New Delhi, May 18 -- As an offer it sounded almost too good to be true.

Last month I got a message that said the upcoming issue of De Mode magazine wanted to feature my book in The 10 Best Books of the Year 2025: April Edition.

I had never heard of De Mode. Its Instagram page suggested a glossy fashion magazine. Whether that page was the real De Mode magazine or an impostor was unclear to me. One should not look a gift horse in the mouth, but it turned out it wasn't exactly a gift horse. My promised A4-size two full-page coverage featuring an exclusive interview and posts on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn would cost Rs.5,900 (including GST). For less than Rs.6,000, I could proclaim myself one of the 10 best books of the year.

There wa...