Describe what’s in Front of You, Not what’s in the Rear-view Mirror – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Oct. 6, 2026

Craft of Writing: Describe what’s in Front of You, Not what’s in the Rear-view Mirror
When writing action scenes, avoiding rear-view mirror descriptions typically is a good idea. In such a description, an object is described only after it’s been part of the action. READ MORE

“7 Minutes a Day…” Series Now on Audiobook!
Need to fill up some driving time or need something to listen to when folding laundry? The four books in my “7 Minutes a Day…” series for indie authors are now all available as audiobooks! There’s a book each on writing a novel, the craft of writing, the self-publishing process, and marketing your book. SEE BOOKS

Writing Tip: Interesting Dialogue Moves Your Story Forward
When writing fiction, every sentence should move the story forward. To do that, characters must work toward achieving their goals. Your story then is about how well they accomplish their goals. For much of the story, they’ll fail to achieve their goals, either because of their own personal flaws or because they’ve been thwarted by a character who has other objectives. Often the reason dialogue is flat and dull is because it’s not fulfilling this storytelling requirement. Such dialogue is filler and often pointless. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Don’t Get Hung Up on Watching Book Sales Stats
Whenever you self publish a book, you’ll have the opportunity to track sales, or see how many books you’ve sold. You may have to go to a couple of different web pages to do this, though, if you sell a book at both KindleDP and Draft2Digital. Be aware of where these pages are and check them out – but don’t obsess over the numbers. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Avoid Stalling as Approaching Crucial Event
One common plotting problem novice writers experience, especially in the first draft, is that of stalling. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Get Pullquotes on Your Amazon.com Page
To aid readers and authors alike, Amazon.com sometimes will add a set of three quotations, pulled from your reviews, to the top of the list of customer reviews. So how do you Amazon to do that for your book? READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “Irish Jesus of Fairview” by Sammy Juliano
A couple of year ago, I had the pleasure of editing Sammy Juliano’s debut novel, Irish Jesus of Fairview. Set in 1950s-1960s New Jersey suburbs, a nocturnal assault tests the familial bonds of three brothers. Sammy has a sequel coming out in a just a few weeks, so check out the first in the series to get the whole story! CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Oct. 13, 2026. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 425 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Ensure Descriptive Writing Serves a Purpose – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Sept. 29, 2026

Craft of Writing: Ensure Descriptive Writing Serves a Purpose
When writing description, always make sure it serves a purpose. Any description should move along the plot, help develop characters and dramatic tension. READ MORE

NOW ON AUDIOBOOK! Storytelling 101 Quick Read Series
Need tips on plotting your novel? Starting your story? Selecting the best point of view? Writing more engaging dialogue? Showing not telling? Formatting your ebook or paperback? Creating a book cover? Setting up an author’s platform? Your author’s website? Arranging and delivering a book reading? Running an Amazon ad campaign for your books? My Storytelling 101 Quick Read series covers these topics and more – and now they’re all available on audiobook, perfect for your commute or when doing chores around the house. SEE AUDIOBOOKS

Writing Tip: I Refuse to Give Up on My Writing Because I Haven’t Explored Every Possible Way to Revise It
Since writers are close to their work – the universe for the story that is in a writer’s head always is larger than the universe for the story that is on paper – they often may not recognize that a passage needs to be revised. Because of this, a troubled paragraph or chapter may go unrecognized by the writer…and if it is recognized, the writer may have no idea how to revise it. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Place Hyperlinks in Your Nonfiction Ebook
One of the advantages of an ebook over a paper book is the ability to link to other pages with a mere touch of your fingertip, which is especially useful if you write nonfiction. While a paper book’s footnote or bibliography requires the reader to physically move to a library or bookstore to obtain a copy of that book, links can be set up within ebooks to take you to that book, usually by purchasing it online right from your ereader or tablet. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Build Rising Action Scenes Around Conflict
Anytime you’re writing a scene in the story’s rising action, you’ll want to treat it as a short story in and of itself. That means focusing on conflict. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Try These Topics for Email Marketing Campaigns
Anytime you use email marketing to encourage book sales, you’re engaging in a campaign. Such campaigns shouldn’t simply say “buy my book” but instead ought to deliver “news” to readers about your titles. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “Bad Juju in Cleveland” by Karl Bort and Thekla Madsen
A crime novel I edited several years ago is now out in audiobook, narrated by Mike Cantrell. Karl Bort and Thekla Madsen’s Bad Juju in Cleveland begins when four men are found brutally slain in an abandoned house on Cleveland’s east side, one with ties to City Hall and all marked with a mysterious symbol. When Detective Nicholas Silvano is called to the case, he finds this drug-deal-gone-wrong is anything but ordinary, and the search for an elusive killer is on. With FBI Agent James Reis creating roadblocks at every turn, Silvano teams up with a DEA agent on a manhunt that takes them to the shady side of Florida, where anything can be had for a price. The stakes become higher when the killer makes it personal, forcing Nick to face feelings he’s been denying for so long. CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Oct. 6, 2026. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 425 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Make Use of Local Dexterity – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Sept. 22, 2026

