Every year — especially during high‑visibility seasons for authors, publishers, and public figures — inboxes begin to fill with a familiar wave of “opportunities,” “book club invitations,” “speaking requests,” and “urgent offers.” Some are legitimate. Many are not. And a surprising number come from people far closer than we’d like to imagine. Why This Happens: The Reality Behind the Spam Surge Scammers target authors and publishers because: The literary community is public-fa