Stephen King Scammers On Amazon

DMT · Jul 13, 2015

The idea here is to expose those who are using the name of Stephen King to sell ebooks on Amazon.com. I've been scammed at least a half dozen times. For instance, there is a series on Amazon called CROSSROADS, composed of five books. I bought this set on my Kindle, and inside of a couple pages I knew it was NOT Stephen King. I even contacted Amazon and made them aware of the issue, because it seems there are dozens of "books" on Amazon that purport to be from Stephen King, and they are not. It's disconcerting to say the least. It is also sad and frustrating. I have been a fan of Stephen King my entire life, and even received a letter from him when I sent him a fan letter when I was a teenager. The fact that unconscionable people can get away with this is just despicable, and I want to tackle this problem somehow. I'm just lost as to how.

Moderator · Jul 13, 2015

Welcome to the board!

We have also been in contact with Amazon--several times--but since the person who wrote the CROSSROADS books claims his name is Stephen King, there is not much we can do about it. Whenever we find that they are linking from his page to Stephen's items, we ask them to remove those links. Unfortunately, it is a case of caveat emptor unless or until Amazon is willing to be more "in-your-face" about letting people know it is not (this) Stephen King who has written the books. My understanding is that they will, however, refund your money if you bought books not realizing it was not the same Stephen King as you intended.

DMT · Jul 13, 2015

it is so pathetic and sad. Isn't it amazing how many people in the world are named Stephen King and how many of them are writers? Give me a break. It's one of those circumstances in which technology and social media has thrown a problem into the judicial machine and we haven't resolved the issue yet. But the problem would seem to me to be a simple problem to fix. Require that people publishing online at Amazon verify their ID with a valid driver's license. Of course, then you would have issues with people claiming they are ghost writers, or are writing under a pseudonym. Maybe it's not my place to say, and maybe I'm thinking too much about it, but thoughts of someone knowingly doing this is upsetting me, perhaps irrationally. It's just so wrong on so many levels. And the vile people who do this, it all just makes me wonder just what kind of people we really are. Online scammers is becoming an epidemic. It's revolting and disgusting on so many levels.

AnnaMarie · Jul 13, 2015

So it's not like with the movie industry? My understanding with movies (not just actors) is you cannot use the exact same name as someone else.

I recall Michael Fox saying he was not allowed to act under that name, though it is his real name. His middle initial is A, and he thought Michael A. Fox, was kind of bragging...so for professional uses, he uses Michael J. Fox.

I'm surprised people are allowed to write under a name someone else already publishes under.

DMT · Jul 13, 2015

And question, does Stephen King know about this? He could make things very difficult for Amazon; he could have the media all over this and Amazon would be forced to do something.

Out of Order · Jul 13, 2015

Imagine my chagrin when I bought a first edition of The Catcher in the Rye by D.J. Salinger only to find out it was about Little League baseball in Rye, NY.

Moderator · Jul 13, 2015

DMT said:
And question, does Stephen King know about this? He could make things very difficult for Amazon; he could have the media all over this and Amazon would be forced to do something.

Yes, I brought it to his attention but we've done as much as we can from this end and now it's up to Amazon to change their policies. It's not something he's going to push harder than he already has.

blunthead · Jul 13, 2015

Welcome to the Board!

Moderator · Jul 13, 2015

AnnaMarie said:
So it's not like with the movie industry? My understanding with movies (not just actors) is you cannot use the exact same name as someone else.

I recall Michael Fox saying he was not allowed to act under that name, though it is his real name. His middle initial is A, and he thought Michael A. Fox, was kind of bragging...so for professional uses, he uses Michael J. Fox.

I'm surprised people are allowed to write under a name someone else already publishes under.

I would have thought so as well, but apparently not.

fljoe0 · Jul 13, 2015

AnnaMarie said:
So it's not like with the movie industry? My understanding with movies (not just actors) is you cannot use the exact same name as someone else.

I recall Michael Fox saying he was not allowed to act under that name, though it is his real name. His middle initial is A, and he thought Michael A. Fox, was kind of bragging...so for professional uses, he uses Michael J. Fox.

I'm surprised people are allowed to write under a name someone else already publishes under.

