Fellow Author?

Fellow Author

Hello to all,

I opened Facebook and saw a new comment below a recent post. The statement reads, “Greetings, fellow author. It is a pleasure to see your marvelous book, which touched my heart. I would love to connect with you to discuss the future for your book.”

This simple statement implies that the person read my book, they are also an author, and they can help with my book moving forward. I click on their author page to see that it was created within the past month, it has no links other than to Amazon, and the About is empty. The photo file only contains two images and two more edited versions of them. Half their friends work for Fiverr or another freelance site. The other half consists of authors following them, some of whom tried to defraud me in the past.

I make comments on other authors’ posts and have never mentioned being an author in the mention. Actual authors comment on my post and never start with, “As a fellow author.” Whenever I see in the comments, “My fellow author,” the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight out, screaming scammer.

Most pseudo-authors do not wish to talk openly and want you to DM them. Like Dracula, the light of day burns their message. They scurry back into the darkness before going up in flames. One took the moniker of F. Scott Fitzgerald and listed two of his books on the page. I told him his comment is intriguing, given that he has been dead for eighty years. I did not have to block him. The page disappeared.

I would never start a conversation with, “Fellow author?” It seems pretentious at best, condescending at worst. Please be careful when diving through social media. A plethora of so-called “Fellow Authors’ looking to take advantage of you roam the internet.

He Has Risen,

Danny Mac