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Fastlane Opportunities for Writers

MTF

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Actually there's Rupi Kaur, whose net worth is about a million, just from selling her poetry books/doing readings. But it's only because her poetry is really, really, really terrible, so bad that it became a huge meme.

Never heard of her. Now that I checked a Wikipedia article about her I know why. Looks like your stereotypic young woke poet warrior:

Kaur feels that her work can't be "fully reviewed or critiqued through a white lens or a Western one".

But I can't speak more about her because my white Western lens precludes me from having any opinions.

Most other poets, even poets who have won the Nobel Prize like Louise Glück, teach poetry writing at universities.

That's sad but I assume it's similar with fiction writers. Maybe not most of them but a lot for sure.

To be honest, I think these days it pays more to write badly than to write well

If you look at it as a pure artist I guess you can say it's writing badly. But if it sells, from the entrepreneurial point of view, it can't be bad. It does elicit a certain emotional response from people and it's so strong that not only do they buy it for themselves, they also talk about it with other people.
 
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MTF

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Not saying do this (even though it is possible to create right now), but I don't think tomorrow's publishing successes are going to look like what they look like today. The stories don't have to change that much, but how they are delivered and consumed probably will.

Good point, and I'm probably too much of a donkey to change my mind and try these creative solutions. Maybe I should write a book on how NOT to end up like me.

Instead of building a new email list, why not try catering to the one you already have? If they can't affored your books, turn them into free content. A blog is the obvious, and that doesn't have to be a personal brand. You could also use the blog to test ideas that you might want to turn into books further down the line.

Working with an Indian audience is... well, a peculiar experience. I get emails that are so confusing and often so out of my cultural understanding that I don't think I can serve this audience.

Chris Anderson wrote an article for Wired about the internet allowing people to make a living from tiny niches, the article went viral and he wanted to turn the thesis into a book, but knew that it would take him 1-2 years. He made a blog about the topic (The long tail) and started to talk about his research, test ideas, crowdsource information, etc. Then two years later he released the book with a crowd that wanted to buy it.

That's a nice example that got me thinking, thanks!

The other thing that might get your fiction writing to fastlane would be selling complementory items. If you have a couple super fans who buy every book in your series, why not push other items too. Patrick Rothfuss is one example of a fantasy writer who also sells merch. His store for reference. A book takes a long time to make, but selling signed copies for a couple bucks more doesn't cost you a lot of time. T-Shirts, Mugs, Jewlery, Playing Cards, Plushies, Art prints, Maps, Stickers, Figurines, heck I even saw some brands selling pajamas of their fantasy world. There are literally no limits.

I wonder how much money he makes off this merch compared to his book sales...

Then you can also play with new media, there are short story magazines who turn the submissions into "audio books", instead of writing a whole book, why not write a series of short stories and turn it into an audio series, as well as publishing it for free online, and selling a printed copy of the collection?

Thank you for all your ideas. I appreciate it. I considered creating a web serial instead of a regular book. I also know of some stories that are sold/distributed as podcasts, chapter by chapter. Just not sure how much scale there is in something so out there. I'd imagine that most readers still prefer an "old" reading experience (also considering how many still prefer print books). But I may be wrong.
 

MJ DeMarco

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This is super depressing. The guy has been publishing these income reports since 2007, has a nice catalog, and has been working with major New York publishers, and yet made only $31k in 2020, $14k in 2019, and $39k in 2018. His BEST year ever (2016) was $77k.

Damn. Makes me question if I even want to bother writing fiction. Not that I need the money, but I know that I tend to take a LONG TIME to write stuff that I'd like to publish. I would hate to spend 2 years writing something and only have 20 people read and enjoy it, seems like a terrible waste of time. But then again, I guess that's part of the art -- writing for a purpose VS writing for a market.
 

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This is super depressing. The guy has been publishing these income reports since 2007, has a nice catalog, and has been working with major New York publishers, and yet made only $31k in 2020, $14k in 2019, and $39k in 2018. His BEST year ever (2016) was $77k.

Damn. Makes me question if I even want to bother writing fiction. Not that I need the money, but I know that I tend to take a LONG TIME to write stuff that I'd like to publish. I would hate to spend 2 years writing something and only have 20 people read and enjoy it, seems like a terrible waste of time. But then again, I guess that's part of the art -- writing for a purpose VS writing for a market.

