Is this a scam?
-
Hi everyone! I am pretty sure that this is NOT a scam, but I am not completely sure as it seems a bit out of the blue. I woke up this morning to this email:
Hello!
I know it is the holiday this weekend, but can you possibly follow up next week so I can talk to you about a project I have for a children's book that I've already written. I already have a publisher as well and they do marketing on the product when it's complete. I am simply held up by the illustrations.
Thank you!
Email messaging will be best for now as I am out of town. Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
It's signed with the person's name, and it their accreditation (they are a professor specialized in children's spatial reasoning from what I can tell from their publications). I checked on ReaserchGate and their latest publication mentioned the role of books in children's development:
"this article describes the background and experiences of three graduate students who co-authored a print-based transmedia book during the summer of 2013. The article provides information about why the transmedia engineering book was designed and provides an overview of the book’s creation process"
This leads me to think that it is indeed real, but seeing as there seems to be all sorts of illustration scams out there I wanted some outside opinions. In any case I responded to her email asking for more information.
website: https://www.agathedenis.com/
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dessin.agathe/ -
@agathe Hi.
I'd exercise caution. dig a bit more about who that is. I'm sure others on here with more experience and exposure to this will add their views and help you. scammers these days are getting better at it and will use social engineering and genuine tags and references to gain trust. odd they say email communication only for now. that to me is a red flag. can email and can call their office, so why email only for now? i apologise if I sound like a downer. i work in an insurance company and we get training on how to detect scams and raise compliance issues etc
the pro-illustrators on SVS and those who have published books and art can assist you with their tips on how they safely separate scams from the real deals that help them build solid careers.
all i can say is stay safe, be sure and don't get scammed.
-
@agathe I’d be super careful if I were you, and assume it’s a scam. Be very prudent with sharing personal information, and under no circumstance ever send money their way. It is suspicious that they have a publisher, but yet go out looking for illustrations themselves, that’s not how things usually work. Take care!
-
@agathe “…but can you follow up next week…?” This email has way too many red flags. I say it’s a scam. Why should you follow up the following week when any legit person would wait until next week to contact you?
-
@blackhound-rise @Mia-Clarke @danielerossi Thank you all for your advice. I did think that the email only was very suspicious... Everyone who is on vacation would usually have access to the phone if they have access to email, or at the very least zoom since they both require the internet.
I'll be cautious, I thought it was a bit weird to receive an email like this out of the blue anyways.
-
I wish people would be a little more cautious about crying "scam"...
To me, this reads more like a first-time self-published author who is currently on vacation and doesn't know much about how to reach out to an illustrator than someone trying to scam you.
I would answer with something like "Hey, I'd love to chat about your project when you're back from vacation. If you send me your availability for when you're back, I can set up a zoom call for us to go over the details."
If they still refuse to set up a call and that's something you feel that you need before initiating a project, just tell them that it doesn't seem like a good fit and move on.
Taylor Woolley
(Formerly Taylor Ackerman / StudioLooong)
Website: www.woolleystories.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woolleystories/ -
@agathe This also doesn't scream "scam" to me necessarily, so much as it screams "newbie author who doesn't know how publishing works".
I personally always find it a tiny bit insulting when they don't even ask if we're available and just assume we are... and assume we will of course be interested in the project and willing to take it! I admit, it gives me a tiny bit of perverse pleasure to tell these people I'm not available. But I'm just petty!
The biggest thing here is that they have a "publisher" but are "held up by the illustrations". Traditional publishers take care of all the production costs including the illustrators, and THEY are in charge of choosing the illustrator, not the author. This kind of screams vanity publisher to me (which is basically self-publishing in all but name).
But even if it is self-publishing and even if they are a bit presumptuous, this doesn't necessarily means it's a scam or even that it's a terrible project. You could ask them more details and see from there if you're interested!
-
@StudioLooong We weren't really crying "scam" though, were we? We were advising caution, which lines up pretty well with your own advise. Caution makes sense in situations like these given the current climate where scams are plentiful and where the consequenses of being overly trysting can be quite bad.
-
@Mia-Clarke said in Is this a scam?:
I’d be super careful if I were you, and assume it’s a scam.
@Mia-Clarke you literally said "assume it's a scam"
Taylor Woolley
(Formerly Taylor Ackerman / StudioLooong)
Website: www.woolleystories.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woolleystories/ -
This post is deleted! -
@agathe i think this is not a scam but always proceed with caution. Do a test sketch first and always ask for payment upfront.
-
To me it sounds more like a real person, honestly. I would ask to set up a phone call or a zoom meeting to discuss their ideas, and if they refuse then it's likely a scam. They're likely going with a vanity or a hybrid publishing house that has them on the hook for finding their own illustrator. But I would give benefit of doubt here, yet proceed with caution. If they offer cash before you give your rate, run.
-
I think lots of people gave sound advice. I will add my thought here too considering the urgency and vagueness of the request. I have worked with a couple self-publishing authors and can offer some perspective from my experience.
The potential client is expressing a need for work done in short time frame, yet still needs to spell out their criteria (and deadline). Assuming that the client is legit, you will very likely be taking on the role of educating them about the design process. If, after the followup, you do decide to go ahead, make sure you write up a contract before you start any work.
Include the number of revisions in your contract as well as the deadline for the client to give you feedback after each revision, so you are not left hanging and stressing about time. Make sure they understand the rights they are buying, and the format they should expect to receive. A detailed contract will show that you know how the industry works, even if they do not. If they balk at your terms, then you can use that information to decide whether you still want to work with them. Either way, you will still have a draft contract that you can use in the future, so your time won't be wasted.
There is a possibility that the contract will instead be between you and the publisher, and the author's role is just to make a recommendation. I had a self-publishing author contact me first. They then did research, found a publisher and recommended me for his book. If this is the case for you, I agree with others that you should be wary that it is probably a vanity publisher, even if they offer an advance of some kind and represent themselves as a traditional publisher. The business model of this type of publisher often relies on selling services to authors to earn profit, not marketing and distributing the book themselves. Therefore, they need to keep illustrator costs down.
I hope this is helpful information. Whichever way this goes, I hope that you feel that you made the right decision in the end.
-
To me it sounds like a first time author working with a vanity press. I would be careful proceeding and get a feel for how finicky they are to work with and what the fee they are willing to pay is. I usually reply to messages like these with asking what their budget is, what the schedule they are projecting (when do they want final illustrations), how flexible they are on schedule, a description and amount of illustrations needed, and what style they are looking for, or what piece of mine they liked.
Usually the fee they are offering is too low, and I let them know politely, or if I give them a ballpark figure, they usually vanish at that point with no reply. But if they are offering a good enough fee to get you interested. then Id also be very clear about asking to see a contract, or you provide them with one to look over, make sure they understand rights, and make sure that you have set a payment schedule to get paid part upfront and then installments as you go. and make sure to get all fees before sending final high resolution images.
-
@agathe Is there an update on this? Was it legit?
