Scam Alert! - Updated > Likes and Comments
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Hi. I am an author with books on Goodreads. I just got contacted by a woman who says she can get my book into the 2026 Reading Challenge. After an exchange of a couple of emails, she says it will cost me $115 (US?). Just thought I would let you know. I have email address details if you want it. Of course I rejected her offer.
StevenB wrote: "Hi. I am an author with books on Goodreads. I just got contacted by a woman who says she can get my book into the 2026 Reading Challenge."Thank you, StevenB, for offering to pass along the scammer's details. If the scammer is a member of this group, we would certainly appreciate more details so that we can remove her. We don't need a member like that, trying to take advantage of our other members.
Unfortunately, when I reported the situation cited above to Goodreads Support Team, I learned that they won't take my secondhand word for it. You must contact Support yourself in order for them to act on it. Here's their message to me:
Thank you for contacting us. If the author is concerned that specific content violates our Community Guidelines, please advise them to report it to our attention or send us a direct link to the content, along with screenshots of the email or message, so we can evaluate it.
We wish you all the best with your books!
I had this happen in a group I run as well. The scammer actually used one of the name of one of my moderators.
Gem wrote: "I had this happen in a group I run as well. The scammer actually used one of the name of one of my moderators."How frustrating, Gem! I hope you were able to get it resolved for your group, and for your moderator whose name was "borrowed."
This group is not a book marketing or paid promotion group. The 2026 Reading Challenge is a reader-led reading challenge, not a promotional service. Readers choose the books, read together, and lead discussions within the group.Anyone who contacts an author claiming they will “promote” a book here is not affiliated with this group and should be considered a scam.
Authors who participate do so only by engaging their book through the group’s normal reading-challenge process and by completing the necessary participation steps required for inclusion in a monthly reading cycle. There are no guarantees, no paid promotions, and no marketing services offered.
Just checking with mods and librarians as someone (I can provide their email address if desired) said they would post a "clarification" comment here (appeared right as Charles posted) as "proof" that the "2026 Quarterly Reading Challenge" has a "one-time author participation fee is $157".(Yes, I know this is a scam, and I am not about to pay that, but wanted to reply to make sure any other authors don't take that comment as "proof".)
I was also contacted by what appears to be a scam for this. Her name is Diana Elowen. What a shame for authors to have to deal with this. Such is the world. Anita Lampel Operation Texas, 2025
Goodreads will not accept secondhand reports from our moderators when our group members are approached by scammers. Instead, you must report the scammers yourself. You may do so using their
Contact Us
form.
Hi TerryJane,Just letting you know I received an email from 2026readingchallenges@gmail.com under your name "inviting" me to include my 2021 story collection Erase and Rewind in the 2026 challenge for a fee of $350. I'm going to ignore the email because it's clearly part of the scam outlined here, but I wanted to give a heads up.
Here's what was written in the email:
4. Participation Fee ($350) – This fee is not a profit-making charge. In previous years, we did not charge any authors, but over time we found that having a small, manageable participation fee allows us to run the challenge professionally and sustainably. It ensures the resources for proper promotion, group engagement, and recognition are in place, and demonstrates a small investment from authors who are serious about participating. It also allows us to focus fully on books that the author is truly ready to support and promote with their own involvement.
Thanks. I'll make a report in the Contact Us form.
Meghan Bell
Meghan wrote: "Hi TerryJane,Just letting you know I received an email from 2026readingchallenges@gmail.com under your name "inviting" me to include my 2021 story collection Erase and Rewind in the 2026 challenge for a fee of $350."
Meghan, thank you for letting us know. I'm sorry to hear that a scammer spoofed an address and put my name on it, rather than just get an education and an honest job. *smh* I'm glad you recognized this as the scam attempt that it is.
Thank you also for reporting it to Goodreads.
Meghan wrote: "Hi TerryJane,Just letting you know I received an email from 2026readingchallenges@gmail.com under your name "inviting" me to include my 2021 story collection Erase and Rewind in the 2026 challeng..."
OT but I can't PM you--I took a look at your author page and removed that Sourdough book because it's not on your website and there are two spelling mistakes in the title. I also combined something. If I was wrong, let me know as I've checked notify me here.