I know it is obviously dated, but in 2016, instead of publishing his usual yearly synopsis, he took a survey of 381 authors. See here - 2016 Novelist Income Survey Final Results and Data | Jim C. Hines

A couple take-aways:

• Average Income: $114,124
• Median Income: $17,000

Most people obviously don't make a living wage at it. The top 20% made at least $119k, the top 10% made at least $296k, the top 1% made at least $1.4 million.

And looking at the expenses (especially for the self published) it looks like most don't even spend $300/mo promoting themselves. Maybe that's the nature of the industry, and maybe that is why agented authors tend to make more than non. But I see that as opportunity.

The write up is chock full of interesting tidbits/stats about the industry (at least to a lay person like myself). And if you want to find hope, there's hope to be found in those numbers.

20% make a solid living, and 10% are demonstrably well off. That's actually better odds than most businesses.

Get to work @MTF. Certainly you can be a top ten percenter!
 
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MTF

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Damn. Makes me question if I even want to bother writing fiction. Not that I need the money, but I know that I tend to take a LONG TIME to write stuff that I'd like to publish. I would hate to spend 2 years writing something and only have 20 people read and enjoy it, seems like a terrible waste of time. But then again, I guess that's part of the art -- writing for a purpose VS writing for a market.

I can 100% relate to that because I'm in a similar position.

If you want to launch it under a pen name without using your current audience it'll be very hard.

As far as I remember, you wanted to write a mystery or a thriller. Both of these are extremely competitive. Also, right now, Amazon is promoting Dean Koontz so heavily (he's published by Amazon Publishing) that he dominates many of the bestselling lists in these genres.

At the same time, if you don't try, you won't know, though it would most certainly suck to spend a few years writing a book only to sell 20 copies regardless if you're doing it for the money or not. Just feels wasteful and from my perspective, it would be more valuable for the world to write another non-fiction book guaranteed to be enjoyed by thousands.

I'd say there are roughly four "types" of fiction writing:
  • big niches where most people write for money and competition is incredibly tough - romance, erotica, thrillers, suspense, mysteries. Of course, if your book becomes a success, it'll be a huge financial success because of the sheer scale.
  • medium, less lucrative niches where some people write as a passion and some as a business - sci-fi, fantasy, horror. The problem here is that many of these niches require writing long series to succeed because standalone books don't work well. Market is relatively small compared to these big niches (hence also the need for series). Lastly, extensive world-building (for fantasy and sci-fi) and research (primarily for sci-fi) can take a LOT of time.
  • obscure underground niches, some of which can turn into trendy niches - these are subgenres of the above genres that appeal to few people. For example, stuff like Christian post-apocalyptic stories, steampunk, alternative history. litRPG used to be something for total nerds, now it's a super hot niche. Anything that's a weird mix of other genres belongs here (including books with LGBTQ+ main characters).
  • writing purely for the art of it - literary fiction, poetry, anything else that's way too difficult to read for an average reader to ever become a commercial success.
As a side note, I once worked with a client who spent years writing their novel. It was clear they were very emotionally-invested in it.

I considered their novel way too weird to ever reach the goals they set for themselves (as far as I remember, they "only" wanted to sell 10,000 copies). I told them I can't promise any success. They still decided to work with me. I did my best but I think in the end we didn't even sell more than 500 copies. The book got 15 reviews, some very positive, and my client was still happy. The book is maybe selling a copy a month now. I myself would consider it a gigantic waste of time.

Sort of like my last non-fiction book, published under a new pen name, which was by far the most researched and most well-edited book I've ever written. It sold maybe 1000 copies. I lost about $10,000 producing and marketing it.

It was my "passion" project which I hoped would take off because of how much time and effort I invested into it (and in a niche that should appeal to a lot of people). But in the end, my super crappy books written several years ago (I consider them crappy from hindsight, not at the time I was writing them), edited by a cheap editor from Fiverr, made six figures.

The book publishing industry is very unpredictable and rarely matches your expectations (which some huge bestsellers rejected by 50+ editors also prove).
 

