Amazon removes ‘sham’ cookbook listing from site after Ontario author speaks out
By Alex Arsenych
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TORONTO (CTV Network) — A Canadian cookbook author says someone on Amazon is trying to pass off her latest recipe book as their own using the same title and advertising it with her name on it.
Greta Podleski has been a cookbook author for nearly 30 years, publishing her first cookbook Looneyspoons in 1996 with her sister Janet—a national bestselling book. Since then Podelski has published three other cookbooks with her sister, selling more than two million copies combined, and has started publishing books on her own.
The Ontarian’s latest book Every Salad Ever hit Indigo’s shelves in April in an exclusive deal Podleski says she made a point of penning, as she wanted to keep this project completely Canadian. Podleski even published it through her own company, One Spoon Media.
She says Every Salad Ever has been flying off store shelves since then and has been getting good reviews on Indigo’s website.
That is why Podleski says she was taken aback when she received an email from a reader who shared their skepticism about buying the recipe book after coming across a purported paperback version of it on the massive online marketplace.
“I had an American email me and say, ‘I got wind of this cookbook, Every Salad Ever, so I put it into the search at Amazon.com and up popped up this book’,” the author shared.
The title of Podleski’s sixth book is plastered across it with some images of leafy greens, radishes, and an avocado on the cover. The words “Cookbook Inspired” are written in smaller print underneath the title, and the synopsis says it is “inspired by the wholesome, flavor-forward style of Greta Podleski.”
But even still, Podleski’s name is advertised in the book despite having another author’s name at the bottom.
Every Salad Ever is not available for sale on Amazon, it should be noted.
“My stomach dropped. … I couldn’t believe that someone put my name on the cover of my exact book title with the clear intention of tricking people into believing it was something that I produced,” she told CTV News Toronto.
At one point, Podleski says she saw the book crack the top 100 books on Amazon’s marketplace, coming in at 60th overall.
“I mean, (it) doesn’t sound amazing, until you realize that Amazon sells millions of titles and it’s number 60. That means people were getting scammed and buying it, and that’s when I just decided to let everybody know about it—to protect Canadians from being ripped off,” she said.
Some Amazon customers, who bought the book believing it was Podleski’s latest, left one-star reviews.
“The title of this book is misleading, leading you to think it is Greta Podleski’s Every Salad Ever book. The title and cover page is intentionally deceptive. Very disappointed,” one review reads.
Another said she bought this book after seeing Podleski on TV, talking about the salad recipe book.
“First of all, not a picture in the book, salads are mostly for 1 or 2 people and a lot of the salads are just variation of the same salad. Would send it back but shipping will cost me more than I paid for the book,” the review reads.
Others flocked to the review warning other readers against buying the book, as it was not Podleski’s original version.
In a written statement, Amazon said that it has “content guidelines governing which books can be listed for sale, and we have proactive and reactive methods that help us detect content that violates our guidelines, whether AI-generated or not.”
“We invest significant time and resources to ensure our guidelines are followed, and remove books that do not adhere to those guidelines. We aim to provide the best possible shopping, reading, and publishing experience, and we are constantly evaluating developments that impact that experience, which includes the rapid evolution and expansion of generative AI tools,” a spokesperson wrote.
“We continue to enhance our protections against non-compliant content, and our process and guidelines will keep evolving as we see changes in publishing.”
Podleski says she contacted the online marketplace about the book on Monday and has been told to expect a response within 48 hours.
As of around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the book appeared to be removed from Amazon’s platforms in both Canada and the U.S.
That said, another book by the same author—not Podleski—popped up on Amazon’s marketplace with a similar name: “Every Salad Ever Cookbook With Images.”
Podleski’s name is nowhere attached to this book. The paperback book was on the market for $19.16, around $24 cheaper than Podleski’s book sold on Indigo at its original price. Later on Wednesday, the book was removed from Amazon’s storefront.
Outside of the reputational damage that this “sham book,” as she calls it, has brought, the author is most concerned about having her supporters being duped by scammers.
“It just goes to show that people have to be careful now with what they’re buying because there’s just so much fraud out there and a lot of duplicate products, not even the real thing,” Podleski said.
David Soberman, a marketing professor at U of T’s Rotman School of Management and the Canadian national chair in Strategic Marketing, tells CTV News Toronto that this listing is “clearly an effort to deceive people.”
He pointed to the addition of the other author’s name as an indicator of it not being the original, despite the title of the books being similar.
“I guess what Amazon does is, when they’re notified of these things, they take them down, but there’s still—there can often be a time lag between when things get taken down and when they first went up. That’s the problem,” Soberman said.
The marketing professor adds these types of listings are becoming more common in online marketplaces—and with as massive a platform like Amazon, Soberman says a lack of policing may come into play.
“A lot of this falls (to the wayside…) it’s sort of the rule with copyright rules. The government doesn’t go around and confirm all copyright rules, it’s the person who owns the copyright that has to police this because they, of course, have something to lose. They have skin in the game,” he said.
And for those who are buying items online, taking the time to research what product they’re purchasing can help and Soberman says online shoppers are less likely to be defrauded buying more common products online.
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