Craft of Writing: Make Use of Local Dexterity
One of the kindest things writers can do for their readers is employ “local dexterity.” This occurs when images, sentences, paragraphs and scenes are pleasurable to read because of their vividness. READ MORE

Storytelling 101 Quick Read Series Released
You’re writing a book…or trying to self-publish it…or maybe attempting to promote it. But something comes up that brings you to a complete stop – maybe you’re telling rather than showing, don’t get how to format an ebook, can’t figure out how to set up an author’s platform, or are struggling with any of a thousand other obstacles that every day keep people from writing, publishing and marketing their books. The Storytelling 101 Quick Read series answers all of those questions in brief, guidebooks that cut to the chase and provide practical, useful information that can be followed step-by-step. SEE THE SERIES

Writing Tip: Think of Your Story as if a Stage Production
Sometimes when plotting your short story or novel, thinking of it in terms of a theatrical or film production is useful. That’s because theater and film relies heavily on physical action to make the story work; beginning novelists and short story writers sometimes lose sight of the necessity for action and so get lost in their word-heavy medium. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Add Tagline to Boost Interest in Your Book
When designing your book cover, you may want to consider adding a tagline. A tagline is phrase or short sentence that aims to entice readers into reading the book or at least looking more at it by reading the blurb or a few pages. The lettering typically is small and appears at the top of the cover. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Build Rising Action Scenes Around Conflict
Anytime you’re writing a scene in the story’s rising action, you’ll want to treat it as a short story in and of itself. That means focusing on conflict. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Stuff Your Book in a Little Free Library
If you’ve written multiple novels, and especially if they’re a series, you may want to consider sticking your book in a Little Free Library. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “The Marks of the Feather” by Imee C. Nudas
A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of editing multiple drafts of Imee C. Nudas’ fantasy long poem, The Marks of the Feather. Imee came up with a winner! Written in decasyllabic quatrain, the story of Maximus and Layna begins tragically when they are cursed by a dark spell. While their lives seem forever changed and their fate determined for the worst, nothing would prepare them for when their paths cross. Suddenly, they find themselves enthralled in a magical world bewitched by each other’s wondrous gifts and indelible mark. But will the mark be powerful enough to alter their fates and vanquish the dark spell they are under? CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Sept. 29, 2026. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 425 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Add Color to Your Manuscript – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Sept. 15, 2026

Craft of Writing: Add Color to Your Manuscript
Even if your story offers a lot of dramatic tension and the sentences are tightly constructed, it still can feel a bit monochrome or colorless. When that occurs, the writing probably is not particularly vivid. Rather than read like a piece of fiction, the story instead will feel like a work of dry journalism. READ MORE

Free Writing, Self-Publishing, Book Promotion Guides 
I’m offering free pdfs of each book in my Storytelling 101 Quick Read series in exchange for an honest review. The series consists of brief, easy to understand, and practical guides addressing a number of problems authors face when writing, self-publishing and promoting their books. I’d ask that reviews be posted on Amazon or Goodreads. If interested, choose from this LIST OF BOOKS and then EMAIL ME the title for a free copy.

