2026 Reading Challenge discussion

A new member, who also happens to be an author, was approached by someone who offered to promote the author's books in this group for a $127 registration fee. Do not fall for this scam if you are contacted with a request for money.

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.

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.