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I follow a site/newsletter titled Plagiarism Today. Jonathan Bailey ( @plagiarismtoday \ @mastodon.world \ mastodon.world \ plagiarismtoday.com ) has managed this site for decades, and he knows his stuff about AI, copyright, and plagiarism. I receive many newsletters. His I read. Recently he composed a piece entitled How Can I Prove That I’m Human?  As we all know, it has become challenging in schools and business to identify who is the legitimate author of a piece and how much AI they used to create it. The range can mean little more than using Grammarly to check grammar all the way to plugging a topic into ChatGpt and submitting the whole piece as your own. When I receive article pitches for FundsforWriters, at least half are pure AI. The authors argue with me when I claim their piece reads like AI. They are insulted, they say. My response is that if the piece reads like it even might be AI, I don’t want it. When I (or any other editor) purchases a piece, they want it to be original. They also want it to have a voice. They want a fresh idea presented in a fresh manner. If there is no voice, if More

Earning a living from writing is not as easy to wrap your head around as opening a coffee shop or becoming a tax accountant. The work writers do is often mitigated by a publisher. Thinking of what “goods” or “services” you provide as a writer and who your “customers” are can feel intangible and vague. But that doesn’t mean that writing isn’t a business or that writers should skip creating a business plan. This is a lesson I keep having to learn. In 2015, I launched a website, opened Twitter and Instagram accounts, and reached out to newspaper and magazine editors in the city where I lived. Before I knew it, I had writing assignments and deadlines, and soon enough, paychecks. But the path from a few paychecks to a profitable writing business hasn’t been as smooth as I expected. It wasn’t long until I received a notice from my city’s Treasury Department. It turns out that in Roanoke, VA, writers need a business license in order to work. Who knew? Filing taxes as a sole proprietor was a steep learning curve. One of the magazines I wrote for didn’t send my promised fee. When I reached out, the editor connected me with the finance More

Before I start, a few caveats. First, I really don’t know very much about AI. Also, I’m only really talking here about ChatGPT. And I’m only talking about the world of commercial content, not creative writing. I start with all that because pretty much everyone I know who is a creative type is violently against AI in all its forms. I get all that. But I also work in the very commercial world of marketing for brands and businesses. It’s not a very glamorous place, but it’s where many aspiring writers go for the bread-and-butter work that funds their creative dreams. And over there, nobody has any qualms about using AI tools at all. Let me give you a couple of recent examples: •    A client asks me to write an ebook based on a webinar about IT security they’ve recently delivered. They provide a version of the eBook done by ChatGPT with the expectation I will simply edit that. I listen to the full webinar out of curiosity. The AI version is well structured and covers all the key points. It misses out a few things I now add in, notably anecdotes and examples that help bring a rather dry More

A lot of people, particularly in person, tell me they “have this story” that they want to tell. They ask me how I write, then they ask how to publish. There is a mile in between, and I try to tell them what that mile consists of. Recently, a new author asked me why they weren’t selling books. I looked at the books on Amazon, the website, and their social media. The website was a freebie site that just posted the books for sale. No history. No clear definition of genre anywhere. Three reviews tops. Nothing about the author. I could find no reference to social media in the email or on the website. The book covers looked self-published, and when I read the free sample, I could spot someone who hadn’t studied the craft. When I talk to new writers, I generally say this. -Take classes on writing. Go to a conference if you can. -Read books on writing. -Define the genre. -Join social media groups and read blogs on writing. -Read lots of books in your specific genre to understand it as well as good writing. -Take several of those books and dissect then, marking them up on More

I was negotiating a small appearance for sometime downstream when something kept niggling at me about this one in particular. I have learned to listen to that feeling. The pay was average, and the expenses were fully covered. I could sell my books and retain 100 percent of proceeds. No bookstore there selling books, but I could find someone to cover that. All the boxes were checked, but something still worried me. I watched the event being planned, some ads going out, but one thing I wasn’t seeing was positive activity. It wasn’t getting much traction. Nobody was sharing it. Nobody was talking about going. And most of all it didn’t have much of a track record. And I wasn’t being kept up to date. There was still time until this event took place, but in fairness to all, I contacted the organizer again. When I questioned more deeply, it turned out the people putting it together fretted that they didn’t have the financial means to cover it all. Attendance wasn’t coming together like they thought. I would be paid, but not the same day. They could not predict what was going to happen. If the event had been in More

