Since my book, Be Brave. Lose the Beige: Finding Your Sass After Sixty, was published in 2023 by She Writes Press, I’ve been besieged by “book agents”, “public relations consultants”, and various other online solicitors promising to increase the visibility of my “insightful and well written” book. “Congratulations! Your work has been getting a lot of attention lately and I’m so excited to share that your book will be featured in our firm’s marketing campaign which targets passionate readers and true book lovers.”

I tend to ignore these sycophantic queries but confess to falling prey to one recently. I doubt if I am alone in craving attention and recognition for my writing. I spend an inordinate amount of time sculpting with words and it is gratifying when someone notices. So, when David Hartley with the Glasgow Book Club, invited me to a virtual author’s spotlight with their readers, “a space for a real conversation about your journey and the story behind your book,” I succumbed to the praise and replied with an eager, “sure!” He requested visual materials including a book trailer and scan banner. I happily complied, enlisting my Canva app to create this flyer.

I emailed the visual aid only to hear crickets in reply. “I will email you a link to Google Meet in advance of our session,” he had promised in one of our four email exchanges. Thirty minutes prior to the appointed hour, my lipstick applied and hair quaffed, I sat waiting for my access link. Which never came. Nor did an email explanation. I instantly flashed back to an earlier dating era when the prevailing anxiety was being “all dressed up and no place to go,” following a last-minute cancellation.

According to Dan Berry, in his February, 2026 article for the New York Times,

“It turns out that the fawning emails are mere specks in a virtual mudslide of fraud descending upon the publishing world. Scam artists overseas, using artificial intelligence, are impersonating publishing figures on illegitimate websites and in flattering emails, to hoodwink both fledgling and established authors into paying fees for services never to be rendered.”

I didn’t want to admit to friends and family, to whom I had bragged about my international invitation, that I had been stood up. Shame seems to be an integral part of the creative process. That was my initial reaction. Shame. And then I used my words to heal my humiliation. I wrote this story and shared it with everyone I know and don’t yet know. Creativity is rendering oneself vulnerable. Honest expression of creativity, however, is worth it and leads to a healthier, richer inner life.

Please write me about your experiences in the publishing/writing world.