Hey there everyone, I just wanted to pass on a message from Ingramspark. Apparently, we have some scammers impersonating the company. Be hyper vigilant, my friends. "We have recently been made aware of bad actors fraudulently posing as our business through lookalike websites, emails, social media accounts, phone calls, and text messages. These individuals often request that the author pay them or provide sensitive banking information in exchange for publishing their book with IngramSpark. These impersonators are not affiliated with IngramSpark. Visit https://www.ingramspark.com/fraudalert for more information"

Does my book need to be ready for publishing to get an ISBN?

So as you can imagine with our ongoing AI survey, I have talked to a lot of people (even before that) about AI. And there seem to be two primary reactions: enthusiasm, or fear, although my theory is that those are simply the loudest voices, and most people fall somewhere in between. But let's talk about a few things that might fall on both sides: AI is not a savior, or the devil. It is certainly not the answer to some of the woes of publishing, and may even create new ones (at least temporarily). But in and of itself it is a tool, and tools do not do bad things without evil people to wield them. AI has the potential to do good or bad things, and how that happens is the choice of the user. Digital Privacy and AI. Look, digital privacy has been a myth online for years, and we need to dispel a few things. First, if you use any modern tech, from cell phones to social media in any form, and most email services, and certainly if you own and run a website, have an email list of readers, or use most other tech, your privacy is already compromised to a certain extent, and maybe a great extent. As a public figure, like an author, your image, your name, and at least some information about you is easily found in a Google Search. Because to build the audience and platform you need to sell books, you have to be discoverable. Discoverability is the biggest obstacle most authors face when it comes to marketing. (even though people are more likely to know your name than your face). You can choose, to some extent, how visible you are, but it is extremely challenging to remain invisible and build an author career at the same time. AI is not making that better. It makes it worse, and people constantly give their images to AI to do fun things like put on make up, or make me into an action figure, or try different hairstyles. AI is being used at airports to verify your face and identity. Most people use their face to unlock their phones. This is hard when we see AI in so many things in so many places, and in almost every app we use. Here's the truth: if you are online, you are likely using AI, like it or not. In some places you can turn AI features off, in others it is part of the price of using an app.

In tomorrow morning's podcast, Stacey and I tackle the topic of publishing, and the power law, and what you need to know about the reality of publishing income. This applies to traditional and professional indie publishing. Why do 10% of the authors out there make 90% of the money? Because the system, by design, is not fair. But that's not the whole picture. For things to be "fair" we would have to assume everyone made equal effort that created a product (stories) of equal quality, and that everyone had the same business and market savvy, and could all find their target audiences. (you all have a target audience, even if it is a small one, who will love your voice and your books). This week I had a more private discussion with one of our members here, and we talked about this as well. Stacey and I will talk about the fact that you need an audience, a backlist, and a platform to find success, and that may take time. Tune in to Pros Talking Prose tomorrow morning to learn more. And if you have any questions, always feel free to ask.

This weekend I have some covers to work on and prep for the launch of a book with Alibi!! What’s everyone else working on or planning for the weekend?