I may have been contacted by another scammer on Bluesky, but I'm recognising the pattern now.
Step 1: Alleged fellow author contacts me
Step 2: We talk shop for a bit
Step 3: They mention their amazing friend who's a marketing expert and will for sure help people notice my books
Step 4: They provide a contact detail for their amazing friend
Step 5: If pushed, they provide some proof of their prowess that might pass cursory inspection by someone who doesn't have a lot of time
Unfortunately for them, I have a lot of time. And I was able to really question the proof I was given. A professional-looking website with not a lot of information and exactly six testimonials allegedly by authors who used their services. The site looked brand new. Some of the authors have been doing their business since the 1970's.
I doubt this brand new publicist was working with people who've been working almost longer than I've been alive.
Then I took a closer look at their logo and...
AI ARTEFACTS
yeah this was for sure a scam. Fuck that shit.
So I called out the original contact about it and thoroughly expect them and their account to vanish shortly thereafter.
Patreon posts until I have to launch for Experts, and the rest of the nonsense when I get back from the shopping expedition on the way back. I have a metric fuckbunch of things to stock up on.
Onwards, ever onwards.