Other people’s problems; publishers’ AI hypocrisy; Meta ripoff lawsuit: Newsletter 6 May 2026

Newsletter 151. Why we love to give advice, and how to do it fairly. Plus, authenticity through typos, AI publishing contract clauses, three people to follow, three books to read, and one LinkedIn Live about the publishing journey.

Solving other people’s problems

Yesterday, my wife asked my advice regarding a business challenge she’s having. She’s an artist. I don’t get involved in her artistic decisions (and she doesn’t ask), but this was about an art-related commercial relationship and she valued my perspective.

That made me happy. Because I love solving other people’s problems.

Let’s be clear. Unsolicited advice is a bad idea — nobody reacts well to suggestions they weren’t seeking.

But when somebody actually asks for my advice: For me, that’s like playing with house money.

I get to learn about aspects of somebody’s business that I never understood before. I get to mull over alternatives without any consequences for me personally. I get to indulge in wild imaginings about kooky solutions without being held accountable. For an analytical mind, that’s a fun exercise.

That said, I’d like my advice to be useful, so these are things I think through:

• Investigate what is actually happening. Start by gathering information without making judgments. You need the whole context to give decent advice.
• Consider whether there are parallels with my experience that could be helpful. I’ve been in hundreds of negotiations, extensively researched how different industries work, and advised everyone from entry-level staff to CEOs of billion-dollar companies. So there’s usually something relevant to dredge up.
• Focus on goals. What is the person you’re advising trying to accomplish? What would make them happier, more productive, or more profitable? Often the best part the advice is helping the person clarify their overarching goals, rather than being stuck on a single immediate decision.
• Evaluate scenarios. What are possible courses of action? Which are those the person has considered, and which may they never have realized were possible? What would be the costs and requirements for each of those courses of action? What would be their immediate effect? And how would they change the situation in the long run?
• Account for the personalities. Most of the decisions people find most challenging involve people issues, even if they’re couched as business choices. It’s worthwhile to account for what the other parties in situation want, how they tend to behave, and how they would react to various alternatives. A theoretically great solution isn’t actually a solution at all if it’s out of character for the participants, or would generate bad blood in an essential long-term relationship.

The biggest challenge is when the person asking for the advice is contributing to the problem with their own behavior. As their friend, you need to point out that their own tendencies are part of the problem. If somebody can laugh at themselves a little, humor can help with this. No one wants to hear “You’re just unreasonably stubborn,” but they may react more positively to “Well, you’ll finally get your way, at the potential cost of completely destroying your livelihood, so go for it!”

The best part of giving free advice is that it’s not about you — you can make suggestions with no consequences for yourself and then walk away untroubled. (This is, of course, the entire business model of all consulting work.) It’s the other person’s job to do the hard part, make the decision, implement it, and deal with the consequences. That’s way easier than solving your own problems, which is why people are so much more motivated to offer free advice than to look hard at their own dilemmas.

There’s only one problem.

If you give bad advice, the person who asked may hold it against you, damaging your relationship with them. This matters, especially if you’re married.

I still tend to be as honest as possible; that’s just my nature. I think hard and try to be right, because I want my friend (or my wife) to succeed. I lay down the advice and then leave it up to them; they invited me to weigh in, not to meddle.

I don’t know if my advice to my wife will help. I gave her some good ideas, and she’s pretty smart; I trust her to figure it out on her own from here. In the end it’s up to her.

That’s the hardest part of giving free advice. Walking away and watching your friend make whatever decision they will make, even if you know they’re making a mistake.

News for writers and others who think

A Wall Street Journal describes how writers are intentionally introducing typos and colloquial language just to prove they’re not writing with AI. Sort of sad, if you ask me.

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and Booknet Canada released the results of a survey of publishing professionals in 2025 on their use of AI. Top results: half the industry is using it, but they haven’t come to grips with what that means.

The Author’s Guild released model legal clauses for publishing contracts to prevent your publisher from just grabbing all the digital rights for your book. Notably, you should have control over whether your book is used for training purposes or whether you can create a derivative AI work based on your content.

Author Scott Turow and five publishers sued Meta for training on their books without permission, alleging that Mark Zuckerberg personally approved the rip-off.

According to Vox, the process for authors getting compensation based on the Anthropic book settlement fund is a mess. (I’ve applied for my books, but have yet to see any money.)

The former CEO of iRobot is now working on creating emotional-support robots (Boston Globe, gift link).

Three people to follow

Matthew Dicks master storyteller, Moth StorySlam champion, and author of Storyworthy

Gordon Borrell, smart analytical thinker at the intersection of media and data

Kindra Hall, business storytelling expert

Three books to read

We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore (Liveright, 2025). Pulitzer Prize-winning history of how the operating manual for the USA came to be — and the challenges it faces today.

The Persuasion Engine: How Any Business Can Use AI-Powered Neuromarketing to Understand and Win Customers by Roger Dooley (Wiley, 2026). Advanced AI-ready marketing techniques.

The Future of Work Is Grey: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce by Dan Pontefract (Page Two, 2026). Building a deliberate plan to gain value from the most experienced members of your workforce.

Insights from an author’s journey

Join me and Vanessa Errecarte, MA, MBA, author of the just-published thought leadership and personal branding book Valuable and Visible, for a LinkedIn Live discussion of what it took to go from breakthrough idea to traditionally published book. This Friday, 11am PT, 2pm ET.

AI use statement

I, Josh Bernoff, a human, wrote every word of this post without AI help.

I used AI tools to help identify articles, books, and individuals worth following, but used my judgment to select from its suggestions and describe them appropriately.