I write cyberpunk a lot. My debut novella, NeoTokyo Dead, has only just come out. At the moment, I know exactly who has read it, besides myself. One person is in Canada, and another is someone I work with here in Aotearoa. There are a few more people from the USA who have read it on Neon Nova and in previous iterations. I have sold one eBook at the time of writing.

Imagine my surprise when I found that not only was cyberpunk a big thing in Nigeria, a couple of people connected with vast book clubs and marketing networks were also interested in it. In fact, they were so excited about NeoTokyo Dead, they could not wait to send me an AI-generated email to tell me exactly what it was they loved about the novella. That’s right! The book they clearly had not read. The one they knew nothing about. Luckily for me, WordPress records the IP address from the Contact form .

This was nothing compared to when Kate Atkinson of the United Kingdom slipped into my DM’s on X. I had never heard of her, but thought I would check out her story and see who she is. On Facebook, the real Atkinson has 27.000 followers and follows 4 people. What would a famed novelist want with DM’s to a unknown like me? The difference in followers alone was a hint the account is fake, not to mention the account does not link to Atkinson’s own official website.

I have been taken aback in recent weeks just to how much crap there is to deal with as a writer, especially a new and unknown one. The people who send these emails and set up fake accounts seem to equate “new and unknown” with “desperate for attention and sales.” New writers may find it hard to market their books, if they follow the indie path, or get representation, if they follow the more traditional route. It is on this supposedly desperation they seek to prey.

Whenever you get some contact or someone slides into your direct messages on social media, do your due diligence. I would also suggest doing the rest of the writing community a favour: out them all on your own social media and then block them. We won’t be able to cope with them all, but we can at least make their aims more miserable and more difficult to attain. Be careful out there and make sure anyone you bring into your circle of writing is someone legitimate and recognised by others whom you know.

This has been a wake-up call to me, even in the short time I have been published (11 days now). I have deleted that Contact Me form now. I might put it back up one day, but I doubt it.