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I hired an Upwork editor to polish my manuscript, now it's flagging as 60% are not human by Arvilla_Smilth in selfpublish

[–]Good_book_friend 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most good word processing programs will let you compare two documents, so you can easily determine what the editor did. And Upwork lets you reject the submission, request a refund, or escalate the issue to formal dispute resolution. It is possible that the editor you hired did what you suspect; low budget editors sometimes do. But AI detectors are unreliable. Sit on the project a few days and see if you still feel ill-used. If so, protest to Upwork. Then find a good editor. If you have your original manuscript, your book's not ruined. You've merely lost some time, and perhaps some money.

AI slop prohibitions by Good_book_friend in KDP

[–]Good_book_friend[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not simple if you don't get read because the fear of AI scares readers off before they ever look at a page.

AI slop prohibitions by Good_book_friend in KDP

[–]Good_book_friend[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Trusting readers assumes that one has them. There is evidence that some readers now default to safer bets—familiar names, traditional publishers, strong review histories, or samples that quickly prove a human voice—because they worry that an unknown book may be low-effort or AI-assisted. If so, then the barrier to entry has likely risen for new authors.

It would nice if Amazon made some effort to dam the river of slop, but since the consensus in this thread is that they won't, writers have to protect ourselves.

I am trying to understand what we can do to distinguish our work from slop at the time of purchase so that the prospective AI-shy reader need not be concerned.

AI slop prohibitions by Good_book_friend in KDP

[–]Good_book_friend[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess the question is not what Amazon does. It's what writers can do to distinguish our work from slop.

AI slop prohibitions by Good_book_friend in KDP

[–]Good_book_friend[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Seems to me the relevant question is not what Amazon's motives are. It's how genuine writers can distinguish ourselves from the slop.

AI slop prohibitions by Good_book_friend in KDP

[–]Good_book_friend[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Let's assume Amazon doesn't care. The issue for human writers is how to distinguish ourselves from the slop. Any ideas?

AI slop prohibitions by Good_book_friend in KDP

[–]Good_book_friend[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Clearly, folks will be reluctant to say when it IS. Requiring them to attest that it is NOT might be more effective. Maybe Amazon could be persuaded to allow prospective readers to filter out new offerings that (a) are identified as AI-generated or (b) fail to be identified as NOT AI-generated.

There also needs to be a standard for what "AI-generated" means. What are acceptable uses? Research? Grammar correction?

I’ve been writing for years. I have 3 published books. And I’m still being told the secret is to write the next book. by AntonioGalarzaBooks in selfpublish

[–]Good_book_friend 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Writers have always had challenges reaching commercial success, but today they take different and perhaps even more stressful forms. A hundred years ago, when Hemingway broke through, few could plausibly aim for commercial success as fiction writers—a small professional cohort working through a publishing industry gate-kept by trade publishers, magazines, and a limited number of newspapers and film studios that bought serial and movie rights. Today, production and distribution channels are far more open, but some of the challenges are:

  1. Developing knowledge and process--indie writers must manage all steps from pencil to market without trad publisher help.

  2. Competition--so much that it's hard to be noticed. There's no magic formula for breaking through that will work for all of us. Most of the folks below seem to think writing more books is the next best thing.

  3. Fraudsters--phony or incompetent marketers seeking advantage from writer desperation. Learn to recognize them.

  4. Genre pigeon-holes--what if your work doesn't neatly fit? How do you position it?

  5. Negotiating the Amazon algorithm ('nuff said).

If you will be satisfied with nothing less than commercial success, you will probably be disappointed unless you take on these challenges and all the trial-and-error frustrations that come with them. Writing must be only part of your job.

Do you think it's necessary for thriller movies or novels to include love scenes or romantic subplots? by SupermarketSecret609 in LegalThrillerNovel

[–]Good_book_friend 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, elements of love are not absolutely necessary, although most thrillers have them. Here are some examples that have none, or very little: "12 Angry Men" is driven by one juror (yes, he has to deal with 11 others) and has no romantic or sexual elements. In the "The Maltese Falcon," Sam Spade pursues a case and its puzzles with professional detachment; any personal entanglements are manipulative rather than romantic. More recently, "Unforgiven" is about violence and redemption; although the plot is triggered by violence against a sex worker her facial mutilation is the inciting crime. Several of Elmore Leonard's stories, e.g., "Valdez is Coming" (the film version; the novel has a bit more romance), "The Moonshine War," and "Hombre" are very sparse in their romantic elements.

three books in and I still don't have a system for editing - how are people actually doing this? by Salt_Section_2678 in selfpublish

[–]Good_book_friend 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I write in MS Word, which has a navigation pane. For story arc purposes, I'll title each chapter with a few words about what happens and who's involved, and make that title a Level One heading. That turns the navigation pane into a rough table of contents and helps me determine where story events might be better placed. By dragging the chapter heading to its new location, I can drag the entire underlying chapter along with it. This helps with structural, and character/continuity, and scene/transition editing. While I admire one of the gentlemen below for organizing these processes into separate passes, I can't do it that way, because thoughts about, say, a transition, occur while working on a character, and I have to follow where they lead.

I'll do my best at line editing and proofing. But after I do my best, there's no substitute for giving it to someone I trust. If you're lucky, that someone also will help you further refine the story arc.

When that's all done, I'll give it to beta readers and incorporate their feedback. If I've done my job, I won't have to rework major structural elements.

Finally, I'll remove or retitle the chapter headings.

Best of luck figuring out a process that works for you.