Writing Tip: How to Overcome Annoying Writer’s Block
Fortunately, there are a lot of things you can do to create the right environment to end your writer’s block. Here are some methods used by writers whose books I’ve edited READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Select Different Fonts for Paperback, Ebook
You’ll want to use different fonts for the paper and any ebook/Web versions of your book. That’s because the eye responds differently to varying platforms for reading. A billboard likely will use large blocky letters while a magazine can get away with using typefaces in which the letters are thin. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Should You Write a Happy or an Unhappy Ending?
When writing the climax your story, you’ll need to decide if the ending will be happy or unhappy. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Place Social Media Addresses in Your Book
While not everyone who reads your book will like it, most will – and some will absolutely fall in love with your writing and become a fan. Such fans are likely to purchase more of your books or to tell others about your titles. One way to ensure those fans stay up-to-date about your writing (such as when that next book is coming out) or mention you in casual conversation is to keep them informed via social media. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “Castooli County to DC: Monster Hunt” by Mark Policinski 
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of editing this political thriller story, which would make for a perfect election year read. Mark Policinski’s Castooli County to DC: Monster Hunt tells the story of two different worlds. One is the hard life of Capitol Hill, where Joe Hickcock, top aide to the next President of the United States, is dogged by an evil that is with him every day and who he knows excruciatingly well. The other world is a bucolic county in Michigan where Sheriff Arthur Bract must confront and solve a most hideous murder. The two worlds are not disconnected. CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Sept. 22, 2026. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 425 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Checklist: Is it a Book Scam?

When you receive an email or DM from someone offering book marketing services, use this checklist to help you determine if it’s a scam. No single one of these dings means you’re dealing with a scammer, but the more dings there are, the more likely someone is trying to con you.

• Offer is unsolicited
• Message was sent at an odd hour of the day
• Personal (especially Gmail) rather than company-affiliated email is used
• You’re addressed with not quite the right name
• Poor English is used in the email/DM
• Email is signed with a different name than that used in the email address
• Name of the company is written in two different ways
• Name of the company is fake (google it to see if it exists)
• Email sender’s name is that of a famous author, a celebrity, is weird, too generic, or a fictional character
• Profile of bestselling author who DM’d you is only a few days old or has only a couple of hundred of followers at best
• Virtual or residential address is given in the signature block or website
• Stock or AI headshots of the marketing guru are in the email or social media profile
• Over-the-top and generic flattery about your book or writing style
• Email claims you were discovered
• Over-the-top metaphors and similes used
• Made-up industry terms are used
• Paying to have a book spotlighted or tipping so a review will be left
• Pushy sales tactics
• Non-credible testimonials (no last names on reviews, AI/stock/stolen photos of reviewer, all reviews are positive)
• False claims about books they worked on
• Requests for personal information
• Big money promises
• Odd signature sign-offs (“warm regards” or “warmly”)
• Sender’s name is odd or that of a celebrity
• Sender has no website
• Sender’s website is by Lovable.app
• Sender’s website was written by AI
• Sender’s website has blurry images
• Duplicate websites can be found with the sender’s name on it
• Sender says “Let’s move to WhatsApp”

Determining if these are dings may require a little legwork, such as googling names, websites, and testimonial names. But less than five minutes of work can save you a whole lot of heartache.
______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out my book about marketing scams aimed at writers:

Maintain the Reader’s Illusion – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Sept. 8, 2026

Craft of Writing: Maintain the Reader’s Illusion
When writing any story, your goal ought to be to create and maintain a fictional dream, or an “illusion that there is no filter between reader and events that the reader is actually experiencing what he is reading,” as the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. defines it. READ MORE

Marketing Tip: How to Sell Your Book with Amazon Ads
Most indie authors are nervous about buying ads for their books and for good reason. They wonder if the ads really will work or if it’s just dumping money into a bottomless hole. They even have been told not to buy them. I used to think that way too. Then I began to hear from a small number of authors that they actually were having good luck with Amazon ads. A lot of tweaking was necessary, but eventually they figured out a formula that worked. So I gave it a try. Within weeks, I was earning twice as much as I spent on ads, and my sales tripled. My new book Sell Your Book with Amazon Ads is all about how the ad system works, how to build an ad, how to read Amazon’s ad reports, how to optimize your ad, and more. SEE BOOK

