Last weekend, the two people I live with were sick. I wasn’t, but despite taking precautions to avoid infecting each other, it was pretty clear what was coming. Sure enough, I got sick on Monday and tested positive for flu. It’s sweeping the country. I suppose this is what I get for trying so hard…
Newsletter 130. I, Robot. Plus why spiking that “60 Minutes” story backfired, what people do when they should be reading books, three people to follow and three books to read. Why I turned myself into a chatbot My mission is simple: I’ve wanted to write a book since I first learned to read. Helping others…
I talk to authors about writer’s block all the time. It’s a common problem, but the causes are deep and psychological. Both practical solutions and emotional support can be helpful. I’ve written extensively about writer’s block. That’s what makes it a good test case. Could a chatbot trained on all that content provide the right…
It makes perfect sense to aim at the largest possible audience for your nonfiction book. Why create a book that’s designed for digital marketers when you could aim for all marketers — or maybe all executives? Hey, there must be millions of folks like that! Unfortunately, aiming at the largest possible audience is a dumb…
2026 is your year to write a nonfiction book. George, Ed, Trevor, Blake, Mikhail, Alice, and Deborah have already pledged to get started (see yesterday’s post). Let’s see if I can help them, and you, to get off on the right foot. The biggest challenge new authors have is: Where do I start? What do…
One question: will you resolve to writing a nonfiction book in 2026? It’s pretty simple. If you do, go ahead and add your name in the comments on this post. You’re not alone. I’ll help. In fact, I’ll go further. I promise to answer all your questions about writing a book, getting it published, and…
It always pays to look back at your work for the year and see what you’ve learned, how you’ve grown, and what you like doing most. As a freelancer who carefully tracks my business, I’m in an ideal position to do a retrospective. I hope you can learn a bit from my own reflections on…
Should AI-generated or AI-aided writing be eligible for writing awards? This is the challenge that SFWA — the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association — is navigating with its annual awards, the Nebula Awards. Briefly, there are two major sets of awards in the science fiction and fantasy community. The Hugo Awards are voted on…
I was appalled to see Google’s recent ad for its AI photo and video creation capabilities. Picture this. You are the marketing manager for Google Gemini and you have a generous advertising budget. Gemini includes the incredible photo and video creation tools Veo and Nano Banana, which make it possible to synthesize all manner visual…