The WritersWeekly Podcast

EPISODE 41: Dangers Lurking in PLAIN SIGHT on Facebook Author Groups! DON’T BE THE NEXT VICTIM!

Could that very active fellow Facebook author group member really be a SCAMMER? Chances are pretty high THEY ARE!   Publishing scammers have infiltrated Facebook’s author groups to perform DATA MINING! What’s the problem, you ask? All they have is your Facebook profile link. So, what’s the big deal?   Nope, that’s not ALL they have! They start with your profile, and within minutes, they likely know more about you than your next-door neighbor.   When someone in your Facebook Author/Writer group posts thing like this, BEWARE! "Authors, drop your book cover! Show us your masterpiece!"  “Post the links to your books! Let’s help each other out!” “Show us your author website!”  But, what if they simply ask a very general “tickler” question of all the members? They’re starting a specific discussion for a specific reason! They know what they’re doing, and hundreds of unwary authors respond!   "Tell us what you're currently working on!" "Tell us what makes your book special in one sentence!" "What's the best platform for me to market my book?"  And, guess what? Some of these data mining scammers are actually the MODERATORS of author groups on Facebook! And the group members have NO IDEA!  If you respond to those ridiculous posts, it may seem innocent on your part (and it is) but it is NOT innocent on the part of the scammers. How can engaging them hurt you? A bunch of other folks in the group are doing it. It's free publicity. You are proud of your book. And who knows: someone may BUY A COPY! So, you engage the scammer (who you think is just another author.)  CONGRATULATIONS! You've just painted a target on yourself for scammers.  Many Facebook groups for authors and writers have hundreds and even thousands of members. Many of those require nothing more than to click a "JOIN" button. Many in the group, however, never post in the group, or even look at it again. Some groups are old and the “members” have gone stagnant on Facebook. The scammers are looking for living, breathing members who have active manuscripts to publish, and books to promote. That means YOU are far more likely to become their next target!  Overseas scammers want to target authors with offers to publish their books, edit their books, offer fake movie deals, promote their books – you name it. They have literally dozens of fake services to offer! And, finding an active author with a book to publish or sell is the very FIRST step they take with data mining.   Listen to this episode to learn how scammers can take one small link (your Facebook profile) to gather TONS of personal information about you from across the Internet!   And, we’ll tell you how they use that information to fool potential victims, and suck their wallets dry.   Listen to this week's episode, #41, and learn the tricks and tactics these parasites are using to get your personal information to target you with opportunities to give your money away, and never see it again. You will also learn how to protect yourself.   Join us as we dissect the dark underbelly of Facebook Author Groups! Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463845/fan_mail/new] Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

From 14-Year-Old Runaway, to Cop, to the Managing Editor of WritersWeekly.com. GRAPHIC WARNING AT 1 HOUR, 3 MINUTES! (1:03)

In Episode 10 of the WritersWeekly Podcast (one of our most popular ones!), you heard the story of how Angela Hoy started WritersWeekly.com as a young, single mother, with MANY challenges along the way. Those included skipping meals early on to ensure her children were well-fed (her ex wasn’t paying court-ordered child support), and later suing Amazon.com for federal anti-trust violations, and winning! She turned a fledgling hobby website into an internationally known publishing powerhouse and, 28 years later, it’s still going strong! Now we present Brian Whiddon’s story. Brian is the Managing Editor at WritersWeekly.com, and the Operations Manager at BookLocker.com, a full-service book publishing company. He is also the author of Blue Lives Matter: The Heart Behind the Badge.  Brian grew up rough (to put it mildly!), had run away three times by the age of 14, and then moved back home with the help of a friendly police officer. That gentleman was Brian’s inspiration to later serve vulnerable members of the population himself. Listen to this episode to find out what happened to the amazing police officer who literally changed Brian’s life.  Brian was kicked out of his home by his parents at 17 but was determined to finish high school, because a diploma was required to become a police officer. He then served in the United States Army for five years, which included a combat deployment in Somalia. (Wait until you hear the camel dust story, and about the time Brian and his two soldier buddies mooned a Colonel!) After leaving the Army, Brian finally got to live his dream career as a police officer. In this episode, you’ll hear first-hand Brian’s story of how he and another officer got repeatedly burned while pulling a man from a burning airplane. He shares other stressful, exciting, and even hilarious stories as well.  Tragically, after 15 years, the career he had dreamed about since the age of 13 was tragically stolen away from him, simply because he did the right thing. After witnessing police misconduct, and reporting it, Brian prevented an innocent young man from going to prison…and got fired for doing so.  How does a former law enforcement officer later become the Managing Editor for one of the first writing websites on the Internet, and the Operations Manager for one of the most well-known book publishing companies?  This episode is packed with emotion, humor, inspiration, and lots of human interest! (Did you know “beef sticks” in Korea are actually dog meat? No, Brian didn’t eat those!).  If you have ever wondered about the man behind the voice here on the WritersWeekly Podcast, you DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!  Repeat: GRAPHIC WARNING AT 1 HOUR, 3 MINUTES! (1:03) Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463845/fan_mail/new] Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

