As a writer, it’s enormously exciting when random folks reach out to tell you how much they love your work, and what it meant to them to read your stories, or your novels.

In recent months, thanks to the proliferation of AI slop like that cordyceps fungi in The Last of Us, authors like me have been inundated with emails that may start out as flattery — they loved the book, they run a book club, they want you to join a “storytelling community” they run, they’d like permission to post a review of this book of yours they loved (nobody needs permission to post a review, this is beyond stupid) — and eventually devolve into “give me money so I can show you how to better market your book/visit our book club/etc.” They are scams. They are a waste of time, and are blocked.

They are also created by people surely destined for hell, as each one of them not only pushes on the soft, vulnerable parts of authors who would love to get real, actual emails from real, actual readers like this (before the money gets involved) — but it reminds us that instead of getting those things we’re getting this complete crapola. (Also, side note: AI is a scourge.)

With that established, I got a different kind of random email the other day that made me think, Well … maybe?

This is where things get diabolical. I have no doubt that as the latest wave of flattering bullshit becomes known as the bullshit it is, the AI users will evolve. The question is, is this exchange I’ve posted below legit — and I was too overcautious to help a student — or Am I The Asshole for how I dealt with the following email exchange?

And yes, I start out prickly for a number of reasons (the first being that when this email was sent, We Interrupt This Program had been out for fewer than ten days):

True, searching for “Universidad de las Americas” probably should have tripped me up, but I did see some videos and just didn’t dig much further. But it’s not well … represented on the web, shall we say.

But No. 3 is evil genius: Either this is a real person who agrees with me on AI, or the AI is now able to take a giant crap on itself in pursuit of the ultimate goal: stealing something.

We continue:

So here’s where the rubber starts to meet the road. They have a contract. They are asking for an “editable format.” This takes a few steps of thinking: What will they do with an editable format? A chapter or two is one thing, but a 12-week involvement with me?

I mean, this feels like I’m with a person. And maybe I am! I’m embarrassed that I can’t tell — and angry that I have to second-guess! But contracts and text — that’s when we call in the agent. So, show me the contract.

And here’s where we went next:

Yeah, so I basically noped out of the idea of sending them the entire book. I still wasn’t against a chapter or two, but the sudden pulling back about the contract and the request for the entire book changed my orange flags to red.

The fact is, anyone can buy the new book for just a few dollars. I get that college students might be poor, but the ebook is really not hard to obtain. Hell, if you’re on Net Galley you could get/could have gotten a copy for review ages ago. Why do I need to send you a copy — an editable one at that?

This starts to feel a lot like I’d like permission to post a review. You don’t need my permission! You don’t need me to send you anything — you can pick up a copy yourself! It’s probably tax-deductible if it’s for education expenses (I do not know this for sure).

Anyway, it’s now been four days since I heard from “Vi” and I don’t really expect to hear from her again. If I’m wrong here, it’s a good example of how devious the solicitations are becoming — they don’t want you to pay them anything (theoretically), they just want your IP! Who knows where this would have gone if I’d sent chapters or a whole book (as if). I would still love to see that “contract.”

In the end, I decided to post this here to see if anyone else has seen this permutation of the scam, assuming it is a scam, and to let you know that things are evolving incredibly rapidly. Authors — and really, anyone, who uses the increasingly-enshittified internet should know: They’re coming for your soft parts, and they are going to take your entrails — if you let them. Be suspicious first. Apologize later. Except … sadly, there probably won’t be a later.

Or am I the asshole?

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