An Addendum … and More

— Mark Paxson

In my last post, I shared an email exchange I had and asked whether it was a scam. The verdict is in. It was a scam. Since then, I’ve received two more emails offering the same opportunity. One for the very same book — that wasn’t mine. The other that actually referenced one of my books. Each of them promised exposure via a radio station or other media source.

…

Meanwhile, Draft2Digital has announced that new accounts will be charged a $20 fee and existing accounts that don’t generate at least $100 in revenue a $12 annual fee. Their explanation for these changes apparently is that they want to battle “AI slop.” Which I find interesting since they don’t outright ban AI contributing to the works of the authors who publish there.

I switched from KDP to D2D back in 2021. I’m one of those authors who struggle to generate the target revenue. But I can afford $12 a year if I don’t hit that number. For me, though, it’s a matter of principle and I don’t know what I’m going to do.

I have no interest in going back to KDP. And this type of thing is happening everywhere now. Barnes & Noble has decreed that paperbacks on their website have to be listed for at least $14.99, for instance. It seems that publishing platforms and booksellers are in a race to monetize every more what it is that we do as indie writers.

And then there is the AI slop that is everywhere now. How are we supposed to generate $100 in annual revenue when our books are buried by thousands of AI-generated books? And it isn’t even the AI slop, it’s the sheer number of indie books that are flooding the market making it virtually impossible for individual writers to be noticed.

Personally, I think it may be time for these publishing platforms to actually do more about the quality of the books they allow via their platforms. Focusing only on “AI slop” is irrelevant if there is all sorts of other slop getting pushed out there, overwhelming the market for writers and stories that are of better quality.

Is This A Scam?

Scams are everywhere. The number of calls I get from spam on my cell phone is ridiculous. Emails from scammers are endless.

Unfortunately, the writing community is not immune. I’m active on Twitter and other social media platforms. There are so many fake author accounts where they follow you, you follow them, and you immediately get a DM from them which eventually leads to a push for services they want to sell to you. It’s so bad that I no longer follow writer accounts or those of other creative people because I just don’t feel like any of them are real.

And so … I got this email a few days ago:

Dear Mark Paxson,

I hope you’re doing well.

My name is XXXXX, and I am a Host and Producer at XXXX, the XXXXX pioneer public radio station. We are known for our deep roots in the community and our commitment to thoughtful, sound-rich storytelling.

We are currently curating our upcoming segments for XXXX, our “pocket-sized book tour” that highlights distinctive voices and compelling new works. Your novel, Good Grooming and a Healthy Respect for Authority, stood out to us for its sharp, subversive wit and its “National Lampoon”-esque skewering of the American coming-of-age narrative.

What particularly caught our attention was:

  • The “Lost Weekend” Framework: The 1980s setting of Enon, Ohio, serving as a backdrop for a drug-and-alcohol-addled resurrection of a decade often viewed through a more sanitized lens.
  • The Dynamic of Disillusionment: The relationship between Frank and Slord—one returning from college and the other a local pot dealer—and how their “caustic lampooning” lays bare the punctured dreams of youth.
  • The Anti-Authoritarian Tone: Your “genuinely funny” critique of national touchstones, from the etiquette of Miss Manners to the perceived complicity of the American public-school system.
  • The Darwinian Social Satire: The “Darwinian, survival-of-the-fittest” business-based concerns you explore, highlighting the hypocrisy often found in the defense of “wholesome” American values.

The proposed segment would explore:

  • The inspiration behind your work and your approach to writing a “provocative comic novel” that serves as an antidote to traditional storytelling.
  • A brief reading of a key passage to give our listeners a “taste” of your “fabulous natural writing ability” and the book’s sharp humor.
  • How your themes of rebellion against middle-American stalwarts and the selling out of ideals resonate with the counter-cultural and historically inquisitive audience of the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • The impact you hope this “subversive” tale has on readers who have felt at odds with societal expectations.

KALW is widely respected for its arts and culture programming, including our award-winning daily magazine Crosscurrents. We believe your insights would resonate strongly with our listeners, who value intellectual curiosity and authentic, unapologetic storytelling.

Our segments are engaging, conversational, and designed to bridge the gap between authors and the community. We are flexible with scheduling and would be delighted to feature you in an upcoming Tuesday broadcast at a time that suits you.

It would be a pleasure to share your voice and this “provocative” narrative with our audience.

Looking forward to the possibility of connecting.

Best regards,

I initially thought I would try to hide the identity of “who” sent this to me, but then I realized that if this is a scam, she is innocent and just as much of a victim as I am. So, I’m going to try to keep her name and the radio station’s name out of this. To protect the innocent.

Here are the problems with that opening email:

  1. I didn’t write that book. It’s written by somebody else who goes by Mark S. Paxson. I feel like I heard about this book at some point within the last few years, but could not find it on my Kindle. I’m the type of person who would download the book just to see who this person with my name is (I do have a different middle initial).
  2. The book is over 900 pages long and is not a “new arrival.” It was first published in 2022 and appears to have been “republished” last month. The book has a grand total of one review that I could find.
  3. How could a public radio station that wants to highlight good writing, local authors, etc., have found this book and decided to feature it?
  4. The signature block includes two different email addresses and a website. One email address is for the radio station, and the website is for the radio station. The other email address is the regular email address with @gmail.com added to the end. Which is also the email address from the sender who sent me the email.