I read somewhere that Ross MacDonald's name was John. He changed it to Ross for his books so that he would not be confused with John D. MacDonald. Seems like the right thing to do. Both of them wrote detective novels. (And good ones)

AnnaMarie · Jul 13, 2015

Remember the woman who was posting pictures as she was "spending Stephen King's money"?

That one was funny, and she hadn't done anything wrong. Her book was written before his, but had the same title, and people were downloading it.

DMT · Jul 13, 2015

Thanks for the welcome, Guys. Brand new here. I didn't even know this existed. Then again, I've never been a fan of these kinds of sites, only because I envision teenagers with big hair as moderators...lol...you know what I mean....lol...But these seems like an interesting page. Plus, honestly, I'm wary of sites purporting to be representing their namesakes. I mean, nothing is real anymore in this world...even reality tv isn't real, it's all scripted, all a joke. But it seems like this place might be legit. I'll give it a go...

Moderator · Jul 13, 2015

AnnaMarie said:
Remember the woman who was posting pictures as she was "spending Stephen King's money"?

That one was funny, and she hadn't done anything wrong. Her book was written before his, but had the same title, and people were downloading it.

He didn't take offense at her response either. :smile2:

DMT · Jul 13, 2015

Maybe I should have created a thread for writer scammers in general...lol. I do have one question, since I am greeen under the gills (excuse the mixed metaphor), are all of my posts going to forever be suspended until approved by a moderator? Or am I on probation?

Moderator · Jul 13, 2015

DMT said:
Thanks for the welcome, Guys. Brand new here. I didn't even know this existed. Then again, I've never been a fan of these kinds of sites, only because I envision teenagers with big hair as moderators...lol...you know what I mean....lol...But these seems like an interesting page. Plus, honestly, I'm wary of sites purporting to be representing their namesakes. I mean, nothing is real anymore in this world...even reality tv isn't real, it's all scripted, all a joke. But it seems like this place might be legit. I'll give it a go...

It is definitely the "official" Stephen King web site/Message Board. :smile2:

I've been Stephen's personal assistant for over 26 years. There are also volunteer moderators who help me out when I'm off duty. Hope you stick around and join the conversations--they're not all Stephen King-related but hope that won't deter you.

AnnaMarie · Jul 13, 2015

Moderator said:
He didn't take offense at her response either.

I didn't think he would.

Selling on his name, however, is a different story.

Moderator · Jul 13, 2015

DMT said:
Maybe I should have created a thread for writer scammers in general...lol. I do have one question, since I am greeen under the gills (excuse the mixed metaphor), are all of my posts going to forever be suspended until approved by a moderator? Or am I on probation?

All newbies are moderated until they have reached a post count of 100 and been a member for 10 days. We've done that to cut down on spam and trolls as most of those don't want to put in the effort to stick around that long being moderated.

blunthead · Jul 13, 2015

DMT said:
Thanks for the welcome, Guys. Brand new here. I didn't even know this existed. Then again, I've never been a fan of these kinds of sites, only because I envision teenagers with big hair as moderators...lol...you know what I mean....lol...But these seems like an interesting page. Plus, honestly, I'm wary of sites purporting to be representing their namesakes. I mean, nothing is real anymore in this world...even reality tv isn't real, it's all scripted, all a joke. But it seems like this place might be legit. I'll give it a go...

This is the real deal sK site. Ms Mod is sK's Personal Assistant, thank you very much, and her hair is not very big at all.

Out of Order · Jul 13, 2015

DMT said:
Thanks for the welcome, Guys. Brand new here. I didn't even know this existed. Then again, I've never been a fan of these kinds of sites, only because I envision teenagers with big hair as moderators...lol...you know what I mean....lol...But these seems like an interesting page. Plus, honestly, I'm wary of sites purporting to be representing their namesakes. I mean, nothing is real anymore in this world...even reality tv isn't real, it's all scripted, all a joke. But it seems like this place might be legit. I'll give it a go...

Ms. Mod used to have big hair, but she pulled it all out recently when the board went haywire. :biggrin-new:

Moderator · Jul 13, 2015

blunthead said:
This is the real deal sK site. Ms Mod is sK's Personal Assistant, thank you very much, and her hair is not very big at all.

You haven't seen it lately.

Have been trying to let it grow out and it's summer with lots of humidity; that plus naturally curly hair can make for big hair. Mucho product is involved for keeping it from going there. :smile:

Stephen King Scammers On Amazon

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