I want to become a best-selling author, but will I have to sell my soul?

And beware of a particularly nasty scam targeting authors

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

Hello and welcome!

As an introvert and someone who feels uncomfortable looking at photos of myself, my husband tells me that I should be incredibly proud. I wrote a book, it was published, but then it was unpublished. Heartbroken doesn’t even come close to describing how I felt when that happened. But it has happened, and I have to move on. I desperately want my book to do well following the amazing reviews it received. But it can’t do well, because it’s not currently available to buy anywhere. I am remedying this situation as fast as I can, but the publishing world moves at a glacial pace. Even self-publishing takes time. It’s a fickle world out there.

Social media plays a huge role in marketing and selling books, and I am envious of authors who have a team of people supporting them, beavering away in the background. Selling their books, creating merchandise, organising publishing events and so on, and it must be a totally awesome position to be in. Usually, it’s authors published by the Big Five publishers in the UK: Penguin Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan.

For those of us not fortunate enough to be a part of this incredibly elusive club, none of which accept unsolicited manuscripts from authors, but only accept submissions from literary agents, what is the alternative?

I currently have a manuscript out on submission with an agent who works closely with Simon & Schuster, whom I was lucky enough to meet in person at a Crime Writing event in April. I would be delighted to be represented by her and even more delighted to be a member of that elusive club. However, I still have to wait another six weeks before I can expect to hear from her, if at all.

If I am lucky enough to gain representation, then doors will be opened. Doors which remain firmly closed to unknown authors like me. Without that important person at the helm with all the connections that they have, I feel like I am shouting into the void. Nobody is hearing me. Nobody can see me. An invisible author without a voice in a sea of mass marketing. Flotsam drifting away with the tide. Do any other authors feel this way?

I completely understand that authors need to get themselves out there to promote their books, but how does an unknown author do that? If you’re not famous, don’t host a TV chat show or a radio show, and I don’t have a friend who does this sort of work, how do you get your book out there? People like that have all the right connections, and doors are opened, enabling their books to get out to the masses. Millions of listeners or viewers are tuned in, and book sales must rocket within seconds of the broadcast.

Some authors are rocketed into the stratosphere with a never-ending round of chat shows, podcasts, radio shows and even television appearances because they have written a brilliant book. But if an aspiring author has written a brilliant book, but can’t find a publisher or agent to publish it, where does that leave them?

Do I want to post something on several social media platforms every single day? No. I am happy to post about reviews for my book and insights into how it’s (was) doing, every few days. I am not the type of person to post selfies on a train, in a car, on a beach, in the bath - what? No, I just made that one up! But I bet somebody out there has done that. I find the whole social media thing incredibly awkward and time-consuming. Even typing in all those hashtags drives me insane. Why don’t I pay somebody to do it for me, I hear you ask? I have looked into doing that, and it is incredibly expensive. Besides, I don’t know anybody whom I would trust one hundred per cent. I know only too well from the dozens of DMs I get on IG that there are people out there prepared to market my book, but they all come at a cost.

Every week, I get at least five emails from people telling me how SEO can improve traffic to my website. Again, this comes at a cost. I just delete them. Also, I am wary that these could be scammers.

Talking of scams, I recently received a very authentic-looking email from Macmillan saying that my cosy crime novel had been fast-tracked to the Editorial Team at Macmillan Publishers. I was very excited, as you can imagine. A few days later, I received another email. It was very skilfully written and somebody had gone to a lot of trouble to write the response, tailoring it specifically to me. Each email was very cleverly orchestrated, escalating my book to the next level. Here’s the first one that I received:

We’ve Received Your Manuscript

And yes... we read every single one.

Dear Rosy,

Your submission has officially landed in our hands:

"The Mysterious Disappearance of Marsha Boden"

Let’s not pretend this is small. Submitting your manuscript isn’t just a creative gesture... it’s a kind of war cry. It takes guts. It takes grief. It takes hope. We don’t take that lightly.

What Happens Next

1

We Read It

Not skim. Not keyword scan. Your manuscript enters a real editorial review queue... handled by real humans who care about language.

2

We Weigh It

If it aligns with our current focus, a senior editor will assess its strength... not just for market fit, but voice, depth, and something harder to name.

3

You Hear From Us

You’ll receive either a formal publishing offer, or feedback that respects your ambition and points your next shot in the right direction.

