🤖 Where Do We Draw the Line with AI in Self-Publishing?Last week, I published a YouTube video about how authors and creators are getting attacked online for publishing what people are calling "𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗟𝗢𝗣." It got me thinking... 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀? I'm planning a follow-up YouTube video about this, but before I record it, I want to hear what YOU think! First, let me be clear. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶-𝗔𝗜. I actually love AI and think it's one of the most powerful tools available to self-published authors, especially those of us who don't have huge budgets or teams behind us. But I also think there's a difference between 𝗔𝗜-𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗, 𝗔𝗜-𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗜-𝗗𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. Here's how I see it: ✅ 1. AI-ASSISTED: AI Helps YOU CreateThis is where I think AI really shines! Brainstorming book ideas and titles Helping with research (while verifying the facts!) Organizing your ideas and creating outlines Improving the flow of your own writing Identifying plot holes and gaps in your story Offering feedback and suggestions for improvement Helping with editing and formatting 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿. 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿. I'm 100% supportive of this! 🎨 2. AI-GENERATED: AI Creates Some of the Content Now we're getting into a more interesting area. For example, using AI to generate illustrations for a children's book. Personally, I'm supportive of this, too! Not everyone has the artistic skills to draw their own illustrations, and not everyone has hundreds or thousands of dollars to hire a professional illustrator. AI has made publishing more accessible to people who might otherwise never be able to bring their ideas to life. 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵. AI-generated illustrations are often the FIRST thing critics notice. If an illustration has that recognizable AI look, people are quick to call it out. And unfortunately, some immediately assume that if the illustrations were AI-generated, the entire book must have been written by AI, too.

Apparently now I have another hobby... to make all the bookish accessories, too. 😂📚 I have no idea what I’m doing yet, but I’m excited to play with it and create more bookish goods! The nice part? It has a whole library of ready-to-print designs, so I can pick something and hit print without knowing much about the software. That’s where I’m starting to keep things simple! Check out these cute bookmarks I made! 👇 TBH, they didn’t come out the best. I’m still learning the machine and figuring out what needs adjusting. But they’re functional, and I’m counting that as a first-print win. 😂 A little reminder that we’re allowed to be beginners and make imperfect things while we learn. I’ll figure it out as I go! What bookish goodies would YOU make with a 3D printer? 📚✨

I wanted to take a moment to welcome @Kylie Lupinetti she was the one who was getting book bullied for using AI after sharing her wins people attacked her and maliciously left her book negative reviews because they were angry she used AI. Lets take a moment to instead celebrate the work she did as a creator and busy mom. Her book Binky Bandit is an adorable story to help moms get toddlers off their binkys! Such an original idea in a way to help kiddos and moms. ➡️ Get Her Book on Amazon Even something as simple as sharing it will help. ❤️ Thank you all for showing up and always being positive here. (Sorry for the shorter message guys I am at the work office today)

I have been a little quiet in the community lately, not because i've been absent but because i've been building a testing, and building and testing. Children's books can be a good starting place, but they are not the easiest to make. Sure, they are short; they don't take long to write, but trying to format them can be a pain. @Jessica White Reached out to me and said ... but how do I create a "spread," and again, this is no simple task unless you have tools like InDesign or Affinity, which have a pretty big learning curve; it's not so simple. I've heard from so many of you who have told me that character consistency is a STRUGGLE when you're using AI, and I am working toward a SOLVE for that. (It's getting close...) Then I realized random objects you might want to reference were also a struggle to generate from scene to scene, so I've been solving for that too. (It's almost there) So here is just one output of a story I created while I was testing, building, and improving as I go. Let me know what you think!

Let’s help each other get a little more visibility today! Choose 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 you’re currently trying to grow and drop your link in the comments below. It could be: Instagram • TikTok • YouTube • Facebook • Pinterest • LinkedIn • Threads — wherever you’re showing up! Then, don’t just drop your link and run. 👀 Come back through the comments and 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. Like a post, leave a comment, or show them a little support. The goal is simple: 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. 💕 👇 Drop your ONE social link below!