Unsolicited interview invite via email...

[Donna]

I recently received an unsolicited email inviting me to be interviewed saying, "I am seeking newly published indie book authors to interview. If you are interested, please email me with your book name and link to be considered for a featured author interview this month plus promotion on the website and social channels." There was very little information about who this person is. Even though they used the goodreads logo at the top of the email, it feels non-legit to me. Also, "the website"? What exactly does this mean? I'm feeling skeptical. What do you all think?

[Ingrid]

I think you are right to be sceptical, it sounds like a scam.
"Please email me with your book name..." - the person who wrote this clearly sent a generic E-Mail to numerous writers on Goodreads. My guess: Once you appear interested in this person's offer, you would be offered those services for a FEE.
And what "website" ? If it were a legitimate business, they would provide you with their website's URL, so you could check out other interviews and content on that site.

[Dominique]

Donna,
My spam inbox is full of emails similar to the one you described.
I completely agree with Ingrid’s reply.
Hopefully it does end up being legit or someone who is legit contacts you 🤞.
I hope it is ok but I looked on your profiles and followed you both. I am a new author.
Your books look amazing!
Ingrid I am vegan and I am always looking to learn more ideas.
Donna your book title is excellent and I want to read more about this story!
I am rarely on here due to the spamming but do you have other social media accounts?

[Sherri]

They should know your book name if they're really interested and have legitimately found you (through a website or social media). We do have to watch out for scams.

One thing you can do is look up the company online. Not only will you know what "the website" is, but you can see what's actually on it. Plus, if they're known scammers, you'll find things mentioning it quickly.

[Steve]

Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate it.

[Ingrid]

Dominique wrote: "Donna,
My spam inbox is full of emails similar to the one you described.
I completely agree with Ingrid’s reply.
Hopefully it does end up being legit or someone who is legit contacts you 🤞.
..."

Ingrid wrote: "I think you are right to be sceptical, it sounds like a scam.
"Please email me with your book name..." - the person who wrote this clearly sent a generic E-Mail to numerous writers on Goodreads. M..."

Hi Dominique, glad you found my comment helpful. I'm currently on Facebook, which I use just for friends and family, and LinkedIn. I'll send you a friend request here on Goodreads, and then let's connect on LinkedIn.

[Dominique]

Wonderful Ingrid,
I followed you on Goodreads but I do not have LinkedIn. Is it helpful for marketing your book?

[Donna]

My thanks to all of you for your comments and support. It's a shame, isn't it, that as a new author, we look for opportunities to be successful, and then someone, or some one entity, takes advantage of that for their own gain - parasites. I know now to be vigilant about scams - didn't realize this site was so susceptible.

[Ingrid]

Dominique wrote: "Wonderful Ingrid,
I followed you on Goodreads but I do not have LinkedIn. Is it helpful for marketing your book?"

I don't think it's necessarily helpful for marketing, but that network focuses on jobs/work. Less spam, so I use it. Goodreads is great for readers, and for recommending books to other readers, not sure it's a very useful site for writers.

[Mayra]

Donna wrote: "I recently received an unsolicited email inviting me to be interviewed saying, "I am seeking newly published indie book authors to interview. If you are interested, please email me with your book n..."

I received an email also yesterday. They wanted a pdf of my book but there's NO WAY I'd give away a pdf of it. I messaged them that I do not send out my book as a pdf. Well, that was the last I heard from them.

Isn't there a way to report them. I still have the email address they mentioned in the message (or maybe the email address is not legit). :(