Dear Emerging Authors, welcome back! We just about made it through March – or did March make it through us? 

Predictably, the headlines are rife with the sloppy remnants of the Fake Intellectual (AI) as it tries to engulf the publishing industry. Luckily, we human authors will always find a way to come up for air.

First up though: AI is cancelling books now. Oh dear.

‘No escaping’ AI use as book trade grapples with Shy Girl cancellation

“In light of the recent news that Hachette Book Group in the US has axed the publication of Mia Ballard’s ‘femgore’ horror novel Shy Girl over suspected AI use, Dan Conway, chief executive officer of the Publishers Association (PA), has told The Bookseller ‘there is no escaping that the submission of AI-generated manuscripts is likely to increase with the availability of tools on the market’.” 

This is a tricky one. Shy Girl was originally self-published, so the author had full control over the book. But once trade publishers got involved, it was likely subject to countless reads, editing, copy editing, formating, final design being checked for errors, before it was republished, right? So, why was the robot-speak not picked up earlier, long before it made it to Goodreads where readers then pointed out the gaping holes and confusing sentences in the book? 

That is a question only the publisher can answer, and unfortunately this is not the first time something like this has happened. Whether it is AI, questionable stories in a memoir, or discriminatory language in a non-fiction book, the industry does not always do its due diligence and oftentimes, it is the author that bears the brunt of the fallout. 

For better or worse, we are the creator of our works, and so we must, where we can, take ownership of that. If you are a seasoned author, you are likely already doing the checking of your own work, but what if you are a debut, worried about how to advocate for yourself with your publisher without rocking the boat? 

Well, just as AI is desperate for your words, so too is the publishing industry – its entire livelihood relies on the work of writers, actually. So, just because you are new to it, does not mean you should hold back on being clear about what you need, right down to the edits. 

And speaking of editing:

Grammarly sued for AI ‘Expert Review’ tool that impersonated authors

“Author and journalist Julia Angwin has filed a class action lawsuit against Superhuman, the parent company of Grammarly, for its ‘Expert Review’ tool that edited users’ work in the style of notable journalists and authors, including Stephen King and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.”

I did warn you that the Fake Intellectual was running rampant in March. And even Grammarly – the official grammar police – is doing the absolute most with the least by using AI; impersonating editorial notes of prominent journalists, authors and academics. These stunts force writers to put their energy into protecting their likeness, taking valuable time away from being able to create new work. 

We have moved into a new era of authorship that ironically reflects an older era; a time when independence and forthrightness as an author were requirements for success.

And what about the emotional labour that comes with trying to stop the theft of your creativity? Even if this is not happening to you, it can be exhausting and disheartening to see it happen to peers and creators you admire.

But prevention is better than the cure. We have moved into a new era of authorship that ironically reflects an older era; a time when independence and forthrightness as an author were requirements for success. Nowadays, ownership means not only protecting your current work from the bots, but also looking ahead at what you could create in the future, and building safety around that. 

Perhaps you are heavily inspired by a particular writer you have grown up with – do you want to be them, or do you want your work to stand alone and be influenced and made better by the work that came before? That distinction will dictate how you approach your work, what expectations you have for its place in the industry, and how you expect other publishing professionals to treat it.

And as always, a lot of the current and future issues we might face, are made so much easier when in community with each other.

The Authors’ Collective launches ‘to tackle unfavourable market forces’

A new publishing collective has been founded by a group of authors in response to the “unfavourable market forces, which make it tricky for critically acclaimed writers to find publishers these days”.

As the adage goes, if you want something done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself, and the Authors’ Collective is coming together to publish each other and provide their own platform to do so.

But it can be hard to be ‘in community’ with other writers when you are starting out and you do not know anyone. So, why not build community within your pre-existing one? Even if none of your close friends or family are writers, perhaps some of them are creative, and might be open to collaborating on something? I am not saying start your own publishing house, but building a different kind of creative partnership could allow you to put your work out there in an unconventional but exciting way. 

We do not have to be limited by one traditional route, and if we really want to, we can forge ahead on our own paths, which is a uniquely human quality that cannot be replicated.