Writing Tip: Avoid Small Talk in Your Story’s Dialogue
There’s little room in a novel or a short story for small talk. Small talk doesn’t move the story forward, as it rarely ever shows a character attempting to achieve a goal. Because of that, small talk makes for mind-numbingly dull writing. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Wait to Format Text Until Editing is Done
One rookie mistake made by many self-publishing authors is that they start formatting their manuscript before it is completed. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Consider Using Parallel Plot Structure in Novel
Rather than subordinating one plot to other – that is, rather than make one a subplot – why not treat them with equal importance? When two dramatic plots occur at the same time in a story, usually involving different characters but the same theme, you are employing a parallel plot structure. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Marketing Tip: Offer a Discount Price
When self-publishing, you typically can change the price of your books at will, and with social media such as X, Facebook, LinkedIn, your blog, and more, you can quickly spread the word about your sale to thousands of people. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “Lost Boy” by Michael Combs
A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of editing this romantic comedy/coming of age novel. Michael Combs’ Lost Boy examines the question “What if the love you lost was all the love you will ever know?” This realization drives Mike, a massage therapist who masks his sorrow with humor, women and alcohol. While searching for love, he and his best friend Keith traverse many hilarious relationship faux pas. Then he meets Gabi and must decide if he can open his heart or stay lost in the past. When given a second chance, will he be able to find himself and love again or will he remain lost forever? CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Sept. 15, 2026. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 425 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

How to Stop Receiving Messages from Scammers

We probably cannot entirely stop book marketing scams from appearing in our email inboxes or on our social media posts or DMs. International criminal organizations know scamming is lucrative, and the advent of AI means they need to put in little effort to hit millions of us every hour.

But we can reduce the amount of scams coming to each of us. Certainly receiving two or three a week is better than receiving two or three a day.

Individual action
Here are some steps you can take to reduce the number of scam emails and DMs.

Hide Your Real Email Address
Eliminate all online appearances of your email address, especially on your website and on LinkedIn. When signing up for non-essential websites, use aliases, masked emails (such as Apple’s Hide My Email feature), or dedicated junk email accounts to protect your primary address from data harvesting bots.

Aggressively Train Your Spam Filters
To stop AI-generated scam emails from reaching your email inbox, aggressively train your spam filters. Never reply to or open links in scam emails. Instead, mark the email as spam or junk. This trains your email provider’s AI to recognize the sending pattern and block similar threats in the future.

Block the Sender or Domain
If emails repeatedly bypass your filters, manually block the specific email address or the entire domain (the text after the @ symbol) in your email settings.

Leverage Third-Party Filters
If your email provider’s built-in filter isn’t catching these scams, add supplementary AI-powered spam and threat filters (like Bitdefender or SpamAssassin) to catch highly sophisticated phishing attempts.

Never Use the “Unsubscribe” Link
Clicking “unsubscribe” on a legitimate newsletter is fine, but doing so on a scam email simply verifies to the sender that your email address is active and monitored, which can lead to even more spam.

Make no noise
By not responding, over time scammers will be convinced your email is a waste of time. You’ll still receive emails but not as many as if you would if responding to them.

Report them
Always report the scam email to your email provider; if using Gmail, also report it to abuse@google.com. Post the scammer’s email address to your social media accounts with the hashtag #bookmarketingscam.

Activism
But there’s more that can be done. Individual authors shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of stopping spam by themselves.

We should demand that tech and communication companies take meaningful and proactive steps to stop spam. If they provide a service, they have a responsibility to make it safe, and frankly, they’re not being very dutiful in fulfilling it. Sure, tech and communication companies are never going to stop every piece of spam from getting through, but they can do far, far better.

