Stephen King Scammers On Amazon

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Mr Nobody

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2008
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Walsall, England
Since I have never ordered a book on-line I do not know how obvious it is, whether something is legitimate King or someone who just sounds like King.

I just think maybe people should delve a bit deeper, read reviews etc. in other words, research their choice before going ahead to make that purchase.

Yep, I'm not saying people should buy blindly. I'm just saying that all the responsibility shouldn't only lie with the purchaser when a market/'middle man' is involved. They're keen enough to take their cut, so they should offer a level of security to the buyer (thereby protecting their own reputation into the bargain).
Last I knew, submitted ebooks had to be verified by Amazon before being added for sale. A polite note to the author and/or publisher (if not self-published) advising of the need to make a slight alteration to the author's name to avoid confusion...well it's no great hardship to them or the author. Even a short sentence at the top of the 'blurb' would be enough.
 

Bacchus

Member
Jul 9, 2016
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It gets worse. It appears Amazon are -inadvertently or otherwise - facilitating this imposter in a significant way. When I search the millions of books for 'Stephen King', the very first result (no.1 for relevance!!) is a poor short story collection by this pretender to the throne. The true King was relegated to the second slot. So I tried a search for 'Dean Koontz';
The same book came up ('relevance'!!) in the No.2 slot.
What's more, if you read the reviews, about 30% of readers - if indeed readers they are and not friends of the imposter - appear to be under the impression that this is The Stephen King and not an opportunist who I have no doubt is making $$$$'s with his mediocre scribblings. The remaining 70% are fuming and warning others. What's more, one book by the imposter - about some meagre haunting or other - even uses similar typeface for his name on the cover; the large bold red script we're all so familiar with. I made a formal complaint to Amazon but I hope Mr King himself is aware that his name is being misused.
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
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It gets worse. It appears Amazon are -inadvertently or otherwise - facilitating this imposter in a significant way. When I search the millions of books for 'Stephen King', the very first result (no.1 for relevance!!) is a poor short story collection by this pretender to the throne. The true King was relegated to the second slot. So I tried a search for 'Dean Koontz';
The same book came up ('relevance'!!) in the No.2 slot.
What's more, if you read the reviews, about 30% of readers - if indeed readers they are and not friends of the imposter - appear to be under the impression that this is The Stephen King and not an opportunist who I have no doubt is making $$$$'s with his mediocre scribblings. The remaining 70% are fuming and warning others. What's more, one book by the imposter - about some meagre haunting or other - even uses similar typeface for his name on the cover; the large bold red script we're all so familiar with. I made a formal complaint to Amazon but I hope Mr King himself is aware that his name is being misused.
By what I understand, this person's name IS Stephen King. Not much you can do about that.
 

Bacchus

Member
Jul 9, 2016
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By what I understand, this person's name IS Stephen King. Not much you can do about that.
I understand that side of the argument, but with the greatest of respect, I don't believe that people who search for 'Stephen King' on Amazon are looking for this guy. I don't believe that the film industry would stand for 'Directed by Steven Spielberg' labelled on a DVD cover if it happened to be a Z list director with the same name but was marketed as more by an outlet. I recognise that someone's name cannot be copyrighted, but if you're a successful author, your name is your brand name. So why is it illegal for a company to market 'Adidas trainers' when they have no affiliation to Adidas but it's perfectly acceptable for someone with the name 'Stephen King' - who has a completely mediocre product - to benefit by having the same brand name as the author of The Shining in addition to using similar typeface. And it's indisputable that he's benefiting. I downloaded 3 books myself before quickly realising my mistake and getting a refund. Why didn't I do more research first? Because I honestly didn't believe that my first result on a search on a respectable ebook company website could be anyone else, just like I would assume that searching for a pair of Jeans by 'Superdry' on Amazon could bring up top results by 'Superdry' that are anything other than Superdry!
 
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Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
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Apr 11, 2006
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I understand that side of the argument, but with the greatest of respect, I don't believe that people who search for 'Stephen King' on Amazon are looking for this guy. I don't believe that the film industry would stand for 'Directed by Steven Spielberg' labelled on a DVD cover if it happened to be a Z list director with the same name but was marketed as more by an outlet. I recognise that someone's name cannot be copyrighted, but if you're a successful author, your name is your brand name. So why is it illegal for a company to market 'Adidas trainers' when they have no affiliation to Adidas but it's perfectly acceptable for someone with the name 'Stephen King' - who has a completely mediocre product - to benefit by having the same brand name as the author of The Shining in addition to using similar typeface. And it's indisputable that he's benefiting. I downloaded 3 books myself before quickly realising my mistake and getting a refund. Why didn't I do more research first? Because I honestly didn't believe that my first result on a search on a respectable ebook company website could be anyone else, just like I would assume that searching for a pair of Jeans by 'Superdry' on Amazon could bring up top results by 'Superdry' that are anything other than Superdry!
I get it. But, this other guy's name is Stephen King and he writes horror too. Buyer beware.
 

Bacchus

Member
Jul 9, 2016
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Does it really matter what his name is? Ever heard of a pseudonym? It means I can throw out a couple of cheesy sci-fi thrillers by Richard Bachman if I like. Or perhaps I'll attempt an uninspiring Auto Biography under my pen-name of Barack Obama. I could even throw in a photo of myself shaking the president's hand for a jacket (may have to photoshop that one). Would that just make intent to defraud slightly less ambiguous? If we refuse to draw a line, then let the floodgates open.
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
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Does it really matter what his name is? Ever heard of a pseudonym? It means I can throw out a couple of cheesy sci-fi thrillers by Richard Bachman if I like. Or perhaps I'll attempt an uninspiring Auto Biography under my pen-name of Barack Obama. I could even throw in a photo of myself shaking the president's hand for a jacket (may have to photoshop that one). Would that just make intent to defraud slightly less ambiguous? If we refuse to draw a line, then let the floodgates open.
Dude, his name is Stephen King. And he writes horror. Just because he has that name, doesn't mean he shouldn't write what he wants. I'm not saying he isn't taking advantage of that, but again, people need to pay attention to what they are doing and accept responsibility for not doing research before purchasing.
 

Bacchus

Member
Jul 9, 2016
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Regardless of my rant, I do take your point. I think we may at least be agreed on one thing; he is taking advantage of it. And it's working. And it will always work because 100% of people will never take care 100% of the time. And it riles me.
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
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I do take your point Ms Jean. I think we may at least be agreed on one thing; he is taking advantage of it. And it's working. And it will always work because 100% of people will never take care 100% of the time. And it riles me.
No, I totally get where you are coming from. I don't think it's right either, that he should try to ride our Stephen's success and fame. Seriously, if he felt he was a good writer, why not go out of your way to distinguish yourself from the well-known Stephen King and stand on your own merits as a writer? It is tacky.