For the past few months, I’ve been getting about three to four of these emails a week. They are sent to me because I’m an author. Some are confusing–they appear to just want me to validate my email address, like this first one:

Hello Elizabeth,
How are you? I believe your week is going well as desired? I was wondering if I could find any of your books listed on Goodreads and Amazon?

Who sends an email like this? It’s from a name I don’t know. The English is a little off. If this person really wanted to know if I was on Goodreads or Amazon, wouldn’t they check those sites? I delete these emails.

The more annoying emails are the ones sent by “book marketing” people pretending that they have read and loved one of my books and wanting to discuss the book with me:

What I love about Wilde Wagers is how it takes Wilde’s razor-sharp wit and spins it into a weekend of disguises, cucumber sandwiches, eccentricities, and mayhem. It’s rare to find a historical novel that balances romance, comedy, and mystery while still feeling like pure escapist joy. In a world that feels too heavy most days, your book offers exactly the kind of reprieve readers are craving. As someone who has spent years teaching and nurturing stories, it makes perfect sense that you’d create a novel where laughter and cleverness carry as much weight as suspense and romance. I especially admire how you lean into the absurd without losing charm, something that not only entertains but reminds readers that even in chaos, delight has value. I’d really like to know more about you, Elizabeth, what you most want readers to carry with them after they’ve closed Wilde Wagers. And I’d love to help you bring this witty, escapist romp to the wider audience of readers who are yearning for clever stories that make them laugh out loud and escape the gloom.

At first, it might seem like this person has read my book, but the use of the exact vocabulary from my book summary and from reviews of my book show it is AI-generated text. I’ve made the mistake of engaging with a couple of these emailers. I was so sick of getting these emails that I responded to someone telling them I found their use of AI rude and insulting. They replied, assuring me that they were a real person (but not addressing the fact that they hadn’t actually read my book and had used AI to find me and write the email.) If I were going to hire someone to market my books, I wouldn’t use someone who uses AI so lazily.

I’d love to hear what AI is doing to your in-boxes.