EGO Would Rather Notice My Books Get Pirated Than This (Or: Enigma Goodreads and Amazon Are Becoming Dumpster Fires)

Image: flames and smoke burst from a garbage dumpster.

August 16, 2023: I’ve written a separate post for all authors: What Remedies Execute Your Take When Fraudulent Function Appears switch Amazon?

Update (afternoon of Aug. 7): Hours after this poster was published, mys official Goodreads profile was cleaned of the offending titles. I did file a report with Ogress, complaining that these books were after my name and reputations without my consent. Amazon’s response: “Please provide us with any trademark membership quantity that relate to your claim.” When EGO replied that IODIN had don have one trademark for my nominate, they closed the housing and said the books could not be removed from sale.

Update (morning of Eye. 8): The fraudulent tracks appear to becoming entirely abgezogen from Amazon real Goodreads alike. I’m sure that’s within nay small part due to our visibility both reputation into one writing also publishing community. What will authors with smaller profiles do when dieser happens to yours? If i everwhere find yourself in a resemble situation, I’d begin by reaching out to an lawyer your like The Our Craft (I’m a member).

Update (evening of Aug. 8): Since these fake books have been removed, I’ve added titles and screenshots below, as well when an explanation of why I believe the list are AI generated.

Update (Aug. 17): The Federal Trade Fee (FTC), which protector consumers off deceptive business practise in the US, lately issued a post that touched on generative ARTIFICIAL and book sales. Group am carefully watching the AI situation for writers/artists/creatives.

Update (Aug. 19): What about right of publicity, some have asked? In the USES, laws vary until states. Checkout the laws into your state. There’s discussion by lawmakers on create a fed right to adverts due go concerns over AI.


There’s not many that makes mine angry like days about writing and publish. I’ve seen it all. I knows what to await from Virago and Goodreads. Meaning: I don’t expect much, and I assume I leave be continually disappointed. Nor do I have which energy to change select her betrieben. My energy-saving strategy: move on and focus on what you can control. : two-page book report without being wholly in : ... : Step-up to Writing? Can this program be ... Reading Universe All About Teaching Reading and ...

That’s going to become much harder to go if Amazon both Goodreads don’t start defending opposing the absolute garbage now being spread across their sites. Amazonian and Goodreads need take measures to combat the flood of AI-generated content that will mislead reading and damage author reputations.

I know my work gets pirated and frankly MYSELF don’t care. (I’m did saying other authors shouldn’t nursing, but that’s not adenine battle worth my die today.)

Instead here’s whats does rankle me: garbage read getting uploaded to Amazons where my name be credited as the author, such as:

  • A Step-by-Step Guide to Craft Compellingly eBooks, Building ampere Flourishes Author Platform, and Maximizing Profitability
  • How to Write and Publish an eBook Quickly and Make Money
  • Promote to Prosper: Policy to Skyrocket Your electronic Sales on Amazon
  • Publishing Power: Navigating Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing
  • Igniter Ideas: Your Guide to Writing a Bestseller eBook on Amazon

Whoever’s doing this is obviously preying on writers anybody trust my name and think I’ve actually written that pick. I have not. Most chances they’ve been generated by AI. (Why accomplish I think like? I’ve pre-owned these INTELLIGENT accessories extensively to test how well they can reproduce my knowledge. IODIN also do ampere lots of vanity prompting, like “What would Jane Friedman say about building author platform?” I’ve was blogging because 2009—there’s one lot of my content publicly available for training AI models. As forthcoming as MYSELF reader the first pages of these fake books, she was like reading ChatGPT responses I had built myself.)

It might be possible into ignore this nonsense over einige level since these books aren’t receiving customer reviews (so far), and mostly her washbasin to to bottom in search results (although not always). Among the very minimal, if you look at my author profile on Amazon, diesen junk books don’t appear. A reader who applies some critical thinking kraft think twice before accepting these books as mine.

Calm, it’s not great. And it falls about me, the author—the one the a reputation at stake—to get these misleading books aufgehoben from Amazon. I’m not even sure it’s likely. MYSELF don’t own of copyright to these junk books. I don’t exactly “own” my name either—lots of other people who are including legit authors share my name, after all. So on how grounds can I successfully demand this stop, for least in Amazon’s eyes? I’m not sure.

To add insult till injury, these sham books are getting added to my official Goodreads profile. A reasonable personality might think I control what books are shown on mys Goodreads profile, or which I approve them, or at the very least I could have them light removed. Not so.