MTF

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I know it is obviously dated, but in 2016, instead of publishing his usual yearly synopsis, he took a survey of 381 authors. See here - 2016 Novelist Income Survey Final Results and Data | Jim C. Hines

A couple take-aways:

• Average Income: $114,124
• Median Income: $17,000

Most people obviously don't make a living wage at it. The top 20% made at least $119k, the top 10% made at least $296k, the top 1% made at least $1.4 million.

And looking at the expenses (especially for the self published) it looks like most don't even spend $300/mo promoting themselves. Maybe that's the nature of the industry, and maybe that is why agented authors tend to make more than non. But I see that as opportunity.

The write up is chock full of interesting tidbits/stats about the industry (at least to a lay person like myself). And if you want to find hope, there's hope to be found in those numbers.

20% make a solid living, and 10% are demonstrably well off. That's actually better odds than most businesses.

Get to work @MTF. Certainly you can be a top ten percenter!

Unfortunately these numbers are irrelevant today. 2016 and 2017 were VERY different in self-publishing compared to today. There was less competition and Amazon promoted your books for you as long as you got some traction first (selling 500-1000 copies in the first week was enough to convince the algorithm to promote you heavily).

I'm pretty sure that if he surveyed the same authors today most of them would have much lower average incomes. The authors I know or recognize from bestseller charts who started several years ago are all making less money than they did in the past, if they're still publishing. Many stopped altogether.
 

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I think there have been a few replies that are good but because they don’t fit in with what you want you won’t consider them. I think you might have to sacrifice your desire for privacy if you want to go fastlane, in America, with writing.

I did think of an alternative, though, but the Entry is quite difficult because it means you’d have to learn a different language. There are plenty of countries that Amazon has not reached, places where sales are not streamlined, SEO is unheard of. Anyhoo.. I hesitated to post because I know how resistant to change ppl can be.. but I’m right.

I recommend reading a book by one of the greatest sci fi authors, Ursula K Le Guin. If you enjoyed Dune, Battlefield Earth or Star Trek you’ll love her Hainish series.. each of which can be read as a stand-alone. The book I’m referring to is about slavery on two different planets and the “net” being controlled by governments and books being published by former assets... and love. It’s called The Five Ways To Forgiveness.

And MTF? Poetry is like water, if you’ve been raised on coffee and orange juice it doesn’t seem good at all.. not until you start sampling all the different kinds. Some poets are like bad tap water.. but still they deliver emotions refined and giving life.
 
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MTF

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I think there have been a few replies that are good but because they don’t fit in with what you want you won’t consider them. I think you might have to sacrifice your desire for privacy if you want to go fastlane, in America, with writing.

Do you mean even for fiction?

I did think of an alternative, though, but the Entry is quite difficult because it means you’d have to learn a different language. There are plenty of countries that Amazon has not reached, places where sales are not streamlined, SEO is unheard of. Anyhoo.. I hesitated to post because I know how resistant to change ppl can be.. but I’m right.

I speak three languages and can write comfortably in two.

Anyway, the book publishing market in countries where Amazon doesn't exist is usually owned by traditional publishers, sort of like pre-KDP in the US. There are probably some opportunities, though at the same time with a smaller market your scale is limited, particularly if you want to write in a smaller genre.

And MTF? Poetry is like water, if you’ve been raised on coffee and orange juice it doesn’t seem good at all.. not until you start sampling all the different kinds. Some poets are like bad tap water.. but still they deliver emotions refined and giving life.

Sorry, I'm just a primitive brute. Reading poetry is as much of a torture for me as watching stage plays.

I can acknowledge that certain people love poetry. To me, it's as absurd as abstract paintings sold for millions.
 

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I'm in the midst of reading all the answers in here, an awesome thread so far!

Can writing be Fastlane? This question always bothered me a bit when I thought about getting serious with writing. Because in my mind it fulfilled some of CENTS and others not that much.

I know there are different paths one can take in writing. Fiction. Non-Fiction. Copywriting. Blogging. Fiction-Non-Fiction a genre MJ created :) For me it's fiction novels.

Another question that troubled me for a while was, is this not just another form of "do what you love?"

Correct me if I'm wrong, because maybe I'm just biased because I want writing to be Fastlane lol but I think it can be. Especially writing books. Don't get me wrong, it's probably not the best Fastlane product as it struggles with Control and Entry. But like MJ's books show a really good book can overcome the Entry barrier. Control is probably the weakest one, as there aren't that many places to sell your books other than Amazon.
Time and Scale qualify for being Fastlane in my opinion. As soon as the book is written, edited and ready to publish it can make an passive income and the scalability depends on the type of book. To me there's always a Need for good books. For good books.

