Video Creation & Marketing Scam

I recently received an email out of nowhere from a Lynne Griffith. She attempted to flatter me about my thirteen-year-old book and obviously used AI to make it sound like they read it.

Apparently, she works for a company (not mentioned in the email) that helps “children's authors turn their books into short, professionally produced YouTube episodes. Not a page by page reading, but a real viewing experience with narration, animation, music, and pacing built for young viewers. I would also create and set up your YouTube channel, so you don't have to figure out the technical side.”

Her signature was just “Lynne,” no business info, and her email was a gmail address. I actually responded back to her somewhat rudely, because I was having a bad day. After telling her that I didn’t know her from Adam and her solicitation was unprofessional, I requested a slew of info, even though I was going to ignore her.

She replied and tried to cover her scam with apologies, said she was from Author Visibility Agency, and sent a link to their “site”: https://authorvisibilityagency.com/, as well as gave me her director’s contact information. Most of the staff have gmail addresses, and the two testimonials from authors look like fake verbiage with links to real books on Amazon.

Beware, AI (or SI, if you prefer) can help us authors, but it also makes it easier for scammers to get under our skin. BTW, you can use AI to determine if these people are for real.

Stay safe writers!