The phone messages always start the same.'Congratulations,' they say, or words to that effect. 'Your book has been selected for...' or, 'one of our agents has recommended your book for...' or, 'we love your book, please call us to discuss it.'Usually I just delete the message and move on. Sometimes, especially if I've heard from them before, I block their number. Occasionally, I call them back to have some fun.'So,' I ask, 'which book is it that you're interested in?' Long pause while they check their notes to the sound of shuffling papers. Then, when they come up with a title, I inquire, 'and what is it, exactly, that you like?'This is often a game changer. Sometimes they admit to never having read the thing and try to pass me off to one of their 'agents' who supposedly has. Or, more often, start quoting from published reviews or cover descriptions which I can tell they are reading for the first time.Then I say, ok, I'll get back to you and, of course, never do.Apparently, a Philippines-based company doing business in America has had better luck. Last week a federal grand jury in San Diego, California, charged three individuals — including two Philippine nationals — with bilking 'elderly authors' across the US of nearly $44 million (P2.5 billion) by convincing them that publishers and filmmakers wanted to 'turn their books into blockbusters.'But only, of course, for a fee.Michael Cris Traya Sordilla, 32, and Bryan Navales Tarosa, 34, are executives at a Cebu-based firm called Innocentrix Philippines, described as a 'business process outsourcing company.' Also indicted was Gemma Traya Austin, 58, of Chula Vista, California, the organizer and registered agent for PageTurner Press and Media LLC, a California company purporting to publish books.According to the indictment, the three conspired to scam more than 800 victims between September 2017 and December 2024 by contacting them through unsolicited calls and emails saying that major motion picture studios or publishers were interested in their books.The three defendants — all of whom have been arrested — face up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 fines.'What started with the promise of a Hollywood dream turned into a devastating nightmare,' US Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement released by her office. 'Authors should stay vigilant, do their research, and think twice before giving money to anyone promising a blockbuster deal.'What makes such scams possible, of course, is the radical way in which publishing has changed. Back when I was young, publishing a book was a pretty big deal. The only way to do it was through a handful of major publishers, mostly in New York, who'd take their pick from among thousands of manuscripts submitted each year. The chances of having yours selected, especially if you were unknown, were next to nil.Then along came self-publishing.I had a brush with it in 2004. Though already a professional journalist by then, I had never published a book. And so, in a vanity-boosting move I now find embarrassing, submitted one to a company called Booklocker.com which, for several thousand dollars plus an annual fee to be paid in perpetuity, published and offered it for sale on their website. Eventually, disillusioned, I stopped paying the fee. And was recently surprised to learn that they still list my book, though I doubt many copies have been sold.More recently, helping a friend self-publish his first novel, I learned that it is now possible to do the same thing for a fraction of the cost with almost full control. All of which is to say that the number of aspiring authors out there has multiplied exponentially, as have the leagues of scammers eager to grease their egos for profit.'The defendants' [alleged] actions,' FBI Special Agent Stacey Moy concluded, 'defrauded [authors] of their hard-earned money.'Very little of which, I'd wager, came from writing books.* * *David Haldane is an American journalist and author with homes in Southern California and Northern Mindanao. His latest book, Dark Skies, is due out in May.
