When I was 22, I logged into a Forgotten Realms forum called Candlekeep to find that no less a personage than Ed Greenwood — the prolific creator of the setting that WotC murdered — had read the backstory I posted about a character I was going to play in a then-upcoming game and declared it publishable (if only it were in an original setting). He described it as a good, fun read, then added “More, please!”
That was my first compliment from a “real” author. Still stunned, I told my mother about it and she was a little hurt. “I’ve been telling you your writing was good for years!”
“Well, yeah,” I said, “but you’re my mom.”
Your mom is supposed to like your stuff. She doted on your colorful scribbles when you were five, too. Even if she’s a successful writer who’s known for critical taste, she’s still biased where you’re concerned. And that’s fine. She should be.
Well, AI doesn’t love you, but it’s almost like it’s programmed to act like it. You have to actively work at it to make it critical of your work in the right way. I recently went on The Novel Marketing Podcast to talk about why — and how to fix it.
If you prefer to read rather than watch, Author Media has got you covered. And if you’d rather listen to just the audio, click that link anyway to find out where you can do it.
If you’re an author looking to be serious about publishing and you’re not already listening to Thomas Umstattd‘s The Novel Marketing Podcast, or its companion news show Author Update with Jonathan Shuerger, you’re not just missing out — you’re leaving valuable knowledge on the table. There are much better guests than me on Novel Marketing breaking down the business side of getting your book to audiences, and Author Update is invaluable to keep up with news and cultural trends in an industry where the important headlines rarely make the front page.
And if you’re looking at getting an actual education in marketing, Thomas’ Author Media is the only writer-education course catalog that I actively endorse. Though I’ll also say that if you listen to Novel Marketing long enough (and pay attention) you’ll get the equivalent of a marketing degree in a few months’ time. I suggest going back to around December 2022 if you’re really looking at diving in and just work your way up to the present. Or just start with next week’s episode. The guest will no doubt be even better!
Also, if you’re looking for the skill I talked about in the episode but hadn’t finished at the time of filming, go to my LLM Skills page and try out the Author Dev skill. And if you’re new to using LLMs, I highly recommend you look at my four AI rules.
