Dearest Gentle Writer... (or Wreader)...

All does not always go smoothly in the world of indie publishing. More about that below, but first:

I've just sent the manuscript of Book 5 in my Double-Dilemma Romance series, The Teacher's Noble Heart, to beta readers. And I'm also now taking applications for ARC readers.

What's the difference?

Beta readers look for things that aren't working in the manuscript. They read like writers. And they give me feedback that I incorporate (or not) before I upload the final files.

ARC (Advance Review Copy) readers read the uncorrected file like readers. Sometimes I get feedback from them, but it's not essential. ARC readers leave advance reviews on Goodreads and BookBub and copy those to Amazon when the book is published. They're a cheering and support team.

I'm so, so grateful to both beta readers and ARC readers. 🙏🏻

I have my beta readers (you know who you are...). If you're interested in being an ARC reader, please complete the form at the link below. The benefit to you is a free e-book, and my undying thanks.

Adventures in cover design...

I love the covers of my Double-Dilemma romance series. They have a unified feeling and really represent the tone of the books, I think:

I used the wonderful folks at 100Covers for design, and found their process logical and seamless and their designers very responsive.

That's important, because they don't always get it right the first time. But that initial effort can serve as a starting point, because it gives me something to respond to and provide clearer, more exact information about what I'm looking for.

This is the case with Book 5 in the series, The Teacher's Noble Heart. Here's what they sent me last week:

So, yes, it's pretty. But the dress is the wrong period (Victorian rather than Regency) and the color seems a little too much of a departure.

Clearly this designer (I imagine they don't always use the same individual) needed more direction concerning the period. That sent me to Canva and to Imagen4.

I will be completely honest with you: There are very few stock photos of women in Regency dress, and those are used over and over again. Indie authors like me can't afford a photo shoot, and frankly, I would say about half the images now available on Shutterstock are generated by AI.

I got AI to generate a photo of a Regency woman in a plain dress who might be a teacher, and then I used Canva to mock up something that had more the feeling I was going for. I imagine it's possible that Canva's landscape images have also been generated by AI, but I don't know that for certain.

Here's what I sent back to them as a guideline, telling them I wouldn't mind if they used the AI image I generated:

What I can't do easily is add all the subtle layers they put in their Photoshop files to give that richness and depth that makes the difference between a DIY cover and a professionally human-designed one.

I'll share the final cover with you as soon as I have it!

Are you AI curious? Already using it in some ways in your work? Join me Saturday at 9:30am EST on Zoom.

There's nothing that gets writers talking and arguing more reliably than AI. I have writer friends who absolutely put a hard line between anything to do with their work and using AI. That's a valid personal decision.

I have many others who admit—sometimes sheepishly—that they are finding ways to use AI as a tool to aid in idea generation, marketing, research, and analysis.

What they DO NOT do is allow AI to write their stories. That's where a lot of the anti-AI feeling comes from I believe, the fear that all the books we know and love will in future be spit out by a bot.

AI does not write my newsletters, for instance. I still think AI text sounds like it's been written by a bot—a very clever one, but a bot nonetheless. However, I often consult AI for ideas about subject matter and timing. Same thing with social media. I use it as a starting point and then I put my own voice into it.

AI does not write my books either. It is sometimes a sounding board and analyzer. It helps with research—although I always verify information (it can be a very confident liar). The thing is that it can find things much, much more quickly than I could by doing a regular web search. I've discovered resources I wouldn't have known to look for, often because they're buried pages deep by sponsored content in Google.

The simple truth is that AI is not going away. Another truth is that we don't know exactly what it will be capable of in the future. But my personal opinion is that simply ignoring it or demonizing it will work to the detriment of writers.

So here's a poll for my gentle readers:

That's all for this time. I hope you're all weathering the post-holiday letdown well and finding good ways to look forward in the new year.

Happy reading and writing!

Susanne

P.S. Just a reminder that Book 1 in the Double-Dilemma Romance series, The Dressmaker's Secret Earl, is just $.99 on Kindle! Start the series today so you can be all caught up when Book 5 publishes in March. 😊