So. Can writing be Fastlane? I think it's not the best approach to a Fastlane product, but a really good book can (MJ's books are really good examples for this).

But is it "doing what you love?"
It depends. I can only talk from my experience, but I wouldn't say that I love writing. I love good stories and thinking about writing a good story, sure. But the actual act of writing 60000 or 80000 words? And don't forget planning (if you do) and editing. I enjoy those things on some days, especially when it comes easily, but don't really when things are coming rather hard or not at all. And to be honest, most of those days don't feel like writing comes easily.

What I love about this is the whole process. Not the writing itself, that's just one part of it that I enjoy on some days and on others not so much.

Just a few thoughts on writing.
 

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Do you mean even for fiction?



I speak three languages and can write comfortably in two.

Anyway, the book publishing market in countries where Amazon doesn't exist is usually owned by traditional publishers, sort of like pre-KDP in the US. There are probably some opportunities, though at the same time with a smaller market your scale is limited, particularly if you want to write in a smaller genre.

No I didn’t mean for fiction. I meant for coaching and writing courses.

I wish I could write in two languages.

Your replies all sound so.. unhopeful. Maybe you’re just burnt out and need a rest?
 
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a really good book can overcome the Entry barrier.

I'd say the barrier of entry is marketing. Everyone can publish a book but very few people can sell enough copies to get noticed. Consider that:

According to the best estimates, the average non-fiction book is now selling less than 250 copies per year and less than 2,000 copies over its lifetime.
source: Should You Write a Book? Why You Shouldn't Even If You Can

That's for non-fiction but I imagine it's way worse for fiction because few people look specifically for fiction (they buy because of a recommendation or because a book is a bestseller) while many people are interested in random things and do search for books about little-known topics.

So if you're a great marketer, you can stand out because most writers hate marketing with a passion.

To me there's always a Need for good books. For good books.

Playing devil's advocate but...

Is there a need for another good romance? Another epic fantasy? Another thriller? You can choose from THOUSANDS of excellent books already written. And since books satisfy a similar need that a movie or a TV show can satisfy, you're not only competing with good books but also other types of good stories in different formats.

As for non-fiction, it's similar but instead of movies/TV shows you compete with blogs, courses, YouTube videos, coaching, etc.

It depends. I can only talk from my experience, but I wouldn't say that I love writing. I love good stories and thinking about writing a good story, sure. But the actual act of writing 60000 or 80000 words? And don't forget planning (if you do) and editing. I enjoy those things on some days, especially when it comes easily, but don't really when things are coming rather hard or not at all. And to be honest, most of those days don't feel like writing comes easily.

I doubt there's a writer who really loves writing according to this definition. Writing is a kind of a bipolar activity which is probably why many novelists are depressed or unhappy or otherwise not completely well, particularly in fiction.

No I didn’t mean for fiction. I meant for coaching and writing courses.

Ah okay. In that case it doesn't matter because I have no intention of coaching and/or creating writing courses.

Your replies all sound so.. unhopeful. Maybe you’re just burnt out and need a rest?

Sorry for being a downer, I've been definitely more cynical recently.
 

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You're not being a downer. Not at all. There are introverts and extroverts and both are important. There are grumpy pessimists who face reality fast but need others to see the beautiful and there are cheerful optimists who see the goodness immediately but need others more when things are rough.

I wish I could sit for a while and drink some coffee with you and let you talk. I know there’s a way through to wherever you want to go.. I don’t know how right now but I’m certain of it.
 

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Unfortunately these numbers are irrelevant today. 2016 and 2017 were VERY different in self-publishing compared to today. There was less competition and Amazon promoted your books for you as long as you got some traction first (selling 500-1000 copies in the first week was enough to convince the algorithm to promote you heavily).

I'm pretty sure that if he surveyed the same authors today most of them would have much lower average incomes. The authors I know or recognize from bestseller charts who started several years ago are all making less money than they did in the past, if they're still publishing. Many stopped altogether.
So?

It's like I said, if you want to see hope in those numbers you will.