So, I responded…

Not sure if this is real. Has the look of an email drafted by AI. 

But regardless, that is not my book. And it isn’t a New Arrival. It was published in 2022. 

If you’d like to discuss the books I’ve published, I’d be happy to have that conversation. 

Mark

Seriously, I think that first email was almost entirely drafted by AI. It just has that feel. I also sent her a link to a review of my most recent novella to try to get her focused on my books. Here is the response I got:

Thank you for your response and for pointing that out. I appreciate the correction, and I apologize for the mix up regarding the book and publication timeline. Thank you as well for sending the review of The Jump. I had the opportunity to read through it, and the story and themes sound very compelling, especially the psychological tension and character driven focus.

I would be very interested in discussing The Jump and your work more broadly rather than focusing on one specific title. Our New Arrivals segments often turn into conversations about an author’s writing journey, themes across their books, and the ideas behind their stories, so I think that could make for a very engaging conversation with our audience.

If you are open to it, I would be happy to schedule a time for a short recorded interview conversation for an upcoming Tuesday broadcast. We are flexible with timing and can work around your schedule.

Thank you again for your time, and I hope we can make this work.

The thing is, I don’t think the review I shared with her mentioned psychological tension or character driven focus at all. So I have no idea where she got that from. In response, I told her I would be interested. But while I was responding to her, I was also doing a little more research into the radio station and the program. When I told her I was interested, here was her response:

That’s great to hear, I’m glad you’re open to moving forward.

Before we lock in a time, I’d love to gather a few materials so I can prepare properly and make the conversation as thoughtful and engaging as possible for our listeners:

Book PDF or ARC so I can read and prepare tailored questions
Author Bio a short professional bio around 100 to 200 words for your on air introduction
Discussion Topics or Talking Points any themes or ideas you would especially like to highlight
Availability and Scheduling Details what days and times work best for you and whether you prefer live or pre recorded
Social Media Handles or Website for listener engagement and promotion
Purchase Links so we can direct listeners on where to find your book
Press Release or Media Kit if available, just for additional context

Also, just to mention briefly, there are some small logistical arrangements on our end that help us coordinate production and scheduling smoothly. We can go over that together once we align on the details so everything feels comfortable and clear on both sides.

For now, let’s keep things here and continue working through the details step by step until we settle on a time that works well.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

I have to admit here that I gave her the requested information, but very shortly after realized this was probably a scam.

The show she was referencing — New Arrivals — didn’t have a new episode in the last five months. All of the episodes I listened to from the radio station’s archives were just two minutes of an author reading from a recently published work. There was no interview. No discussion of their writing journey. Just an excerpt read by the author.

I sent a message to the CEO of the radio station and asked if he could confirm this was real. He never replied.

On Wednesday, I sent her an email letting her know I had changed my mind and would not be proceeding. She asked me why so that she could improve her outreach to authors in the future. I replied with:

There are scams everywhere and there are endless scams directed at writers and other creative types. I don’t think you’re a legitimate offer. Multiple reasons for that.

Please do not continue to email me.

Did she honor my request? Of course not. Within a very short period of time, I got the following:

Thank you for your honesty, and I completely respect your request not to continue emailing.

If you’re willing, I would really appreciate understanding a bit more about what made this feel illegitimate to you. Your feedback would help me improve how I reach out to authors in the future.

I have not replied. If I did, I would say something like “I believe you’re a scam, why would I help you?”

What bothers me is that the person claims to be a reporter for a public radio station producing a show that features local writers and she doesn’t seem to do any research or due diligence. For instance, at no time did she ask me if I was local to the region her radio station and her program represents. And when I pointed out I wasn’t the author of the book she initially referenced, she was more than willing to shift gears and feature me, without any hesitation, without any inquiry about me and my qualifications. It was just too easy.

So … what do you think?

A Follow-Up To Our Last Chat

— Mark Paxson

Towards the end of our last video chat, I mentioned a new initiative Saffron Asteria is attempted over at Indiosyncrasy. If you click on that link, you’ll see that Saffron is updating the website and making it bigger and better than it ever was.

What I mentioned in the video chat is that Saffron is working on becoming a printer in support of indie authors. I talked with her about it a few days after we recorded the video chat and it sounds like a great opportunity for indies who want to take over a little more control of printing and distributing their books.

This is something I’ve thought about off and on over the years as I struggle with finding an audience for my books. What I’ve thought of doing is selling copies directly through my own website, or just posting the stories there for people to read for free. For the former, I would still need a printing option and that is where Saffron comes in.

She has access to a printing company and is working on providing printing services to indies. She has done so with one book so far and will be slooooooow rolling it out to other writers in 2026 and beyond. Why sloooooooow rolling it? Because the woman can only do so much.

There may be different options available for indies. For instance, if you think you can sell 200 books on your own, you can order 200 books and she’ll ship them to you. Or, if you don’t want to deal with distribution, she’ll send the books out for you.

