Melbourne Books warns writers about imposter publisher
A scam publisher is trying to convince authors that it is Melbourne Books, but the real publisher is fighting back. Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall has taken a closer look at the scam, and his investigation led him to another dubious site purporting to be an Australian publisher.
Melbourne Books has alerted writers to a scam operation conducting business under a similar name, Melbourne Book Publisher, which has been impersonating the established independent publisher. When publisher David Tenenbaum contacted the fraudulent business he received what appeared to be a AI-generated response that began: “I’d love to share a little about who we are at Melbourne Books and how I personally support authors on their publishing journey.”
The imposter provided the publisher with a description of Tenenbaum’s own business: “Based in Melbourne, we’ve been helping writers bring their stories to life for over 25 years. In that time, we’ve guided more than 5000 authors through the publishing process, from manuscript development and design to distribution and marketing. Many of the books we’ve published have gone on to become bestsellers, which has built our reputation as one of Australia’s most trusted publishing partners.”
They introduced themselves with a false name, having no real association with the real company: “As for myself, I’m Marcus Hale, a publishing consultant with Melbourne Books. Over the past 6 years, I’ve helped 326 authors publish their books and supported more than 120 titles in reaching bestseller status. With a PhD in literature, I bring both academic knowledge and hands-on industry experience to ensure every author feels guided, supported, and confident at each stage of their journey.”
The business also suggested a “video consultation” to “walk you through our process and answer any questions you might have about your own book”. It lists the Australian Business Number (ABN) of Tenenbaum’s own company and claims a rating of 4.7 out of 5 on the consumer feedback aggregation service TrustPilot, though in fact it only has a rating of 3.7 from a single glowing review.
Tenenbaum said, “In response to my enquiry about their services for a book, I said I wanted to publish, they sent me a variety of packages/prices I could agree to with upfront payments. I suspect that some people who are keen to have their book published could be easily encouraged to pay.”
He added, “We have reported the issue to Australian government ScamWatch who will hopefully notify Meta to take down the Facebook page and would encourage other publishers to do the same if it happens to them. I hope this serves as a warning to other publishers.”
Melbourne Book Publisher, which also goes by the name of Melbourne Book Publishing, asks potential authors to submit manuscripts to its website for a publishing quote. Facebook comments show that the business has been successful in making contact with authors.
The business address is a share office in Melbourne, which could be the address of hundreds of businesses, and the owner of the website domain is hidden with privacy protection. But Facebook’s page transparency report reveals that its page has 5 admin users located in Pakistan.
A very similar looking Facebook page, Sydney Book Publishing, appears to follow the same model as the Melbourne site and has two admin users in Pakistan and one in the US. The website’s Australian domain reveals the business is linked to creative marketing agency Nexus Soft Technologies, located at a private home in Pearland, Texas.
Many books by Nexus Soft Technologies are listed for sale on Ebay, and use the publisher name Kindle Direct Publishing Firm when the titles are listed on bookselling websites. An Instagram account exists for this business name, but its Facebook page has been shut down.
The Australian Society of Authors recently warned that AI was enabling more sophisticated scams aimed at budding authors. “With the increased availability of AI tools,” it said, “email scams are becoming more personalised, realistic and targeted.” A recent ASA Update provides examples of email received by authors and highlights red flags to look out for.
Category: Local news