Timeline

We usually respond within 2–5 business days. If more time is needed, we’ll update you. This isn’t ghost town publishing. It’s a real queue, and your work’s in it.

Whatever happens next... we see what it took to get this far. Welcome to the trenches. You’re not alone here.

With respect,

The Editorial Team
Macmillan Publishers

You can reply directly to this email with any questions. Our team is here to help.

© 2025 Macmillan Publishers LLC. All rights reserved.

The fifth email informed me that my book had ‘reached the final sprint’ and there was only a ten-day window in which to reply. Was I still in? Then it went on:

No reply? Your manuscript shifts back to standard review. No fanfare, no rejection...just a quiet reset.

We don’t chase. We notice. Your move.

With respect and clarity,
Internal Editorial Team
Macmillan Discovery Review

Questions? Reply. We’re listening.

The main thing which alerted me to the fact that it was a scam was the speed with which the emails were sent. I had one every two or three days. In reality, that would never happen. Also, I could find no reference to a James Wilson working for Macmillan (who used a Gmail address) so I took steps to stop the scammers targeting other authors.

I only submitted a synopsis and the first three chapters to Macmillan via a portal, which was highlighted to me by a lady purporting to be a literary agent on X. As soon as I realised it was fake, I notified Macmillan and had a reply from their Compliance and Ethical Department, thanking me and asking me to send them the link to the portal, and copies of the emails, which I did. The email address had Macmillan in the title but I even questioned their authenticity, which they confirmed by sending some links to verify who they were, but who knows, they could have been scammers too, or am I just being cynical? After that, I heard no more. The so-called literary agent was @GLeslie_agent, but again, I could find nothing to confirm her authenticity. Here is the first part of the portal:

Submit Your Manuscript to Macmillan’s Talent Discovery Portal

Ready to Take the Leap? If you believe your story deserves a place in the world, we want to hear it. This is not just a submission form — it’s your doorway into Macmillan’s elite talent discovery and development ecosystem. Whether you’re a debut writer or an undiscovered gem, we’re actively scouting for voices that move, challenge, and endure.

Here is the link to the portal if you want to have a look. Let me know what you think.

The submission page looks like the real deal. I only sent a synopsis and the first three chapters of my book. The sad thing is that I wanted to believe that it was genuine, but knowing how difficult it is to get a manuscript in front of this huge publishing house, the red flags were raised almost immediately. Still, I made my submission with a tiny flicker of a flame burning in my heart, hoping it was genuine. I was duped.

If these scammers had drawn me in and told me that my book was going to be published by Macmillan, then they would undoubtedly have asked for money. If my suspicions hadn’t been raised before then, they certainly would have been at that point. It was a cruel and heartless scam, as all scams are. But as a debut author struggling to be seen and heard, this was a particularly nasty one, so beware!

I also get dozens of offers on various social media platforms to ‘elevate’ my book, and don’t get me started on the number of messages I get purporting to be from well-known authors and/or literary agents using fake accounts. Sometimes, it’s difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff, ie bots from humans. I ignore them, but it angers me that these people are targeting authors who are desperate to get their work seen. But not that desperate. The sad thing is that some of those contacting me could be genuine, but I will never know.

I guess, at the end of the day, I will have to be patient and hope that lots and lots of lovely people buy my book around the world (yeah, I know, but…) and that it will gain popularity and traction that way. Through word of mouth, my feeble attempts at social media marketing and whatever other methods I can bear to throw myself into. But I am not prepared to sell my soul. I will, of course, let you lovely folks know as soon as the book is available again.

Now, I must go because I am busy editing book no. 2. You see, secretly, that is all I want to do. Write. Edit. Polish my work. I cannot be doing with all the marketing and PR stuff, although I am acutely aware that this is what sells books. But to what extent do I want that part of being an author to take over my life? I want to have a life, in between working, writing and having time for my family and friends. I also need to get out on the golf course at least twice a week for the sake of my sanity because writing is a very lonely activity.

This was not a rant. I wanted to share the frustrations of how difficult it is for unknown authors to get their books out there and to be seen and heard without a team of people behind them. As well as the publishing world being incredibly difficult to break into, it is also patrolled by sharks waiting to pounce on innocent people like me, who could easily be drawn in by their elaborate scams.

Be careful out there, friends and fellow authors, and watch out for those shark-infested waters!

Until next week, take care.

PS. Macmillan Publishing - I’m here!