Sigh, I got targeted in one of these author scams this week. The person claimed to be Dorcas Miller and said one of my books had been chosen for the Seasonal Reading Challenge and would I like to participate? They wrote like they knew and loved my book (AI research of course) and asked me to send a book cover, bio and 2 minute video about the book. It wasn't until the third email that they wrote I would need to pay a "nominal participation fee" of $209, with possible additional expenses later. I told them people pay me to talk, not the other way around. I was initially tempted though because they talked about how great it would be to meet with readers who really loved my book...
What is the world coming to? This is such a terrible thing to do to people. This group doesn't need any drama from scammers. Ugh.
D.L. wrote: "What is the world coming to? This is such a terrible thing to do to people. This group doesn't need any drama from scammers. Ugh."This has been going on in another group I'm a member of as well.
No offense to anyone but each author commenter's page looks like spam/bot accounts....Joined the group to leave one comment just moments later?
I'd delete this whole thread and the fake profiles along with it...
M wrote: "No offense to anyone but each author commenter's page looks like spam/bot accounts....Joined the group to leave one comment just moments later?
I'd delete this whole thread and the fake profiles ..."
It might seem like that at first glance, the last two authors to post are most definitely NOT spam accounts, so I just checked the first two :)
Both Meghan and Meg are legitimate (see below.) If I were an author and received spam about a group, I'd join it just to let the mods know as a matter of courtesy.
Not only does Meghan Bell have a legitimate website and books published by at least one traditional Canadian publishing companybut she's been written about in respected publications (I'm originally from the same general area she is.) She's been on GR since 2017.
Meg Cox hasn't posted anything since 2012 prior to this, but it doesn't mean it was spam--she's also a legit GR account and author.
As for Crystal, she's been a member since 2018 and she has a mix of traditionally and self-published books.
As for StevenB, his page looks much like many pages of self-published authors.
As a GR librarian, I've helped many self-published authors who have posted requests in the GR librarian group :)
No offense taken, but the author who originally messaged privately (back when that was an option) seemed legit and shared her experience as a warning. We felt it was worth passing along for awareness.The authors who have commented since then joined GR over the last several years, one as long ago as 2011. The only poster that came across as fake-ish never claimed to be an author, and didn't violate group rules.
The thread is likely to remain in place for the time being as a warning to others who may be targeted.
Thank you TerryJane for NOT deleting this thread. I was contacted in recent days by someone calling themselves TerryJane with the email address mentioned by another author above. She wanted £275 as a fee for inclusion in some kind of reading group challenge in this group.
I have joined the group to thank you for keeping this warning up, saving me from wasting my time with the fake TerryJane and making it crystal clear that this was a scam.
In case anyone tries to call me a "bot", I am the author of In the Day of the Flood, which has been up on Goodreads for just a few months. I recently did a Giveaway, so perhaps that is how the scammer got my details.
Stephen wrote: "Thank you TerryJane for NOT deleting this thread. ..."Thank you for sharing, Stephen. I'm pleased that our warning post clarified the scammy nature of the situation.
If you would, please also contact Goodreads. Perhaps they can identify a pattern with Giveaway authors being targeted. I sure hope they don't remove me, the real TerryJane, though. 😉
Hi TerryJaneI did this immediately. It was amazing how much effort the scammer put into the email exchange with me. He/she sounded just like a marketer trying to close a sale.
His/her biggest mistake was initially referencing another Goodreads group that has done almost nothing for 10 years - and misspelling the group. A mod would never do that. As a mod, I am sure you understand!
Participation in this group and our challenges is always FREE. We also follow a strict NO PROMOTIONS policy.
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EDITED TO ADD: Goodreads will not accept secondhand reports from our moderators when group members are approached by scammers. Instead, you must report the scammers yourself. You may do so using their Contact Us form.
EDITED TO ADD MORE: Scammers are now representing themselves not as promoters, but as moderators of our group. Using a spoofed email address that could be mistaken as ours, does not change the fact that this is a FREE group with a NO PROMOTIONS policy. Do not fall for these frauds; report them to Goodreads.