If in the United States, we also should demand that elected federal officials do something about the problem, such as allocating more money to fight cybercrimes and to cybersecurity. Since most of the spammers are international, the federal government primarily will have to deal with this issue as the FBI coordinates with Europol and Interpol. But state governments also can take steps; indeed, when populous states such as California, New York and Illinois address major issues, other states and even the federal government usually follow suit. In addition to law enforcement actions, we should demand that federal lawmakers establish laws that force big tech and communication companies to stop spam. If those corporations won’t do it on their own, then they need to be regulated. They make plenty of profit and get plenty of tax cuts and benefits that they can hire people and install filters to combat this problem.
______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out my book about marketing scams aimed at writers:

Crack a Joke – But Only for a Good Reason – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Sept. 1, 2026

Craft of Writing: Crack a Joke – But Only for a Good Reason
Just as in real life when humor is used to ease tension in social situations or to bond with another person, so jokes and comedy serves a purpose in your story. Unfortunately, a lot of novice writers don’t quite know when to inject humor into their fictional tales. The result is they either miss opportunities to use an effective narrative tool or they misuse (and quite often overuse) it. READ MORE

Marketing Tip: How to Do a Book Reading/Signing
Many authors are happy to simply do what they enjoy most, which is write. You also have to promote your published books, though, and a time-honored way of doing so is by making presentations, such as readings and signings, at libraries, bookstores and other businesses that might carry your titles. My book Nail Your Book Reading and Signing covers just how to do that with easy to understand, practical tips. Topics covered include: potential locations for a book presentation; arranging, preparing and promoting your presentation; creating visuals for the presentation; avoiding stage fright during a presentation; setting up back of room sales, and more. The tips come from a long-time author who has done dozens of book readings and signings as well as advised hundreds of his writing clients about how to give a presentation. SEE BOOK

Writing Tip: Every Writing Session Teaches Me Something
Among the biggest mistakes that writers stuck in a rut make is thinking that their writing sessions are going nowhere. Rather than view the writing session from a negative perspective – which often leads to a sour attitude when approaching your next session – instead look at it as a positive learning experience. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Developmental Edit Guides Author Through Writing
Authors who haven’t started penning their book and need guidance through the writing process typically need developmental editing. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Be a Better Writer by Empowering Your Reader
When you empower your reader, you become a better writer. To empower your reader means respecting his intelligence. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Devise Plan to Market Your Self-Published Book
It’s the rare book that somehow goes virulent and captures the public’s attention and admiration all on its own. Indeed, around 800 books are published daily in just the United States alone, so no matter how good your book is, the odds of it even being noticed are nil at best. The reality is that indie authors and those who self-publish need to market their own books. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “The Sound of the Wind in the Leaves” by Jana Meador
A few years ago, I edited this historical fiction novel, and the power of its writing has stuck with me ever since. Jana Meador’s The Sound of the Wind in the Leaves begins in 1916 when seventeen-year-old Eva leaves her small Bohemian village to work on an English estate, setting in motion the incredible story of one family’s struggle to ensure their brick building business and household survive the Great Depression, Nazi occupation, and a communist takeover. Across three generations, they discover that their will is indomitable, so long as they retain their traditions, remain steadfast in their love for one another, and never let go of their values…but the inner calls to do so – like the sound of the wind in the leaves – are not always easy to hear amid the world’s drumbeats of greed and war. CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Sept. 8, 2026. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 425 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

What to Do – and Not to Do – When a Book Scammer Approaches You

Book marketing scammers have become so annoying that many authors have decided to strike back. They often do this through scambaiting.

Scambaiting, according to Law and Technology Resources for Legal Professionals, is “the practice of engaging with online fraudsters to waste their time, disrupt their operations, and gather evidence, often for entertainment or public education.” You can find any number of bloggers and authors who post humorous stories about their interactions with scammers. They are quite satisfying stories, actually.

Still, you never should interact directly with scammers. Doing so just gets you added to more scam email lists or DMs from other handles that the scammer operates, as the scammer knows that your email address or social media profile is active. Some scammers, once they realize you’re scambaiting or you call them out, will respond with nasty, profanity-laden emails or DMs. Other scammers even will seek revenge by threatening to damage your reputation or works (usually with bad reviews) if you don’t agree to work with them; some just go straight to posting falsehoods about you.

What should you do instead? There are several steps you can take.