The going is getting tough you say? Gee, what's that like?

The world is a different place than 2016. "Everything" has changed.

Do you know how often I hear, "oh my business has so much more competition, and Google is making it harder to get results"?

So freaking what?

Best selling authors are quitting.

So freaking what?

Like Lex said, there are absolutely people crushing it right now in these spaces.

Do you want to listen to the doom and gloom crowd or do you want to get results?

Well,maybe you answered that:

Good point, and I'm probably too much of a donkey to change my mind and try these creative solutions. Maybe I should write a book on how NOT to end up like me.

Don't be a donkey, be a racehorse. Go faster. Or be a zebra, stand out from the crowd. Ok, I'm out of equine themed analogies.

Brian Sanderson wrote 13 novels before he got his first publisher. That's the kind of stick-to-it'veness that someone determined to be successful needs. Dedication to the craft. Now other authors refer to his "rules for magic systems".

Do you think 15 years ago he set out to be a YouTube influencer?

Along the way he's learned a ton about the industry. About his genre. The dude became a thought leader. And he is still trying new things and innovating. Adding new marketing channels. Became a university professor. Dabbling in self publishing. I bet it's just a matter of time before we see him on TikTok.

He's probably one of those people whose results you'll say are impossible to duplicate.

But just because I won't duplicate Jeff Bezos doesn't mean that I shouldn't get into e-commerce.

And it doesn't mean that I can't learn from the mindset and build my own systems and processes.

Adopt Sanderson's approach to trying new things.

When Amazon expanded beyond rare books, people thought he was crazy. When Amazon started selling cars, people thought he was crazy. When Amazon started getting into data centers, people said he was crazy.

Now when Amazon gets into supermarkets or shipping people say oh oh.

Do you think Brian Sanderson is making less money now than he did in 2016?

Point is, you want to be one of those easily deterred, overanalyzing donkey types, or do you want to exemplify the thoroughbred fastlane mindset?

Seriously, you have money. Which means you have the resources to try new stuff. You don't have to worry about "making a living".

Stop talking like a forum noob. Go be crazy. Try new things.

Playing devil's advocate but...

Is there a need for another good romance? Another epic fantasy? Another thriller? You can choose from THOUSANDS of excellent books already written. And since books satisfy a similar need that a movie or a TV show can satisfy, you're not only competing with good books but also other types of good stories in different formats.

As for non-fiction, it's similar but instead of movies/TV shows you compete with blogs, courses, YouTube videos, coaching, etc.

Yes. There is a need.

Playing devil's advocate, but the world's population is bigger than it's ever been. Therefore the opportunity for writers is bigger than it's ever been.

We just had a worldwide quarantine where more reading was done than in the last 10 years. And you're going to tell me every author's income is down?

Well, pivot.

This thread is about fast lane opportunities for writers. How does writing a novel compete with movies and TV shows, when novels often form the basis for movies and TV shows?

You want to be anonymous and make lots of money? Start writing some scripts.

More money is being spent on content for movie/tv shows than ever before. If YouTube people are getting Netflix deals and Twitter streams are being turned into movies, then Hollywood is starved for good content.

Therefore the opportunity for good writers is greater than ever before.

Reading poetry is as much of a torture for me as watching stage plays.

But can you write stage plays?

Because that's where such fast lane names as Aaron Sorkin, David Mamet, Lin Manuel Miranda got started/noticed.

I'll leave you with this thought, from the Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams:

Everything you want is on the other side of hard.
 
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MTF

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You're not being a downer. Not at all. There are introverts and extroverts and both are important. There are grumpy pessimists who face reality fast but need others to see the beautiful and there are cheerful optimists who see the goodness immediately but need others more when things are rough.

I wish I could sit for a while and drink some coffee with you and let you talk. I know there’s a way through to wherever you want to go.. I don’t know how right now but I’m certain of it.

Thank you. You seem to be a very warm person.
 

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Thank you for the pep talk, @BizyDad. I don't want to respond to much of your post because deep down I know that you're right.

I honestly don't know how Brandon Sanderson is doing it. He doesn't seem to be a healthy guy at all yet he seems to have more energy than I've ever had in my life.

As for trying new things, I had a call with a person who taught me a little on how to use Jarvis.ai. I plan to play with it and possibly write my first AI-assisted non-fiction book with it.
 

