Review of The Big Con
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pine breaks
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Review of The Big Con
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Big Con" by Gini Graham Scott.]
Review: The Big Con
By pine breaks (written without capitalization)
Rating 2 out of 5
The premise of The Big Con is timely and relevant. With the number of media channels seeking content increasing exponentially, how to avoid the pitfalls of unscrupulous scammers offering authors' manuscript-to-screen services appears a winning formula. And the latter chapters of these 320+ pages may well prove a valuable resource for those hoping to turn their words into screen success. Unfortunately, getting to these nuggets means trawling through nine chapters’ worth of incredibly difficult reading. This slog is even more perplexing when accounting for the author, Gini Graham Scott, having penned 250 books and fourteen scripts for varied televisual forms.
The Big Con screams out for an iron-fisted editor. At least twenty percent, and maybe as much as a third, if not more, requires jettisoning under a strong editorial pen. The degree of repetition and minutiae is perplexing. We encounter multiple retellings of the same authors’ experiences, not word-for-word, but close enough. Added to that, the profiles of those conned contain unnecessary lengthy descriptions of their books that have no bearing on their experience or our understanding of it. In addition, we encounter the excruciatingly detailed correspondence between the author (client), the scamming company, and Gini Thomas as the freelancer employed to create the materials needed for pitches to TV and film producers. Even the payment dispute emails between PayPal and the authors or Gini and the fraudulent company make their way into the book. There is just too much detail that has no bearing on the unfolding narrative. Rounding all this off, the level of grammar for such a widely published author leaves one scratching their head.
What should be heart-sinking accounts of authors losing between a few thousand dollars to forty thousand at the hands of elaborate scammers’ schemes ends up a torturous read. As a reader, I enter an unsigned pact with the author, where I will complete reading their book because of respecting their craft in creating the work before me. This is the first manuscript in a long while, where on more than a dozen occasions I almost succumbed to consigning this read to the shallow uncompleted pile. Were the victims naïve in falling for these scammers? Mostly, yes. Poorly worded correspondence from incorrectly formatted email addresses of Hollywood producers, and the ongoing hard sell to invest in the services from the fraudulent companies, should have had alarm bells ringing off the hook. But, unfortunately, criminals operating these types of schemes only need a few trusting folks to reap substantial financial rewards. This book is intended as a warning to potential victims, and the investigative efforts by Gini Thomas to piece together these crimes and alert the authorities are commendable. The Go-Fund-Me campaign she launched on behalf of the scammed authors is another positive. However, the $70 raised since its 2021 launch reflects this book—a worthwhile cause of interest, but poorly executed.
******
The Big Con
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Review: The Big Con
By pine breaks (written without capitalization)
Rating 2 out of 5
The premise of The Big Con is timely and relevant. With the number of media channels seeking content increasing exponentially, how to avoid the pitfalls of unscrupulous scammers offering authors' manuscript-to-screen services appears a winning formula. And the latter chapters of these 320+ pages may well prove a valuable resource for those hoping to turn their words into screen success. Unfortunately, getting to these nuggets means trawling through nine chapters’ worth of incredibly difficult reading. This slog is even more perplexing when accounting for the author, Gini Graham Scott, having penned 250 books and fourteen scripts for varied televisual forms.
The Big Con screams out for an iron-fisted editor. At least twenty percent, and maybe as much as a third, if not more, requires jettisoning under a strong editorial pen. The degree of repetition and minutiae is perplexing. We encounter multiple retellings of the same authors’ experiences, not word-for-word, but close enough. Added to that, the profiles of those conned contain unnecessary lengthy descriptions of their books that have no bearing on their experience or our understanding of it. In addition, we encounter the excruciatingly detailed correspondence between the author (client), the scamming company, and Gini Thomas as the freelancer employed to create the materials needed for pitches to TV and film producers. Even the payment dispute emails between PayPal and the authors or Gini and the fraudulent company make their way into the book. There is just too much detail that has no bearing on the unfolding narrative. Rounding all this off, the level of grammar for such a widely published author leaves one scratching their head.
What should be heart-sinking accounts of authors losing between a few thousand dollars to forty thousand at the hands of elaborate scammers’ schemes ends up a torturous read. As a reader, I enter an unsigned pact with the author, where I will complete reading their book because of respecting their craft in creating the work before me. This is the first manuscript in a long while, where on more than a dozen occasions I almost succumbed to consigning this read to the shallow uncompleted pile. Were the victims naïve in falling for these scammers? Mostly, yes. Poorly worded correspondence from incorrectly formatted email addresses of Hollywood producers, and the ongoing hard sell to invest in the services from the fraudulent companies, should have had alarm bells ringing off the hook. But, unfortunately, criminals operating these types of schemes only need a few trusting folks to reap substantial financial rewards. This book is intended as a warning to potential victims, and the investigative efforts by Gini Thomas to piece together these crimes and alert the authorities are commendable. The Go-Fund-Me campaign she launched on behalf of the scammed authors is another positive. However, the $70 raised since its 2021 launch reflects this book—a worthwhile cause of interest, but poorly executed.
******
The Big Con
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Snatched Up to Heaven! by Jemima Paul and Arvind Paul
