Fraud alert

We do not recruit freelancers through social media

Scammers are posing as Exisle Publishing and EK Books staff on social media and messaging apps, offering fake freelance editing, proofreading, translation and illustration work. These messages are not from us.

Last updated 13 October 2026

How to tell it’s really us

We have three legitimate websites.

  • exislepublishing.comExisle Publishing, adult non-fiction
  • ekbooks.orgEK Books, our children’s imprint
  • childrenspublishingacademy.comChildren’s Publishing Academy

01

Fake freelance jobs and recruiters

The scam usually follows the same pattern. Someone claiming to work for Exisle or EK Books contacts you on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X or a gig platform, or posts a freelance job using our name. They move the conversation to WhatsApp, Telegram or a personal email address for an “interview”, offer generous pay for simple work, and then ask for a fee, an equipment payment, or your bank details before you can start or be paid.

  • We never recruit freelancers or staff through social media messages, comments or posts.
  • We never interview, offer work or send contracts through WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal or text message.
  • We never contact freelancers from any address other than @exislepublishing.com.
  • We never charge freelancers or new team members a fee of any kind, for onboarding, training, software, equipment, account “linking” or anything else.
  • We never ask for bank or card details, ID documents or payments to “release” earnings.

Genuine vacancies appear only on our Careers page. If you have been approached about work with us and aren’t sure, contact us through this website before you reply. Please report the fake account to the platform it appeared on.

02

For authors: flattering offers out of the blue

One of the most common scams aimed at authors is a warm, polished email praising a book you published some time ago, often clearly written by AI. It says your book deserves a bigger audience and offers marketing, promotion, a relaunch or a film pitch, for a fee. These messages often come from Gmail or other free email accounts, using the name of a real publisher, agent or marketing agency.

A little common sense goes a long way:

  • Check the email address, not the name. Anyone can call themselves Exisle Publishing. Only an @exislepublishing.com address is us, and real publishers and agencies don’t use Gmail.
  • Be wary of praise that could fit any book. Vague compliments about your “powerful message” or “unique voice” are a template, not a reading.
  • Unsolicited offers that cost money are almost always scams. Legitimate publishers don’t cold-email authors to sell them services.
  • Slow down. Pressure to decide quickly, or to pay before you have seen a contract, is a warning sign in itself.
  • Verify independently. If a message names a company, contact that company through its own website, not the details in the email.

03

Warning signs of a scam

  • You were contacted through social media or a messaging app, or the sender asks to move the conversation there.
  • The message comes from a free email account such as Gmail, or an address that differs from ours even slightly.
  • It arrives unexpectedly and the offer seems too good to be true.
  • You are asked for money, bank details or ID before anything is in writing.
  • You are pressured to act quickly, or told not to contact the company directly.

If you are unsure about a message

  1. Don’t reply, click links or open attachments in the suspicious message.
  2. Check the sender’s address against our domains above, character by character.
  3. Contact us independently through the contact page on this website, never using the details given in the message itself.
  4. Search the exact wording of the message online. Many scams are already documented by author organisations.
  5. Get independent advice from a lawyer or an authors’ organisation before signing any publishing agreement.

04

If you think you’ve been targeted

Stop all contact with the sender. If you have shared bank or card details, call your bank immediately. Report the account to the platform where they contacted you, and to the authorities in your country. Please also tell us.