Impersonation Warning

Scam warning: people are impersonating Dead Ink editors

We’ve become aware that someone is contacting writers by email while pretending to be members of the Dead Ink team. Here’s how to tell whether an email really comes from us:

• Check the sender’s address. Genuine emails from our team only come from addresses ending in [@deadinkbooks.com]. Look closely: scammers often use addresses that look almost identical, with a missing letter, an extra word or a different ending, or use free services like Gmail or Outlook.
• We never charge writers. Dead Ink will never ask you to pay for editing, publication, marketing or anything else connected to publishing your book. Any request for money is a scam.
• We don’t make unsolicited offers. We don’t approach writers out of the blue with deals for work we haven’t received through our submissions process or an agent and any first instance contact from Dead Ink would request to speak to your literary agent first. 
• Check the name. Our current team is listed on the contact page of this website. If the person isn’t there, they don’t work for us. If you are unsure if someone is impersonating someone on our team, as has been happening, please contact that person directly using the details listed on this website. 
• Be wary of pressure. Tight deadlines, requests to keep things confidential, or pushes to sign or pay quickly are warning signs.

If an email fails any of these checks, don’t reply, click links, open attachments or share personal or bank details. If you’ve already paid someone or shared personal information, contact your bank straight away and report it to Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040).

For more details on literary and publishing scams please check out https://writerbeware.blog/