I was horrified when a client suggested using generative AI to “fill in” an article. I was appropriately aghast when another client switched their copywriting to cheaper ChatGPT. Generative AI has led to job losses and writing industry impact—it’s not just my story, but could be yours. Can writers stop or slow AI? Here’s how to brace for impact. Add a Disclaimer Add a disclaimer to your website that says you’re a human writer without generative AI. Some people want cheap, AI copywriting. Those aren’t the type of clients you’re hoping to get, and adding a disclaimer stops them (or you) from wasting time. Don’t use generative AI for your writing, cover art, or website. Non-generative AI tools can still be used for data analysis or research, like you’d use a calculator rather than grabbing an abacus. Don’t feed the machine. Avoid copying, pasting, or uploading your files to sites that may be connected to machine learning. “Free” file converters are a potential culprit. Use open source downloadable software rather than quick, free, online software that may just be teaching AI in the background. Check terms and conditions carefully before using anything “free”, because they’re usually covering their costs by selling data. Learn About More

“If you build it, he (they) will come” is the famous line in the classic 1989 flick, “Field of Dreams,” spoken by character Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella (actor Kevin Costner). That’s fine when you’re talking about ghosts showing up on a baseball field, but what about book signings and appearances? When you are going to make an appearance, and the group isn’t restrictive in size or membership, you cannot expect the public to just show up. Instead you ought to be touting the event, and you can do some or all of the following: 1) Create marketing material on Canva.com (or use what the host is using to be consistent). 2) Use it on your social media, allow it to be shareable, and suggest others spread the word. 3) Promote hard on local sites. Town, county, region . . . ask them to post this on their social media, sites, and newsletters. Most opportunities like this are free. 4) Promote via Chambers of Commerce. If your host is a commercial entity, nonprofit, or service entity, they likely get free promotion via the local Chamber’s social media and mailings. I belong to the Edisto Island Chamber, and they shout out More

I am more in the line of Dean Koontz when it comes to making appearances. I make myself appear just enough, not totally comfortable with too many face-to-face events. I don’t do major conferences. I rarely leave the state anymore. Pre-COVID I was all over the place, and admittedly, the touring helped put my name out there. Post-COVID, however, I’ve been more productive and less real-life promotional. No, you don’t have to appear if you don’t want to, but tell yourself how people will get to know you. You have to do it to a certain degree to become known, or to remain relevant. Exercise the 25/50/25 method of dictating where you appear. 25% of the time appear in easy venues that don’t make you nervous. Book clubs, maybe. Groups in coffee houses. 50% of the time, accept larger crowds. They are challenging but doable. Then 25% of the time, accept something that rattles you enough to put you on your toes. Step into fresh territory and give it a go. So, that means if you appear four times a year, you do a 1/2/1 ratio. If you appear monthly, then break it down into an 3/6/3 situation. There’s being More

Writers talk a lot about coping with rejection. I used to get lots of messages from editors and agencies that said things like ‘we decided to go another way’ or ‘sorry, this one’s not for us’ or ‘we regret to inform you that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful’. But I don’t receive many rejections anymore. Mostly get … silence. When I fire things off into the digital ether – CVs, ideas, stories, manuscripts –I just simply never hear back at all. Hard to quantify, but it seems to me that this has become the norm. No doubt it’s a supply-and-demand thing: there are so many writing wannabes nowadays that editors could fill their whole days simply turning people down. But I even get the silent treatment from people who’ve asked me to contact them. A former boss messaged me on LinkedIn to say he wanted a catch-up. A head of an agency said he was turning down my application for a content contract but wanted to meet up ‘to discuss other opportunities’. A charity marketer I know well asked me to consider writing some words for his site. I replied to all of these, and… nada. I More

Every day I keep my writing career strong by logging in to social media. I often use Facebook Messenger to communicate with other writers, but chats alone are not enough. Your Profile Just as a website must make a writer or author stand out as an authority, so must a social media profile. For example, my social media profiles state that I am a freelance writer, author, newsletter publisher, book reviewer and editor. My Twitter/X profile notes I’m a disabled writer. An editor contacted me on there when looking for disabled writers to submit to an anthology. Include your link as well as hashtags with keywords specific to your specialty, such as #SEO or #Excel. Group Chats Personal group chats created on social media sites contain a selection of people with like interests, only drilled down more specific. I belong to many group chats; one for a publisher of my books, one for an anthology I am submitting to, and one for writers seeking calls for submissions. These were all created by the respective editors who added me. A group chat in a social media message center can help you stay more on top of a discussion. It’s usually more detailed, more instant, More