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Thank you for the pep talk, @BizyDad. I don't want to respond to much of your post because deep down I know that you're right.

I honestly don't know how Brandon Sanderson is doing it. He doesn't seem to be a healthy guy at all yet he seems to have more energy than I've ever had in my life.

As for trying new things, I had a call with a person who taught me a little on how to use Jarvis.ai. I plan to play with it and possibly write my first AI-assisted non-fiction book with it.
Screenshot_20210727-082015.png

Congrats on taking your next step MTF. I look forward to reading the results someday.
 
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2020: I registered my publishing house as a limited company. Hired my first employee. Sales became steady. I identified a new opportunity in the market, pivoted, and invested in a strong team of freelancers.
2021: I hired 2 new employees, with another 2 joining us by the end of the year. We launched a new product and made $150,000 in sales in June. After years of shoe-string living while the business gained traction, I was finally able to pay myself a meaningful salary again (more than when I worked for the man).
Hey @Shamrox what's your take on fastlane opportunities for writers? Seems like you have figured something out. Major congrats!
 

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Been playing with Jarvis.ai for less than an hour and my mind is completely, utterly BLOWN.

They have various templates (or you can start a blank document) for many different types of writing, including copywriting templates, product descriptions, blog posts, headlines, social media posts, captions, ideas, and even creative stories. The latter is absolutely bonkers.

Check this out:

I gave Jarvis this prompt (@MJ DeMarco, sorry for borrowing a little bit of your plot for the purposes of this demonstration lol):

Jeff and Samantha are dead broke. They hate their jobs and want to start a business but have no idea how to do it. To make matters worse, Samantha is pregnant and they have no idea how they're going to pay the bills.

Check out some of the best outputs. Here's one written in a witty tone (you can tell the AI what tone of voice to use):

Jeff and Samantha were driving around the city, trying to find a new business idea. They had been brainstorming for days but nothing seemed right.

"This is going to be so hard," said Jeff as he ran his hands through his hair. "I don't think I'm made for entrepreneurship."

"Shut up and keep looking," Samantha replied sharply. She didn't want him giving up before they even started anything. "It's not easy, that's why it pays off."

Here's one written in a sarcastic tone of voice:

"I don't know what to do anymore," Jeff said. "The bills are piling up and I just can't figure out how we're going to get it all done."

Samantha sighed, rubbing her swollen stomach. "You've been reading those rich guy's books again haven't you?" she asked, shaking her head in disgust. "We need a plan that won't cost us anything at this point!"

Jeff thought for a moment before he found an idea that might work. He had seen a few commercials on TV about starting your own business overnight! It was as simple as watching the commercial and filling out some basic information online-no credit card needed! So they did it! They watched the ad

How CRAZY is that the AI actually understands how BS the "start a business overnight" commercials are?

Here's one written in a depressive tone of voice:

"I'm sorry, I can't pay you," Jeff whispered to the baby in his arms. He was sitting on a creaky cot in the hospital and he couldn't afford this hospital stay or anything else that had happened today. The doctors said it would be best if she stayed for at least three days but they didn't have enough money to buy her food or diapers or anything else for that matter. He felt himself sobbing uncontrollably as he thought about how far they had fallen over the past few years and what life would look like now with a baby on top of everything else. "It's going to work out," Samantha told him, brushing his hair back from his forehead and kissing him gently before turning away into their

And here's an angry tone:

Jeff and Samantha were dead broke but they refused to give up on their dream. They hated the jobs they had, hated what it was doing to them, both physically and mentally. All they wanted was a life for themselves that didn't have any worries or thoughts of bending over backwards just to make ends meet. One night at 2 in the morning Samantha woke Jeff up from his deep sleep with her tears streaming down her face because she couldn't take it anymore--she felt like a failure as a wife and mother-to-be all rolled into one person. As he wiped away her tears, Jeff promised his wife that he would find an answer for this madness...whatever it took, no matter how long it took him. And so began

And let's go with one more, this time I typed "MJ DeMarco" in the tone of voice (Jarvis can match various authors) and here's one of the stories:

Samantha and Jeff were sitting in the back of her parents' house, where they had moved when she got pregnant. The only life they knew was in this four-bedroom ranch with a two-car garage. Samantha's dad made them breakfast every morning before he went off to work at the bank, and her mom would have dinner on the table by 5:00 PM sharp. There was always something playing on TV because there wasn't much else to do here but watch it.