Block and delete
• Always mark the email as spam and a phishing attempt
• Delete the message on your social media post then block the sender
• Block phone numbers (even though it’s probably spoofed)

Report
• Report the email domain to the hosting company
• Report fake pages and accounts to the social media company
• Report spam texts and calls to your phone company

Share
• Post on all of your social media the email account and social media profile name that is sending scam messages. Use the hashtag #bookmarketingscam on the post.
• You don’t need to keep a central list of scammers. Simply getting them on X, Facebook or Instagram ensures that anyone else looking up their email or profile name in the future will quickly learn a scammer had targeted them, protecting them from being defrauded

Research the message
If you’re suspicious that the email, or DM or phone number is from a scammer, spend five minutes doing simple searches on the internet. Look up their:

Name
• If the name doesn’t show up, that’s a bad sign. Even if they’re not a scammer, they’re inexperienced.
• If the name is of a celebrity or a book character, that’s a red flag.
• If the name is on LinkedIn and they list their location as Nigeria, Pakistan or the Philippines, move on.

Email address
• If the email address shows up on an article or a social media post with the #bookmarketingscam hashtag, you’ve run into a scammer.
• If email doesn’t show up, it’s probably new, which is also a bad sign.
• Compare the email to others on the website of the company the marketer claims to work for. If the email address after the @ sign doesn’t match what others at the company use, that’s a sure sign you’re dealing with a fraudster.

Company|
• If there’s no website, that means they’re a made-up company or at best that they are so new that they have no track record.
• If there’s a website but it looks generic or created by AI, then it’s a fraud.
• If there’s a website but a warning on it that bad actors are pretending to be them, then it’s probably a scam, especially if you’ve never met anyone from the company.

You’ve been lured in
If you’ve responded to an email then realize it’s a scam, stop communicating and never:
• Give out personal information.
• Say “yes” if speaking to them. Your voice is being recorded and can be used to access your personal accounts.
• Pay with gift card or wire transfer, as you have no way to get your money back.
______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out my book about marketing scams aimed at writers:

Silence the Laugh Track – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Aug. 25, 2026

Craft of Writing: Silence the Laugh Track
Another way to tighten your writing is to leave out the laugh track. In comedy television shows, fake recorded laughter often is added to suggest that an audience is present – and to suggest to viewers at home that they also should find a joke humorous. In your story, a laugh track is present when you also give readers hints about how they should react. READ MORE

Marketing Tips: How to Build Your Author’s Website
You need a website if you’re a serious author. A website is the hub where readers can go to find out about your books, a little about you, where to find you on social media, how to contact you, and more. Fortunately, you can construct a website for very little cost right in the comfort of your own home. My book Build Your Author’s Website explains how, using easy to understand, practical explanations. It covers such diverse topics as finding a Website host, deciding what your website will look like, pages needed for your website, share buttons, pictures, your website text’s readability, and driving traffic to your website. The tips here come from an author and professional editor who began building websites more than two decades ago and has advised hundreds of his writing clients about the process. SEE BOOK

Writing Tip: Ways to Break Story Structure in Your Novel
Most novels, short stories and screenplays today follow a traditional five-part story structure, involving an introduction-rising action-climax-falling action-denouement. While dominant, this isn’t the only form you have to follow as a writer. Indeed, some of the best stories and novels don’t. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Guidelines for Creating an Ebook Cover
Despite the old adage, people will judge your book by its cover. As humans are visually-oriented, the first thing a potential buyer of your book will spot on a web page is your cover; almost always the words come later. In addition, that cover typically will just be a thumbnail. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Three-Act Structure Offers Alternate Story Plot
One common way to think about how a story is organized is the three-act structure. This approach dates to Aristotle, who stated that a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Check Out My Guest Appearance on Living the Writing Life Podcast
A special thanks to Nancy Christie for having me as a guest today on her excellent Living the Writing Life podcast. During the podcast, I talk about book marketing scams, specifically how to identify and to avoid them. The information comes from latest book, Protecting Yourself against Book Marketing Scams. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Client Spotlight: “Destiny” by Joanne Woodley
During the past several months, I edited several drafts of Joanne Woodley’s science fiction novel Destiny, in which she created an impressive near-future debut that serves as a powerful warning to our time. The story takes place after World War III, in an age when humanity is combating extreme weather, overpopulation, and hunger. To remedy societal problems, the government has set up a horrifying experiment in technological advancement for which Jacy has been selected to participate. Jacy and others must learn the importance of loyalty, courage and sacrifice to obtain their dreams of a better world. CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Sept. 1, 2026. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 425 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.