Check The Address Before You Answer

The first clue is sitting in the address — Debbie Nowak pulled four checks out of Writer Beware’s files on fake publishing solicitations: free mail posing as a company account, padded lookalike domains, one-character swaps, and a sender name that changes by the signature. The examples are ugly because they worked on somebody. Read this one before the next flattering stranger lands in your inbox.

The Publishing Email Check

Open the header before a flattering stranger gets your reply.

A publishing pitch lands with the right logo, the right job title, and a little sugar about your work. Hell, it may even name the book. The body is where the con earns its supper, so leave it alone for four minutes and work the address instead. Run this before you answer.

1 // Copy the whole sender address

Open the sender details beside the display name. Copy the full From address into a plain-text editor with a monospace font. Ignore the logo and the signature. Your first piece of evidence is the actual address, where an extra letter cannot hide behind a pretty typeface. READ THE DAMN ADDRESS!

2 // Match the domain letter for letter

Search for the company yourself and open its official contact page. Compare the company domain after the @ sign, one character at a time. A free personal mailbox claiming a corporate title, a padded word, or a swapped letter stops the reply. And, look… writershouse[.]com and writershouseliterary[.]com are different buildings. One extra word buys a crook a whole front desk.

3 // Read the authentication result

Use your mail app’s More menu and choose Show original, View source, or the closest equivalent. Search that page for spf=, dkim=, and dmarc=. Any fail moves the message to manual verification. A pass only proves the sender controls that domain, so a lookalike still goes to the next check.

4 // Verify outside the thread

Use the phone number or contact form on the official site. Do not click anything in the message you’re checking. Ask whether the named person sent it, then wait. Anyway, a real editor won’t mind a cautious question. Wait for the answer, even if your hand starts itching over the Reply button.

Standard: the exact company domain and an independent confirmation must agree. One mismatch means close the message and use the official contact route.

Open the header before you touch Reply.

THE TIP. Keep a plain-text file named TRUSTED-CONTACTS with the real domains for your publisher, printer, store, bank, and collaborators. Compare against your own file when an urgent message arrives. The habit belongs in the same kit as your platform exit plan. Own Your Platform

DEAD AIR · MAILROOM / RETURNED CORRESPONDENCE

The mailroom at the old Meridian Press building logs every returned envelope before shredding. At 7:12 each Wednesday, a white number-ten arrives bearing the building’s own postage meter, addressed to acquisitions editor Ruth Bell, who died in 2008 and never worked at that address. The return address is Suite 404. Building plans stop at 403. The carrier scans it DELIVERED at 7:09, three minutes before the dock opens, and the envelope is warm enough to fog the scanner glass.

Which check caught the weirdest pitch in your inbox, the address or the signature? Hit reply and tell me what gave it away. ~ J.D.