I think we need to acknowledge the growing role AI plays in publishing.
For the record, I do not believe AI should be used to write your book, children’s books, or any book, really. Books are critical to our development as humans. They introduce us to people, take us to places, and teach us things we might not otherwise have experienced.
And I’m aware that as of this writing, there’s a lot of chatter about AI replacing humans doing the jobs we’re currently doing. No matter if you’re focused on writing your book or creating content to market your business, instead of thinking of it as a robot built to replace you, think of AI more as your creative assistant.
Training AI for Better Results
The best thing about using AI tools to help spur your creativity is that you can train it to return results that consistently improve over time. Here’s how it works: the more you use it, the better your requests get — more specific, including greater detail, etc. — and the more accurate responses you receive.
At the beginning of 2024, ChatGPT was the most popular AI writing tool, followed by writerbuddy.ai, QuillBot, and Gemini from Google, which began its AI life as Bard. Yes. Named for William Shakespeare.
ChatGPT, in particular, offered a paid version where you could enter details about your business, your ideal customer avatar, your written style and personality, and more. If you were in the paid tier, ChatGPT “knew” these facts about your business, your customer, and you to produce results more tailored to your needs.
Any machine learning tool gets better the more you use it.
Brainstorming & Idea Generation
With AI, you never have to experience writer’s block again, and isn’t that every author’s worst nemesis? Instead, for example, use AI to prompt you by asking it for a sample outline for your chapter so you can fill in the blanks.
Maybe you want to explore some of your customer’s pain points using “what if” scenarios. AI can give you a list of “what if” ideas, and you can build from there.
AI can be the brainstorming buddy you’ve always needed. It provides suggestions to help nudge you out of whatever rut in which you might have fallen.
AI Can’t Replace You
Despite its many capabilities, AI can only do what it is trained to do. It lacks your imagination, the ability to create, emotions, and any lived experiences. You are what will make your book unique.
AI also can’t think critically or reason through a dilemma. It provides suggestions, and it’s then up to you to sift through the information for quality, relevance, and alignment.
You’ll also need to fact-check what AI gives you. At the bottom of the ChatGPT screen, there is a disclaimer saying it does sometimes return inaccurate results and that users should be sure to check whatever they deem “important”.
Here’s another reason AI isn’t going to replace you: only you sound like you!
Yes, AI can give you detailed, in-depth responses to the prompts you ask it, but in the end, you absolutely need to edit to ensure your voice, tone, and style are consistent throughout.
Getting Started: A Practical Guide
If you’re ready to try AI for yourself, here are some practical steps to help you get started:
- Experiment with AI writing tools such as ChatGPT, WriterBuddy, Gemini, iThinkContent, Jasper, Claude, Sudowrite, or Rytr, for example. Most offer free trials or basic plans, so feel free to explore as you will.
- Define your needs by identifying your own biggest pain point. Do you need ideation, marketing research, or inspiration? Understanding what will get you past whatever obstacle you face will help you pick the right tool.
- Start small by telling AI about your business, your customer, and yourself. Then, ask it to write a short blog article of maybe 300 words. I was intimidated by AI at first because AI can be intimidating. But then I started using it first with a simple request, and my confidence grew from there. Yours will, too.
- Remember, AI is iterative, meaning, you need to edit, re-write, and shape the results it gives back to you. The goal is to use AI-generated text as starting point, not the finished product.
Final Thoughts
AI is not here to steal your or any other author’s job. Instead, use it as a tool, so you can free up your mental space, boost your confidence, and grow your business to the level where you deserve it to be.
If you’ve written a book and are ready for editing, I’d love to talk with you. Let’s schedule a call.