The phone call
Last week, out of the blue, I received a telephone call. I was being invited to do a television interview about my book. I am always skeptical about these opportunities that appear out of thin air. As an over thinker, but I like think twice before paying for interviews or book reviews.
The young woman explained that this was a was legitimate of offer. It was an interview with Logan Crawford on SPOTLIGHT TV. She invited me to look it up online while we were on the phone. I was not familiar with Logan Crawford, but I learned that he is an actor and Emmy Award winning broadcaster.
Spotlight TV
Spotlight TV according to their website states that it is a “powerful digital streaming infrastructure. It has its own Roku TV channel, It’s own Fire TV Channel, and it’s own Apple TV Channel. It further states that its programming is available on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo, and more. The Spotlight Network is positioned to globally showcase original, curated, and sponsored content. It is a “Spotlight” for authors, inventors, filmmakers, experts, actors, creators, musicians, singers, songwriters, performers, and trend setters.
More information, please
I was still a little confused about what, exactly, was going on, I asked some questions. “Which book?” I asked, “And where did you get my name?” The young woman was unsure about which book. She stated they had received my name from my publisher’s press release. Since I do not currently have a publisher or a recent press release, I am now a little suspicious. She told me since I have written several books, I should pick the one I was most excited to share.
I told her I was pretty skeptical about the whole thing and I would pass on the opportunity. She persisted and mentioned she would send me more information in an email. She would include links to where I could watch an interview, and she would call back the next day. I agreed this was a good idea.
Follow up call
She never confirmed my email address and I never received the information or link. She did call me back the next day as promised. During our conversation she mentioned that the interview would cost me $1,000.
The young woman did emphasize the fact that my book sales would increase because of this interview. She said it is a wonderful, affordable way for independent and self published authors, to get their stories out there. The reality is I would probably get book sales, but not enough to cover the $1,000. The young woman also told me that I would get a video clip to post to my website. I politely declined.
Thoughts …
It is a good rule of thumb to think twice before paying for interviews. For me, during our brief phone conversations, there were several red flags.
The first red flag was the phone call. The call was made to my landline, not my cell phone. Wouldn’t someone who was really interested in an interview, do their homework and reach out through my website, email or contact page?
The second red flag was she did not know which of my books she was calling about. Since she had no idea what book she was calling about, she covered nicely by asking me to select a book. Again, if you were really interested wouldn’t you have something nice to say about the book?
Third flag was the statement about the press release. Did she know something I didn’t know? I do not currently have a publisher or a recent press release.
Logan Crawford with Spotlight with Logan Crawford make some of the most frequent appearances on scammer websites. Is this a scam? I leave that for you to decide.
Anne R. Allen has written a blog post where she shared some of the scams she has encountered. The post is a year old, but she also mentions Logan Crawford.
If you are concerned about writing scams a great resource is Writer Beware. Writer Beware blog shines a bright light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls.
With gratitude …
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