Is This For Real? > Likes and Comments

I just got an email from someone who claims to belong to the "The Utrecht Contemporary Fiction Book Club". According to this person: "Each month, we host a 30–45 minute “Meet the Author” Spotlight Session, a relaxed and engaging virtual event dedicated to connecting our featured author directly with our readers." They also say that "We’d be delighted to explore your availability to join us for an upcoming session.
This Spotlight experience offers:
• A live, interactive space to connect directly with readers who love your work
• A supportive global audience that enjoys discussing heartfelt and thought-provoking fiction
• Inclusion in our reader lineup and newsletter mentions before and after the session
• After the event, our members often order copies to continue the discussion together"

They say this is completely free of charge, but they do ask for a small "encouragement fee" to help maintain a vibrant reader community.

Is this a scam? I never heard of this group. But they appear to have a somewhat legit looking website (which proves nothing): www.meetup.com/utrecht-book-club-cont...

Hi David, I’d be cautious here.
If they are asking the author for any kind of fee, that is already a red flag to me. “Free of charge” and “encouragement fee” in the same message usually means it is not really free at all.
A genuine reader group should be clear and transparent about who pays for what before making the invitation sound exciting.

David, I have one question for you: has the person convinced you that he/she read your book? If not, pass up on it. Too many scammers prey on authors by showering us with praise—ambiguous at best—that does not prove they've read our books. But they always have some fee to charge for the exposure they propose to give us. Yeah, right!