New #WriterBeware blog post: the minute the humongous Anthropic copyright settlement was announced, it became inevitable that unrelated third parties would seek to benefit...in this case, by convincing authors to opt out writerbeware.blog/2025/11/07/p...

This seems promising

A sad, sad chatbot apologizing for targeting me repeatedly with a marketing scam intended for someone else

New report on writers and the use of gen AI and their views of it, including an entirely predictable set of reactions from fiction writers who do/don't use AI in their work www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

From our friends over at @404media.co, a look at the closure of Baker & Taylor and the ripple effect it’s been having on libraries:

Detailed article in indie publisher Arcadia's opaque AI training deal, for which it is not asking permission & paying authors a pittance, unless they opt out (not how it's supposed to work: copyright is opt _in_, not opt out) Thx to @publisherslunch.bsky.social for the link slate.com/technology/2...

Because the huge Anthropic class action settlement limits eligibility to works registered w/ US Copyright Office, non-US writers are mostly locked out. But there's a similar proposed class action covering Canadian authors (click Documents link, then Amended Notice) www.cfmlawyers.ca/class-action...

My regular reminder to sign up for my newsletter so you won't miss news of workshops I'm giving, updates to my website The Purple Crayon, and the like. Simple form on my Contact page. Infrequent mailings: www.underdown.org/contact.htm#...

This is...not good.

New #WriterBeware blog post: an explainer on the huge Anthropic class action copyright settlement: what it is, how it happened, how writers with eligible infringed works may benefit financially, and what eligible writers should do next writerbeware.blog/2025/10/31/t...

SFWA's Frequently Asked Questions about the Anthropic Settlement #2 on filing simple claims in now available. www.sfwa.org/anthropic-faq/

New #WriterBeware blog post: an explainer on the huge Anthropic class action copyright settlement: what it is, how it happened, how writers with eligible infringed works may benefit financially, and what eligible writers should do next writerbeware.blog/2025/10/31/t...

You may have seen the news that Mango Publishing has closed. Below is the letter sent to authors and others by Christopher McKenney, Mango's founder. Writer Beware has heard from Mango authors who are owed $$--including some who say they have _never_ been paid.

I just heard it's National Cat Day (really, that's every day). Here are Emily (left) and Sarah (right)

Depressing (link via @publisherslunch.bsky.social ) papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Big news on the AI class action lawsuit front (this one is focused on infringement by chatbots' output, rather than training) www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

In case you're wondering if that book review offer or marketing pitch or friendly message from a well-known author are genuine (the short version: probably not)...my collection of blog posts on the new Nigerian marketing scams will help you decide writerbeware.blog/tag/nigeria/

Excellent news--for Australian creators, anyway (thanks to Jonathan Bailey @plagiarismtoday.com for the link) www.billboard.com/pro/australi...

Possible new AI-driven impersonation scam spinning up: someone contacts you out of the blue w/ praise for your work, recommends you contact a (real) literary agent & provides an email addy--but of course it's fake & results in a referral for editing or marketing. Example below 1/2

Random observation (& I know how annoying "X is a sign of AI writing!" is)...but based on the hundreds of AI marketing scam emails I've seen recently, "thoughtful" is a fave chatbot response word, as in "thx for your thoughtful response" or "I appreciate your thoughtful email". 1/2

Impersonation scams--so prevalent in the worlds of trade publishing and self-publishing--are everywhere, including academia www.the-scientist.com/impersonatio...

Peeve of the day: people who comment on a blog post by asking the question the blog post answers

Scams that target #authors: how they're learning to raise their game from our replies, what they're after and what they might do next. @victoriastrauss.com writerbeware.blog/2025/10/20/a... #writingcommunity #authorlife #bookmarketing #skywriters

Among the latest finds for writers: legal news (via @authorsguild.org), scam warnings (via @victoriastrauss.com), reflections “on not giving up," and more. www.erikadreifus.com/2025/10/writ...

Another AI lawsuit.

The Authors Guild has updated its Code of Conduct for members "in response to complaints we have received about predatory behavior from certain publishers whose operators or owners are also author members of the Guild based on their writing." authorsguild.org/member-code-...

Summer’s swan song (2)

Summer’s swan song (1)

Re-upping this blog post, since I just heard from an author who hired what looked like a self-publishing service provider but actually was a ghostwriting scam, and just got hit up for $9,000 for a book order scam writerbeware.blog/2025/05/09/t...

I haven’t seen this specifically, but have seen a spike in Discord scams. Most common is an account offering to do commissioned art.

All #writers really need to read this post. The scams are morphing faster than we can keep up... and it's terrifying the lengths the scammers are not going to. Seriously, READ THIS POST! #writingCommunity #WriteSky #AmWriting #AmEditing

LOL. @leegoldberg.bsky.social posts his exchange with one of the Nigerian scammers running the famous author impersonation scam (where someone using the name of a famous author contacts you out of the blue for some friendly conversation and then refers you to a scammy marketer)

This reminds me of the romance scammers - I got followed by my first Blue Sky romance scam bot yesterday. Always with a US Forces Surgeon working in *insert War Torn Middle Eastern Country* (yesterday it was Syria)

Writers - the scam predators are changing up their tactics. If you don't follow Victoria Strauss and Writer Beware, why on earth not?

New #WriterBeware blog post: An army of bots on Discord, flashier websites, impersonations: the Nigerian marketing scams are not just proliferating, but morphing. I've never seen anything like it. writerbeware.blog/2025/10/20/a...

The world's 25 largest publishers www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Looks like the scammers who were going this all on various Mastodon servers a month or two ago have found a new target: Bsky.

Over the past few months I've heard from several writers who received email threats like the one below. None reported back that anything actually happened. Seems like just nasty trolling (unlike Goodreads extortion emails from a couple of years ago that did result in review-bombing)--but be aware.

Showing the book who’s boss

In the footsteps of Anthropic: a new class action (not yet certified) against Salesforce for using pirated books for AI training. There will be more of these

I remember being part of a zombie romance anthology with RAB and none of us ever got paid. And the less said about the publisher's previous press, the better.

Interesting. I'm sometimes embarrassed to say "I'm a blogger", since the label has always seemed trivial. But the long-form, thoughtful, text-based thing the author of this article is nostalgic for is what Writer Beware has done since 2005, when Ann Crispin and I founded it--& I'm still doing it

Just got ANOTHER complaint from an author with Lori Perkins's Riverdale Avenue Books about royalties not paid for over a year. I wrote about this problem in 2021 and it appears to still be ongoing--just amazing how pubs like this stay in business. writerbeware.blog/2021/03/02/p...

Sigh. www.axios.com/2025/10/16/a...

Overpass over rt. 91, Holyoke MA

Follow Victoria to keep on top of publishing-related scams and scammers:

Impersonation alert! Writers, if you get an email from someone recommending you contact literary agent Annie Bomke at either [email protected] or [email protected], it's a SCAM. Both emails addys are fake. Annie's real domain is abliterary.com writerbeware.blog/2024/03/15/t...

She got medicated today to go to the vet and now she’s extra cuddly and sleepy.

"Our #AI Licensing webpage has been updated, and it's now broken down into three parts: AI Licensing by #copyright owners, AI licensing by AI companies, and organizations that offer AI licenses for creative works. Check out the updated page here: "

This Tuesday and Thursday!