Tampa-based author Douglas J. McLeod thought it was odd that the San Antonio Book Festival would be soliciting him to participate in this year’s event for a fee.
After all, his debut novel, “Scarlet Siege,” was published 14 years ago and there were only nine days until the festival’s opening.
“Then when I visited the festival website and looked more carefully at the address the email came from, I realized I was the target of a scam,” he told the Express-News. “So I alerted the legitimate organizers of the attempt.”
McLeod wasn’t the only would-be victim to contact festival officials, according to executive director Lisa Ayres. She said they heard from two or three others who’d been offered the opportunity to participate in the festival in exchange for payment of a fee. In response, the festival recently issued a fraud alert warning about the unknown scammers.
“It was brought to our attention that authors in our community have been contacted by individuals claiming to be from the San Antonio Book Festival offering an opportunity to participate in the San Antonio Book Festival for a fee,” the warning read in part. “This is a scam.”
Now in its 14th year, the San Antonio Book Festival has never charged authors to be featured at the event. This year’s festival is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Central Library and UTSA Southwest Campus.
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Native San Antonian and Emmy winner Jeff Hiller will talk about his memoir as part of the San Antonio Book Festival. Hiller won his Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for his role in the HBO series “Somebody Somewhere.” (Chris Pizzello/Associated Press)
McLeod’s first email arrived April 2 and came from sanantoniobooksfestival@gmail.com, although the festival’s actual email is sabf@sabookfest.org. In it, someone impersonating literary director Anna Dobben praised his novel for “its gripping premise, blending seasoned detective work with the unexpected intensity of a hostage situation.”
The email talked about the benefits and exposure he’d receive from participating and, after he initially hesitated, offered him a half table, to be shared with another author, for $200. Eventually, McLeod declined to participate.
“Fortunately, authors are a pretty intelligent bunch,” Ayres said. “They recognized there was something off about the email.”
This year’s book festival promises a star-studded lineup of literary luminaries such as Man Booker Prize winner George Saunders (“Lincoln in the Bardo,” “Vigil”) and Julia Alvarez (“How the García Girls Lost Their Accents,” “Visitations”).
Also scheduled to appear is Emmy winning actor Jeff Hiller, who grew up in San Antonio and is author of the memoir “Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success.”
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The San Antonio Book Festival takes place in and on the grounds of the Central Library and the UTSA Southwest Campus. (Courtesy San Antonio Book Festival)
For a full schedule of events, visit sabookfestival.org.
According to Ayres, this type of scam is not unknown within the book festival community. She said she’s heard of similar frauds being attempted elsewhere.
“I know some people in England, even Switzerland have been affected,” she said. “I’m in an online group of international book festival directors.”
Ayres said the festival has filed a complaint with Google attempting to shut down the fraudulent email address and she is also considering filing a complaint with the FBI.
She added that she finds the scam sad because it attempts to take advantage of those who only want to share their art with the world.
“After all, most people don’t get rich by being a writer,” she said.
Although Ayres hasn’t heard of anyone having been taken, festival officials are prepared should any authors arrive at the Saturday event expecting to participate.
“I really hope that won’t happen because it would break my heart,” she said.
This article originally published at San Antonio Book Festival warns authors to close the book on fee scam.
