Would You Pay $1,000 for a BookTok Review? The PB Squamer Controversary

I often say that this is the worst time to be an author. And that goes double for indie authors. It’s getting increasingly expensive for self-published authors to produce more books, even though the need for more books has only increased in the last few years. However, this rabid need for more books and the increasing desperation of authors to break even on their work have only opened the door for grifters, con artists, and scammers.

And notorious booktoker PB Squamer is a damn good example of why writers have to constantly keep our guards up. They are people within the book community and publishing as a whole who will look at a desperate author trying to make it and see an opportunity. Folks who will drain not only your wallet dry but take all of your dreams of being a published author with it.

Quite frankly, it’s fucking disgusting that someone will look at all the obstacles a writer has to face to make it in today’s book market and only see dollar signs.

But before I get into the controversy of PB Squamer having the fucking audacity to charge a thousand dollars for a simple book review. Let me tell you a little bit about him.

Who is PB Squamer?

I did not know anything about this man when I woke up this morning. If you know me, then you are probably shocked because I write dark romance and Squamer is very well known within the overall dark romance community. However, I both write and read DIVERSE dark romance. I am all about BIPOC characters being morally ambiguous and LGBTQ+ people falling in love with serial killers. I don’t read or write white romance, so beyond Kierra Lewis (who is delusional enough to think she is queen of booktok), I don’t have a good grasp of the who-whos of the mainstream dark romance community.

But then the first thing I did when I opened the Threads app this morning was PB Squamer’s face, and the moment I realized why he is the main character of the book community today? Is when I realized I had to figure out what made this man so special. So I went a little bit digging. PB Squamer is the pseudonym of a Maryland-based dark romance booktoker and podcaster. Alongside his co-host, Steven Walker, on the Smashcast, they discuss dark romance and the dark romance community as a whole.

And if Squamer wasn’t enough of a cringe-y cliche, the PB in his pseudonym is for “Pretty Boy.” Now, normally I don’t talk about someone’s looks. I prefer to attack their argument, but this man has the hubris and the ego and quiet frankly, the delusion enough to call himself “Pretty Boy” when he can’t even match the looks of an extra on a CW show.

The man is so basic that I think I have seen at least three of his lookalikes on the bus this week.

PB Squamer is not only a booktoker but a podcast bro. Because the cringe-y cliches just keep on coming.

But I digress, back to the topic at hand. Squamer has made his fame pandering to white cishet women who want validation for their interest in dark romance. I actually found a Reddit recommending him because they wanted to hear from cishet men in the genre. And let’s not get it twisted here. I am a trans man writing romance, and I am damn proud of it.

I do not believe that romance is by women and for women because that ignores the contributions of the countless trans and queer and, hell, even cishet men that had made their contributions to this genre. However, I do find it suspicious as fuck that the white cishet women in this space have decided to put Squamer on a pedestal because he reads Sarah J. Maas and Navessa Allen’s books.

This is how Squamer got his fame by pandering to white cishet women who believe that reading shouldn’t be political while benefiting from the politics that gave them not only the right to read but the right to choose what to read. He also makes a good deal of money writing erotica on only fans and patreon and he even has a Cameo account.   And by the way, this is not me shitting on Only Fans but it is me shitting on a person who is trying to milk a community for every dollar when he clearly can’t stand romance.

In my opinion it’s clear he has the biggest head around and an ego to match.

Now, before I am going to start this next section by repeating that this is what I have gotten from Thread posts. This is all alleged (and in my opinion) unless I say otherwise.

• A Zionist
• Supported Joe Arden and Other Problematic Audiobook Narrators
• Has Stolen Other Book Creators’ Work
• Stood Outside A Con Begging To Come In (They Actually Let Him In)
• Brag about autographing 200-300 copies of Vanessa Allen’s books.
• Is constantly name-dropping famous authors that are his besties to cover his ass.

What Did PB Squamer Do This Time?

 

View on Threads

 

It all started with a now-deleted TikTok video. For all of PB Squamer’s fame and success, he is still super poor, and he wants to move out of his house in Maryland. And normally, I would be sympathic, because I know intimately how hard it is to carve an income out of virality. I have been in and out of the influencer/blogger space for the last decade.

I have absolutely zero problem with bookish creators getting paid for their work but this is not it. First of all, you CANNOT get paid for reviews. Second, $1000 in the book space is a ridiculous fee for a three minute video and charging a $200 non-refundable deposit to see if you like the book? Absolutely fucking not. Also, the unbelievable level of disrespect directed towards “smaller” authors in that video has had me pissed off all day.

Ash Jjay –  Owner of the Picture of Romance Marketing Agency. 

However, when Squamer announced that since he is getting so many requests from dark romance authors for him to read and review their books, he can cut them a sweet, sweet deal. You pay a $250 deposit because he might not like that book and he wants to be paid for his time. And then if he likes it, he will make a 3-minute video review of your book for $800 more, making the complete total to be $1,000.

Now, again, as someone with my experience in influencer spaces, I am all for influencers getting paid for their work. I don’t believe in “doing it for exposure” bullshit. People got bills to pay, and I get it. However, this is not the way to go about it.

First and foremost, it is unethical to pay for a review. There is a difference between sending promo boxes or an influencer mentioning an author’s book for a fee. There are plenty of book bloggers who make a decent income from doing that. However, paid reviews are a big no-no. For example, if Amazon ever catches you paying for reviewers? You could lose your own account.

Not only that, but if a book influencer is reviewing your book for cash, how can the audience trust that it’s an honest review? Do the influencer like the book just because they are getting paid?

But to me, especially the reason why this is such a disgusting move on Squamer’s part is that it’s predatory.

I am not impressed at all.

This is clearly an influencer seeing his audience of indie authors who are desperate to make it and seeing dollar signs. I often say that this is the worst time to be an author because it’s getting increasingly harder to make a profit in this business. Especially with things like tariffs, book banning, censorship, and the deluge of AI slop out there. They are people who will take a look at Squamer’s platform of white cishet women licking his boots for the slightest validation and think that they can finally make it to the big time.

Not only is the price outrageous for an influencer campaign, especially for an influencer with 573.8K followers and who boasts that he gets 40,000 views every video—and let me tell you, for someone with that many followers? That is not impressive. But as an author, you don’t know for sure if you will get a good return on investment. You are playing Russian roulette with your money during a fucking depression.

Inconclusion

I have been pretty scathing in this post. I do not pretend that this is balanced journalism. However, I will say that this is what we get when we put cishet men on a pedestal because they decided to performatively read romance. Instead of uplifting and respecting his audience of mostly women, he only sees dollar signs.

And I will give credit when credit is due; BookTok and the book community as a whole have risen up to finally hold this asshole accountable. For once, the people that see through his toxic behavior are louder than the women who show their bellies for the first mediocre man that pats them on the head and calls them a “good girl.”

This man saw the author’s desperation and thought it would be a good way to make a grand off of someone else’s pain point. And at this point? I don’t have any sympathy for him. Let him chew on these sour grapes for a while.