Because the scale Saffron can operate on is tiny compared to Amazon or Draft2Digital, her prices will be higher. Based on the information she gave me, the cost to print will be around 50% higher. So, it won’t make for cheaper books, but it will make for having more control and Amazon not getting its cut.

Something for you to think about.

One more thing, I’m aware of other changes Saffron is making to the Indiosyncrasy website. There is lots of good stuff coming, so you should keep taking a look to see what’s coming.

A Writing Prompt

When we started this blog, one of the things I wanted to do is offer writing prompts and exercises. There is even a tab for it on the home page. That is a feature that really didn’t take off. But let me try again.

There is a story behind this prompt. A few days ago I made chili verde, a dish I’ve been making pretty regularly for years now. The recipe is unlike 99% of the chili verde you will find at Mexican restaurants, which is usually tomatillo based. I’m not a fan of the tomatillo tang. Fortunately, I found a recipe that is entirely peppers. (I’ll share it below.)

When I make it, I use a 4 pound chunk of pork shoulder, which means I need to cut it up into bite size chunks and trim off some of the fat. Invariably, I’ll cut a finger while doing so. For years, my younger son was in charge of getting the bandaids for me when I cut myself while cooking. Unfortunately, he was not home. Nobody else was home.

I posted a picture of the uncut slab of pork with pictures of the filet knife and butcher knife next to it. The caption: Get the bandaids ready.

And there is your prompt … Get the bandaids ready.

Use it as a first sentence, a last sentence, or anywhere between. And if you feel like sharing your story here, feel free to do in the comments.

Here is my Chili Verde recipe:

4 lbs of pork shoulder/butt, cut into bite size chunks

One yellow or white onion, roughly chopped

3 jalapenos, roughly chopped (the biggest problem with making a consistent chili verde is the variability of the spice in store-bought jalapenos. Occasionally I’ll add a serrano or two or more than 3 jalapenos)

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

12 Anaheim Chiles (or 3 8 oz cans of whole Chiles), roughly chopped.

Chicken broth (how much? I’ll get to that in the instructions)

Cumin

Oregano

Handful of cilantro, chopped

Salt

Pepper

If you buy fresh Anaheim Chiles, char them in the oven, over an open flame, or on the BBQ. they need to be charred sufficiently enough to be able to peel the skin off. Once charred, put in a bowl, cover and let steam for a bit. Then, under cold water, peel the skin off and get rid of the seeds. If you’re unwilling to do this, buy the canned Chiles.

In a Dutch oven or large pot, pour a little olive oil and brown the pork in batches. Remove the pork and pour out the liquid that has accumulated, add some more olive oil and saute the onions, jalapenos and garlic until they’re soft. Add the Anaheim Chiles and pork. Season with cumin and oregano and salt and pepper. I’d say I probably use a couple of tsps of cumin and oregano. Add chicken broth to cover everything. The last time I made this, I used 4 cups of broth and then added a Mexican beer.

Let simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The key is that there will eventually be more liquid than you need. About half way through, I start to remove some of that liquid a half cup at a time.

Eventually, all of the veggies will break down and form a sauce or gravy. Lately, at the end (once the veggies have all broken down, I’ve started adding some flour and water (or cornstarch and water) to thicken the sauce. I want it to coat the pork when I serve it.

And at the very end, add a handful of cilantro to the whole thing.

And that’s it.

A Book I’m Reading

— Mark Paxson

One of the “rules” of writing that I’ve never paid much attention to is that your characters have to be likable. I’ve actually tried to make sure that my narrators, or main characters, are less than perfect. That they have qualities that are likable and some that aren’t. Because, that’s real life.

I really don’t like it when characters are perfect, and there are certain genres where that seems to be a requirement. I’m thinking Clancy novels are a good example of this. The U.S. spies or agents are always right, never wrong. Always hit the bad guy and never get hit themselves. It just kind of gets boring after a while.

But I’ve rarely read a book where the narrator or main character(s) got so unlikeable that I didn’t care anymore. I’m not sure I ever have.

Sure, I’ve had DNFs. Plenty of them. But I don’t think it was ever about an unlikable character. It’s just that there is something about the story that has left me uninterested in continuing. My best DNF came with a book I read around 10-12 years ago. I read it and read it and read it, and then about ten pages from the end, I decided I just really didn’t care about how it ended. Those last ten pages weren’t worth it to me. So, I stopped reading.

I believe I’m about to give up on my first book because the narrator has become so unlikable I simply don’t care. About the story. About him. About anything that is to come. And it’s a shame. This book is considered a classic. It takes place during the Civil War — one of my favorite eras of history to read about.

But the narrator of The Red Badge of Courage is just horrible. I’m about 2/3 of the way through the book and I’m 99% sure I won’t be going back to the book again. I’ve got plenty of other stuff to read.

What about you … as a reader, how do you feel about characters who are unlikable? Do you want perfect characters? What types of things cause you to DNF?

What about as a writer? What’s your objective with your characters? If somebody DNF’d one of your books, would you want to know why?