So... this beta reader is sus (guys, I'm confused)

The Chatters
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Not really a venting, so I didn’t put it there. This is just ridiculous and you guys gotta see how hard he’s trying to get me.

I have a possibly… sus beta reader who won’t take “no“ for an answer. I’m sure he’s a scammer, but he’s not a very good one (fake name, and has inactive fiverr, and uses stolen content on IG). With his last email response, I’m convinced he doesn’t know how to scam people by being a beta reader. It’s a weird choice of scam.

He signed up for beta reader. I sent my e-book (with copyright page attached) to all five of my betas not knowing he is sus. He gives detailed feedback for every chapter. Wow, that’s a lot.

I told him multiple times, he doesn’t have to provide detailed feedback for every single chapter. I appreciate it, yes, but he’s not obligated to at all. He says, “it’s no problem“.

Great.

I suspected AI, but what comes back doesn’t look AI and sometimes things are worded strangely. So, maybe not AI…but he might have some assistance.

So, I get chapter feedback on 1-4, and then 5-8, and then he asks for a video review of his work to build credibility and we’re only at chapter 8 out of 30. Why would I do that? Also, I didn’t pay for him. So, I kindly told him no. I only give reviews for products and services I pay for. (Also, how can I review a service halfway through? Never mind the fact that I wouldn’t recommend him to anyone anyway.)

Well…this is his response. Is he trying to gaslight me or something? He’s trying so hard to either get me to review, or to pay. And I am not :stuck_out_tongue:

his email:

Also, I completely understand, and I appreciate your honesty. Since I offered my time and support to help you with your writing at no cost, my only request in return was a brief video testimonial to help me build credibility and reach other authors who could benefit from my services. I respect your decision not to provide one.

That said, I would genuinely appreciate a small coffee tip as an alternative gesture of support for the time and effort I’ve invested in helping you. Every little contribution makes a difference and helps me continue supporting writers and their stories. If you’re comfortable with that, it would mean a lot to me.

Of course I denied. Kindly. I’m trying to figure out how to get rid of him, but he is giving me feedback… hm. I’m not even forcing him to give me feedback. I keep telling him he isn’t even obligated to give such detailed feedback. He keeps telling me, it’s no problem.

He could say, “I won’t give you any more feedback unless you pay me“ but he’s not. And I’m being very careful in my email responses so he can’t use it against me. Very careful.

What is his agenda? I’m confused. He’s just wasting time at this point.

What do you think I should do? :sweat_smile:

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Block him? He seems very sus.

Trust your gut in this one. If you think he’s sus then he is.

Or do whatever is safe to get rid of him. Idk how his weird little brain works.

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Remove his access to your e-book and block him.

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How do I do that if I’ve sent it to them as an email attachment :sweat_smile: I didn’t think about looking into this guy before sending the e-book. I can probably block his email and IG account, but not his access to the book.

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I’m going to try to maybe ghost him… Because he has the ebook, as do all my betas.

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I think I’ll see what he says next :stuck_out_tongue:

If he still insists I somehow review or pay him in some way, I’ll tell him he’s being unprofessional asking for that as a volunteer beta reader. I’m not his client. I will not do it.

I want to not have to be confrontational though :sweat_smile: If we could professionally kindly part ways… that would be better.

Edit: but I know nothing about this is at all that professional so far

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yeah, agreed. just use a hard no method (ie, block him). it would be bad to be too nice in this situation :((

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sadly the chances you’re gonna need confrontation are high. these kinds of people don’t learn from their past mistakes unfortunately.

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I’ll wait for his response and then… might be time to crack down. At the pace he’s going, I’m not sure he’ll finish by the deadline anyway. Each week it’s 4 chapters, and he’s done feedback until ch.12. He has until Nov. 13.

What do you think? (what do you math? :stuck_out_tongue: )

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I math that you gotta be careful with this guy :joy: I mean, he’s definately not trying to scam you, right? (sarcasm)

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Oh. I thought you would have shared something like a Google Doc link.

Then the other option is to stop engaging, I think. Like, only reply on the beta reader points. “Thank you for reading, when do you think you’ll get to chapter x. Deadline is…”

Ignore any other ask. Keep it short and dry. They usually deflate once you stop paying them attention.

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I didn’t want to do this because it’ll be easier to copy text :sweat_smile:

Yeah, I think I’ll do this the next time they respond. I won’t even touch on anything else if they do talk about anything else.

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