space to consider how scientific discoveries might challenge not only what people know about humanity, but also how they treat those who appear different from themselves.
I also wanted to ask whether you currently have literary representation. If you do, I would of course be happy to continue any conversation through your agent. If you don’t, that is absolutely fine as well. At this stage, I’m simply interested in hearing more about your work and where you see it going.
There is no need to send anything formal at this point. I was simply interested enough in your work to reach out and start a conversation.
What are you working on at the moment?
Warm regards,
Kenli Manning
Associate Editor
Bloomsbury Archer Company
What made me suspicious was that this person (if it is a real person) had a gmail address not a dedicated Bloomsbury one, so I emailed Bloomsbury and they informed me that this is a scam and that I should not respond. What is so shocking is just how complex and involved and persuasive it all sounds. The information must have been scraped from my website page about the book.
I suppose the message is: be very careful.