"This is bullshit," said Jeff as he slammed his fists down onto the kitchen counter top for emphasis. "We're 25 years old! We've been working jobs we hate since we graduated college just because we don't know what else to

I could keep pasting these stories here all day long. It's so fascinating I can't believe it.

This is all 100% unique creative stories created by AI.

I'm still trying to lift my jaw off the floor.
 

Raja

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After seeing this I thought of you @MTF , the kind promotional power internet gives.

From your posts I assume you hate social media but ryan denial moran suggestions could work that is instead of building your social media /audience its better to partner up with the people who already have your audience.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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my mind is completely, utterly BLOWN.

So what did you provide to start?

Just this?

Jeff and Samantha are dead broke. They hate their jobs and want to start a business but have no idea how to do it. To make matters worse, Samantha is pregnant and they have no idea how they're going to pay the bills.
 

MTF

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After seeing this I thought of you @MTF , the kind promotional power internet gives.

From your posts I assume you hate social media but ryan denial moran suggestions could work that is instead of building your social media /audience its better to partner up with the people who already have your audience.

Yes, that's definitely a good idea as long as you can figure out how to sell yourself to the influencers. I tried it with one of my non-fiction books but it didn't work well.
 

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So what did you provide to start?

Just this?

Jeff and Samantha are dead broke. They hate their jobs and want to start a business but have no idea how to do it. To make matters worse, Samantha is pregnant and they have no idea how they're going to pay the bills.

Yep, nothing else. Then it generates various stories, making it up based on, I assume, thousands upon thousands of bestsellers it was fed, predicting which words and sentences go well together.
 
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Yep, nothing else. Then it generates various stories, making it up based on, I assume, thousands upon thousands of bestsellers it was fed, predicting which words and sentences go well together.

And that was done freely without a subscription?

If so, it truly is pretty scary. Makes you wonder why you should waste 6 months writing something when it looks like it can just model something and spit it out in hours.
 

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And that was done freely without a subscription?

If so, it truly is pretty scary. Makes you wonder why you should waste 6 months writing something when it looks like it can just model something and spit it out in hours.

I signed up for a paid Boss Mode subscription which costs $119 per month and offers unlimited runs.

I don't think it would be capable of producing an entire novel but if you work with it as a sort of a human-machine hybrid, I'm pretty sure you can write at least 2-3x faster.

I played with it for a fiction idea I had in mind and it produced a powerful opening scene I wouldn't be able to write myself. I can imagine myself using it for the entire novel, asking it to help whenever I'm stuck. It looks like a powerful brainstorming tool.

I won't be surprised at all if it becomes a standard tool for authors in the coming years. I'm already seeing tons of opportunities here (will post one in another post).

And remember that this is still a very early model. With each new series (Jarvis is based on GPT-3 created by OpenAI), it'll get even better.
 

MTF

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Another example of how Jarvis can help authors. I told him this:

Title: 50 Ideas for Bestselling Non-Fiction Books

Brief: Write an article featuring 50 ideas for non-fiction books that have the potential to become bestsellers.

Here's what it generated (the first 5 ideas). This is completely unedited, copied straight from the article, to show that it's not always super clean and can give some silly content but IMO it's still valuable:

1. Book about using books as props for business - Books are very useful business props. A book can help you to become more credible when speaking or writing. An example of an idea: books about how to use books in your business (any type of books).

2. Book about small space design - Small spaces have become a trend, especially for young people with less money and more desire to be in the center of cities. Small spaces are not only a trend, they also have their own books. A small space design book can offer ideas for books on creative uses of small space living (such as using bookshelves as central pieces in a room). The best books related to bookshelves are books about books. From books on how to design bookshelves to books on bookshelves that move, books about bookshelves have a lot of potential.

3. Book related to the business side of publishing - Publishing has become an important part of the book market since print books began to be sold online and books have become more about bookshelves and less about books. This doesn't mean that books related to books are declining in popularity, but it does mean that books related to books require special attention (and will have higher potential). Examples of books related to books: books on how to write a book or books on selling books.

