BookTok influencer accused of scamming indie authors now claims she’s writing a book
Calli Hynes, a prominent BookTok influencer who goes by CallisReadingg or Callireadsss online, was accused of scamming multiple indie authors on the platform. Now, she’s trying to direct attention away from the scandal by announcing she’s writing a book.
Hynes originally went by CallisReadingg on TikTok and boasted over 250,000 subscribers. Viewers were drawn to her unboxing videos, book hauls, and book reviews. However, towards the end of August, multiple indie authors came forward to accuse her of scamming them. Bo Grant, the indie author behind Running from Cupid, was among the first authors to speak out about Hynes. Her ordeal with Hynes has been ongoing since June when she allegedly paid the influencer $100 to make a video about her book. According to her, Hynes never made the video and failed to offer her a refund until Grant made a video warning other authors about her.
Grant’s videos inspired multiple indie authors to come forward with their stories. Authors who spoke out included Jay Michael Night, Krista Swanson, Luke Young, H. L. Brooks, and Layla Sparks. However, the actual number of victims could be much higher as Young claimed her scamming has been going on for at least a year, while Grant alleged 17 indie authors reached out to her, claiming they had also been scammed. All of their stories are similar. Hynes allegedly specifically sought out indie authors with small followings to offer to promote their books for money. However, after she was paid, she either never created the videos, didn’t create as many videos as promised, or made poor-quality videos in which she didn’t even mention the authors’ names. Days after the scandal broke out, she dropped an unexpected announcement.
Calli Hynes announces she’s writing a book
The scandal with Hynes was never wholly resolved. She made a video denying the allegations, although she failed to address and explain numerous authors’ stories. Meanwhile, she remains active on TikTok. She simply changed her username to callireadsss and continued posting book content, although her following went down to 230k and she has kept her comments off on all videos.
On September 8, Hynes posted a video about a “big announcement.” In the video, she claims she’s writing a book and is already 15 chapters deep. She hesitated to share details about the book but claimed her channel will now be documenting her book-writing journey.
Almost immediately after she posted the video, Grant issued a response video. She pointed out how Hynes repeatedly gave the authors she worked with excuses for why she couldn’t post their videos, often citing how busy she was and how she was dealing with family emergencies. Yet, she is now saying that she had enough time to write 15 chapters of a book? Grant also noted how suspicious it is that Hynes managed to keep this book a complete secret, even though she claims it has been in progress for a long time, and just happened to announce it right after the scamming controversy.
Grant expressed doubt about whether the book even exists. Whether she is legitimately writing a book or not, Grant described her actions as “manipulative.” She got emotional, imagining what additional “destruction” Hynes could cause by trying to sell her book, and she felt like Hynes was just making fun of her and her fellow indie authors at this point.
If the scamming allegations are true, it means that Hynes has no respect or understanding of indie authors. The fact that she may have tried to exploit the authors who face the most difficulty getting noticed and maintaining financial security shows she doesn’t respect these writers or their art. Yet, she’s now allegedly trying to become an indie author herself? TikTok user Mariahbooks also pointed out how wrong it is that she reportedly hurt indie authors but now expects the internet to support her indie author journey.
It’s apparent that she’s using this book announcement to draw attention away from the allegations surrounding her. Meanwhile, it’s understandable why this announcement would be upsetting for her alleged victims. Some of them are still dealing with the emotional and financial toll of the scandal. Now, they may soon have to watch the person who added to their struggles as an indie author suddenly call herself an indie author and potentially earn high levels of support from the enormous following she has managed to maintain.
It seems a better response to the scandal would’ve been for her to simply apologize to the authors she allegedly scammed and promote the books she promised to promote rather than suddenly claiming to be an indie author herself.
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