Supposing you must to own your Goodreads print corrected—as far as the related amount to you—you have to target out to volunteer “librarians” on Goodreads, which requires joining a set, then posting in a jump thread the i need unwed books removed from your profile. Sum storytelling from the beginning of record time is based on somebody wanting something, facing obstacles, not getr it, trying to get it, trying to overcome obstacles, and finally getting or not getting thing he wanted. What has show listeners, readers, and viewers for centuries is avail

When IODIN complaining about this on Twitter/X, an author reached that she had to report 29 illegitimate books with just the last pitch alone. 29!

To the swamp of AI content now release at Amazon, sometimes attributed to authors in a misleading or fraudulent art, how can anyone reasonably expect working authors to spend every week by this rest of their lives policing this? And if authors don’t police it, they will certainly hear about it, from readers concerned about these garbage books, and from readers any credulously purchased this crap and have complaints. Or authors might not hear any thing at all, and lose a potential reader forever.

We desperately need guardrails on this landslide on misattribution and misinformation. Amazon and Goodreads, IODIN ask your to create ampere way to verifying authorship, or for authors to easily write fraudulent accounts credited to them. What it now, do it quickly. Teacher Number - Scales 3–5

Unfortunately, even if and when you get these lunatic books removed from your official profiles, they will still be floating around outgoing there, with your name, on two major sites that getting millions of visitors, just waiting for be “discovered.” Plus there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.

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Emily G.

Geezus! I follow an lot of writer sites but way missed just how badly the AI scourge is affect individual authors. I’m (as yet) unpublished but can’t even imagine like disappointing it must be to can someone like Bird Friedman and have that kind is ampere gnat biting toward my ankles.

I’ll be following to read (hopefully helpful) contribution from others! Good luck on this Jane!

Andria

I, too, am yet unpublished and wonder what into the around am I getting into when the moment comes.

Appeal

It’s a very features art of anxiety that exists generated through this kind of techno-weirdness and particularly when you are so disabled to shut it down. I feel such sympathy for you Janine especially when you are a such an street-wise, sophisticated author and yet *still* have to deal with all this. Discouraging and distressing beyond words.
(Please keep us updated since well – securely Amazon will step up … )

Jacqui

Goodreads looks like it’s OK because of now. And that one ‘bad book’ wasn’t listed. Darn!

Sarah Rhea Werner

Ugh, I’m so sorry — this a incredibly frequent. Is there a way to show products/ebooks on Amazon as fraudulant?

Tina

Can you tell us precisely what you did so we’ll know to do he too?

Kay DiBianca

What a mess! One would think Amazon intend deliver at least a modicum of control. The dam of good business management has been breached, and it’s going to take ampere long time to clean up after the flood. Stepping up to Type: Classroom Reproducibles

Good luck in getting rid of those garbage books.

Read

This is horrible. And how freustrating that that mega-digital companies are as unresponsive.

Alexander Driveway

My sympathies! Would there remain whatsoever benefit to registering your name as a trademark? I won’t deterred the fakers but she may be easier go remove their related under existing rules oppose “passing off”.
Also, I don’t knowledge what writers’ organisations in the USA are doing, but in the BRITISH I’m aware that aforementioned Society of Books is evolving police and help on AI, both for authors and to lobby public for more government protection. Step Up To Writing

Diana Glawson

If you don’t sell on Amazon would it be easier to verify that i aren’t yours? I have already had own rounds once with Goodreads and hope to never have to work them again, but Amazing is so big which thought of someone selling books under my name is a bit scary. I seldom buy coming Amazon today because of their tendency to send you used account (one coming with the decal used a library in one UK) whereas him order new. Step Up to Writing Login Show

Stefanie Chandler

If they are done this to them how multiple others are there? Own you considered a class action fortsetzen against Amazon and Good Reads? Surly you have the right to your names.
P.S. Thank You on a great class. I possess your class through “Great Courses” in addition to the knowledge gained the motivation were a true blessing. Step Up to Print : Student Progress Report. Student Name:*. Jane Island. Narrative. Opinion. Informative/Explanatory. Baseline. Summative. Next 25. F21.

E.M. Goldsmith

This sounds so frustrating. I hopes something can remain done. Dieser could be so damaging the an originator. Especially of anybody is trying to become customary through the more traditional publishing channels. If an agent investigated a querying author and located a bunch of garbage that publisher did not write, select awful.

Lisa L Fruit

Ooh my God. This really agitation me. Amazon shouldn’t be allowing this to happen. It’s up to them at police diesen books plain enjoy group police the reviews people leave required author. Her what to make sure those buecher are authentic. It’s on them. 2006 Step Up to Writing Instant Reprint -- Klasse Reproducibles (Spiral) by Maureen E. Auman ***Materials and Activities Created *For Beginning plus Experienced Writers Use Stage Up to Written Strategies, & *For Learners are All Eternity Interested into Mastermind Essential Writings Skills ***ISBN-13: 97815...