Masked-Editor

@Sammxney @megkeanewrites Additionally authors themselves are commonly repetitive without AI. So repetitiveness is not a guaranteed sign of AI either.

@Sammxney @megkeanewrites I'm talking generally. That being said, this screenshot doesn't read as repetitive. It reads as atmospheric. And literally thousands of people enjoyed this book and didn't feel it was bad. I hindsight, it can be easy to see flaws. But many many people enjoyed this book first.

I’m less concerned by the author (used loosely) that used AI to write their book and more concerned by why a big five publisher needed readers to tell them it was AI

@Sammxney @megkeanewrites It's definitely not as obvious as everyone would like it to be. It gets mis-flagged all the time. It's all just a brand new world out there that everyone is trying to navigate.

@Masked_Editor_ @megkeanewrites I've never used chat GPT or any other gen AI tools before I promise if any editor had read one chapter and that's being generous if they had read one page it would be obvious but if they had read one chapter it would be glaringly obvious it was AI

@KozyKeyleth The goal of publishers is to always have them out before the movie. About 1 month beforhand is usually the sweet spot for selling a ton of copies. ☺️

@Masked_Editor_ because they’re only ever on the shelves after a movie adaptation is being made so i’ve witnessed personally, i’ve never seen PHM before the film was made and now all i’m seeing is a man on the cover 😭

i absolutely despise when they bring out books with the movie covers, no one asked for that i promise.

@FacesMice @megkeanewrites And the tells are unreliable. 30min is not enough time to fully understand these systems. How many writers are frustrated that AI likes em dashes, but so do many writers. Odd phrases, my authors have tons of those and I don't think they used AI. It's all not that easy.

@Masked_Editor_ @megkeanewrites You could learn to catch it on your own by fooling around with ChatGPT for 30 minutes.

@FacesMice @megkeanewrites Many editors do have an anti AI sentiment as well, so it's not in our nature to spend time using it and we're not supposed to for work. This is all brand new territory and learning is only just beginning. Maybe in a few years, editors will be better educated on it.

@allie__voss The reality actually is that EBs aren't that much cheaper than print books to produce. About 90% of both the print and EB costs is the same (editing, art costs, etc...) and EBs have a hefty tech side to produce that costs money. The physical printing of books is a tiny part of it

This is like places the make mocktails the same price as cocktails Genuinely deserves jail time

@L_E_Bendon @Aatif_Rashid The reason lots of self pubbed authors want a publisher even if they get big enough is the print distribution. A publisher has more access to retailers versus primarily selling EBs on Amazon or their print on demand service

@Aatif_Rashid If you do well enough with a self-published book that a big5 publisher comes to you, normally you'd say no. You already proved you can make it on your own. The fact this author said yes says a lot about her goal being quick cash now before she gets found out for using AI.

I think the root of the problem is that publishers are buying self published slop that sells well without vetting it for quality. This book would probably not have made it through a traditional editing process, but Hachette just wanted a shortcut to a hit.

@lcthlorien I have never worked on or heard of any book where an ad was paid for to put a product plug into a book.

@lcthlorien I highly doubt this is an ad that Hallmark paid for. Authors reference real products all the time as a way to ground a story in reality. It's referenced that this is in a horror novel, so this reference is probably a desire for light hearted content by the character.

did i just find an ad inside a book 😭

@BHolshouserUS On the publisher side, we love group author events because they tend to bring in a larger crowd than a single author. So exposure is bigger!

Got offered a signing at a B&N, but with other authors. I tend to sell far less with a lot of other authors around. I believe it's due to most readers feeling too intimidated to approach a group of authors. B&N takes a 60% commission, and IS only (profit = $1/book) Should I do it? *Edit* B&N takes 40% commission.

@Whitedale_U I had never heard of a request for this before they announced it! 🤷‍♀️

How are we feeling about the Goodreads "DNF Shelf"? Seems kind of ... petty, no? Popular demand? Geez people. I will not be using it. 😉

I spent some time examining the question of whether you really need a n editor and what the different types are! Take a look. open.substack.com/pub/maskededit…

@HannahWardEdu I haven't counted them exactly... But wouldn't be surprised if we're in the 1000+ category!

How does your home library stack up? In 2023 YouGov surveyed 29,000 Americans to see how many books they have in their homes. The results were disappointing to say the least. - 0 books: 9% (no books AT ALL) - 1–10 books: 20% - 11–25 books: 14% - 26–50 books: 13% - 51–100 books: 12% - 101–200 books: 10% - 201–500 books: 7% - 501–1,000 books: 4% - More than 1,000 books: 3%

@AlexArch_author It happens to me! I have some talented authors and sometimes I forget I'm supposed to be editing their books...

I Gotta give it to Editors. I dont know how you guys do it. I always get lost in the story and forget I was editing, then have to go back and restart the chapter 😅

I understand that hiring an editor can be expensive, and it's not necessarily possible for everyone. But then I think you need to think creatively about how to get that valuable feedback so that you can put the best story out there!

For those looking to self-pub, I do think investing in real editorial work is important, and probably for most authors, necessary. It's hard to objectively edit yourself. And treating self-publishing like a business is the way you compete with actual businesses.

So I know I'm an editor, but I wanted to pop in on the "do you need an editor" debate! I think having someone who can objectively review your book with a lens of how the marketplace works is incredibly valuable and in many cases required.