4. Book about books in the future - Books are changing rapidly and books related to books reflect this change. Books have more options than ever before, such as books on tape and books on CD. Booksellers do more than ever before, which means that books related to books will continue to gain in importance. Good books on books: books for children, books on books or books about books.

5. Book related to books and war - Books have accompanied men in war throughout history, from books of magic and books of spells to books of rules for soldiers. Soldiers often bring important books with them into battle so that they don't feel left behind when their enemies are using books as weapons against them. Books related to books: books about books in the future, books on books, books related to books and war.
 
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Very interesting stuff, thanks for the share @MTF!

One question:

I see Jarvis is available in over 25 languages. Can you get it to write text in a language different from English and tell us if it feels natural? You know 3 languages if I remember correctly, so maybe do it with the 2 languages other than English you understand?
 

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Ok, I just want to share an alternative perspective.

This AI stuff is making me so happy. For YEARS all of my friends and all of my homeschool friends and all of my classically taught friends and all of my.. ok you get the point, have been complaining about how weak and pathetic and vapid the vocabulary on the internet is. I mean, to rank an article it's best to aim for FOURTH grade reading level?!?!? WTF. It’s like we’ve been given the single most powerful ability in thousands of years and what do we use it for? Porn and googling what time it is. Seriously?

and now.. now with this?? I’m cackling with joy. AI will spell the doom to ANYTHING on the Internet. Not today.. not next week.. but it’s coming. Why the ever-living F*ck would I buy a book that somebody used a machine to make?

if you can’t trust a single word or picture or identity that’s on your device.. the only thing you CAN trust is real ppl you meet in your own community, who write books, who make beautiful things, who grow real food NOT laden with pesticides or destroying waterways, people who care about their reputation.

Small communities will thrive, again.

Keep feeding the machine man, make it grow. The faster it grows the faster the world will get through this bullshit and on to the next era of ignorance and the next great Renaissance.

I totes wanna go buy a printer now.. ;)
 

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I see Jarvis is available in over 25 languages. Can you get it to write text in a language different from English and tell us if it feels natural? You know 3 languages if I remember correctly, so maybe do it with the 2 languages other than English you understand?

A guy who showed me the tool speaks Estonian. He said it doesn't work well in Estonian so he uses it in English and then translates to Estonian using www.deepl.com.

I checked it for Polish and it doesn't work well at all. Spanish works much better but not not as well as English.

I assume it's because the model doesn't have as much data in these languages as it does in English. Also, both Estonian and Polish are pretty complex languages with declension which makes things more difficult.
 
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I mean, to rank an article it's best to aim for FOURTH grade reading level?!?!?

If you want to have a broad audience, simplicity is the way to go. I see nothing wrong with it. If you want more difficult language you can read more intellectual books or literary fiction.

I use Hemingway app to keep my writing as easy as possible and my readers compliment my books, mentioning how easy to understand the language is.

AI will spell the doom to ANYTHING on the Internet. Not today.. not next week.. but it’s coming.

Definitely. It'll change everything. But it'll make things way better, way more accessible, and way more creative. Sort of like the printing press and the Internet. I'm pretty sure that people complained that cheap books, available for even the poorest people, would spell doom to the world.

Why the ever-living f*ck would I buy a book that somebody used a machine to make?

Most fiction is formulaic. James Patterson's stuff is a great example. It doesn't prevent people from buying his books. If it makes no difference if he wrote his book using Word instead of in longhand, or if he used an online thesaurus to find synonyms faster than if he relied on his brain alone, then it shouldn't make much of a difference if he used an AI tool to write faster, too.

Keep feeding the machine man, make it grow.

As long as it's ethical, I have no qualms about using tools that help me work more efficiently.
 

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“Most fiction is formulaic. James Patterson's stuff is a great example. It doesn't prevent people from buying his books. If it makes no difference if he wrote his book using Word instead of in longhand, or if he used an online thesaurus to find synonyms faster than if he relied on his brain alone, then it shouldn't make much of a difference if he used an AI tool to write faster, too.”

This is really interesting. Where is the moral line? Is there one? I mean using AI to write an entire book would be wrong or no?

Are you hoping to start pumping out AI books by the dozens? I hope you chronicle this.

FYI: I think as I type, it’s late where I am and I’ve had a ton of espresso.. I’m in the mood for tangents. Lol
 

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