Scam Type
Other Scam
Business Name Used
Unavailable
Date Reported
August 24, 2023
Postal Code
None
Total Dollars Lost
$ 30
Scam Description
The scammer pretended to sponsor a novel competition through Submittable.com. The competition was called the Sterling ***** ******** New Books 3rd Annual Malcolm Lowry Novel Competition. I was charged a $30 “reading fee” to submit my manuscript. After a year of not hearing back about the competition results, I sent a message to the “publisher” through Submittable. I didn’t receive a response, so I e-mailed Submittable’s tech support. I was told that the “publisher’s” account had been closed due to lack of payment and that I was out of luck in getting a refund for the $30. Meanwhile, the J. New Books website is still up and running, although the contact e-mail addresses appear to be defunct. One of their supposed books has a publication date on Amazon of February 2023, only six months ago.