Episode 39 - Authors Who Had to Pay THOUSANDS After Being Sued

In this episode, Angela and Brian share real stories about lawsuits that were filed against authors, and how those proceedings affected them financially…and otherwise. So many authors feel that, even if they get sued, they might win…so, no problem, right? WRONG! In the U.S., unless a case is declared frivolous by a judge, you might never get back all the money you spent defending yourself.  Another problem is the tremendous amount of stress authors must endure throughout the legal process, which can take months, or even years.  Listen to this episode, which is filled with examples of lawsuits filed against authors (and why), so you can hopefully avoid the legal pitfalls that could land you in court and can potentially lead to bankruptcy. Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463845/fan_mail/new] Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

We Scambaited a Nigerian Scammer and HILARITY ENSUED!!!

If you hate scammers, you're gonna LOVE this episode! Angela actually convinced this scammer to write an ARTICLE telling all about how he fools people into thinking he is a book marketer/freelance writer based in the USA, and convinces them to pay him for his "services." What's best is that he have all the messages and emails between Angela and this scammer, in which he reveals his deceptive techniques. Even after Angela revealed that she was a journalist who exposes scammers, he STILL tried to scam her! We even tried to pay him the $60 we offer for article submissions to WritersWeekly via PayPal. However, he insisted on being paid through a BANK TRANSFER!! We have a ton of laughs and education in store for you in this episode as we reveal this fool's brazen attempts to convince Angela that he was a legitimate writer and book marketer, all the while trying to get money from her. And the excuses he gives for what he's doing will FLOOR YOU.  Don't miss a second of this episode. You'll laugh yourself silly. Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463845/fan_mail/new] Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

Episode 37: BEWARE! Fake "Services" Offered to Authors by Scammers

In this episode, Angela and Brian go over the latest “services” that international scammers have dreamed up to suck authors’ bank accounts dry. They will even tell you that not buying some of these services could land you in jail! Don’t be taken in by these fraudsters! No longer is it simply offering “full publishing services” for rock-bottom, unbelievable prices (the “publisher” then disappears with your money).  No, they’ve taken their criminal activities to a whole new level! Now, once they reel you in as a “client,” you will then be offered things like an “international publishing license” or  “author insurance” (they’ll tell you it’s illegal to publish a book without those!), fake book-to-movie deals, a “global copyright” (there’s no such thing), premium editing services (by AI or someone who doesn’t speak English), and more completely fake “services” that will never get performed anyway.   They will even tell you that they have royalties waiting for you, but that YOU have to pay a processing fee up front to get them! (Of course, the royalty numbers are fake and the author never gets paid.) They’ll also give you a fake purchase order from a large bookstore (on that store’s stolen letterhead), saying YOU need to pay THOUSANDS to print the books up front…but you’ll get paid back later. That’s not how it works, folks, and no copies will get printed anyway!!!  We discuss many other creative FAKE services as well. Don’t miss this episode! Please share it with your friends and writing groups. It could save you or someone you care about THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS! Be sure to contact us if you suspect you might be the victim of a publishing scam! https://WritersWeekly.com/podcast https://Publishing.BookLocker.com Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463845/fan_mail/new] Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com