Author Adelaide Acree shares her first month's experience with the launch of her fourth novel, preparations to print paperbacks, other writings & a sneak peek into Book E.

My Book D Launch was a Flop

I'm calling it a flop because I've only sold two books since 'A Diversion at Dyrham Park' was released on March 17th. 

Last month, I wrote about my journey to release the book, and I believe I followed all the correct steps. I know I'd sell more if I published exclusively with Amazon, but I know my conscience would not be clear if I did so. I have never been one to give up when the going gets tough, nor do I take pleasure in leaving things unfinished if I have started the project. I've spent lots of money to have each book beta-read, edited, and, in the future, printed, so I won't stop until I have released the whole series. 

I have been using my critique sources to ensure I am on the right track, especially since this is my debut series featuring novels that blend romance and mystery. I am proud of how my first five have turned out, and looking forward to where the series takes me.

Robert Zoowin: Crocs Rule!

I thought I'd have my fifth book finished by now and sent to editors, but I was not satisfied with my second draft, so I put it to the side to write a children's chapter book. Initially written for my niece's birthday, my sister kindly reminded my a two-year-old preferred pictures over words! But once I get an idea in my head, I cannot stop writing, and I wrote the chapter book anyway. I'm considering getting it edited and throwing it on Amazon for a bit of fun, and see if anyone likes it. It's the Irwin family meets a Zootopian-style world. Though I would prefer not to get sued by anyone, so I'll have to make sure I've done all my legal checks. If you want to check out the draft version, I have it published on Wattpad.

Book E

I am in the process of refining draft three. I thought I had the manuscript complete at draft 2, but when I got it critiqued, I found out it was a bit too 'mystery' and needed a bit more couple time. I knew exactly where my story needed to change to be elevated. 

Book E is my second of six enemies-to-lovers troped books, and the female protagonist is Lady Evelyn Wyndham, who you will recognize as Miss Adeline Sandringham's best friend in Book A. My working title is 'An Engagement at Eastury Manor, which is a National Trust property located in Barking, London. Originally, I had the book set at Eltham Palace, but realized the current house was built in the 1930's, so I moved it to the manor, as its build was completed in 1573!

That being said, I'm not sure if I'll have it ready to be released by the end of May, but if I can get it to an editor in the first week, I might have a chance. I don't know if I'll be doing ARC readers for this book. I only ever received one review via Booksprout on my other books (could not get a place on Netgally or Book Sirens), and my callout on my socials was a bust. 

Paperbacks & Bookcovers

Paperbacks

Did you know that, in order to create a paperback and a hardback, I need to purchase two separate ISBNs? I am a fan of hardbacks, but for now, to see if they sell, I'll focus on paperbacks. From what I've read, I'll use Amazon to print the Amazon website copies, the same with Draft2Digital, and I'll print as a small batch to sell them on other platforms (e.g. Shopify), try to get them into independent bookstores, and markets. 

Bookcovers

I changed my book covers as someone suggested I focus on the model over the building and silk. I think I'll incorporate the silk into the back cover. I spent the day at the bookstore staring at book jackets and realized two must-dos:

1. Make the spine font pop out. I felt more attracted to titles that used color, non-traditional font, or had color. Since I have a theme, I plan to make each spine the color of that book (e.g., A Book's spine will be green, while B Book's spine will be blue). I use Creative Cloud to create my book covers, so I plan to test out if I can use the same font for my titles, Grafolita Script, on my spine. I also realized I'll need to create a favicon for my publishing house. I do have the PA, so I might keep that.

2. Most books keep the back cover plain. I did enjoy the books that have a bit more like Martha Water's 'To Have and To Hoax.' On the front, it has a white banner, which can also be seen on the back cover, with the hook at the top and a second banner at the bottom, which has reviews. So, I'm thinking of incorporating my gold frame or maybe adding the silk to the back.

 Artificial Intelligence

I may have mentioned it last month, but for my MBA, I chose the elective, AI and Ethics. I've always been pro AI, but see how in the writing industry it is being abused and not given enough regulation or guidance. Companies like Amazon that allow plenty of AI works to be published without the reader's knowledge are given the same leverage as human writers.

Currently, I am learning about copyright and AI. I definitely agree that AI-generated work should not be copyrightable. On the other hand, AI-assisted work should be especially important when every program, app, and software uses AI. ProwritingAid, which is used by over four million authors (including me), is labeled as an AI-powered assistant. It suggests changes, rephrases sentences, and even offers critiques on chapters or entire manuscripts.

To me, AI-assisted tools should not be looked down upon. I use them as it has helped me understand loopholes, what the market is after, and what the standard is. If I don't know a word and can't find it on Google, ChatGPT has always been able to find me the answer. I do ask it to help me brainstorm, but everything I write in my manuscript is my own writing. I have joined Regency-related groups, memberships, and forums, but if I need an answer on the whim, the AI tool will always be willing to help instantly, 24/7.

I also have concerns about the use of AI-detection tools. After reading an article on the cancellation of Mia Ballard's 'Shy Girl' contract with Hatchette Books, I learned that a lot of people used these tools to conclude parts of her book must be AI-generated, something the author strongly claims. In the article, a person claims the author used certain words too many times. I threw my first chapter into Pangram and Quillbot. Pangram said there was a chance of my work being AI-written because I used words like scent, sigh, and the use of em dashes, and had lyrical sentences like 'the brilliance of the clear blue sky.' I grew up reading the classics, and my writing style comes from Historical authors like Mary Balogh, Eloisa James, and Tessa Dare. 

To test my theory, I input the first chapters of well-known authors like Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Zane Grey, and J.K. Rowling, and all of them were flagged as AI-generated work. From my research, AI detection tools and AI tools themselves have been trained on human work. In my April poem, An Ode to the Writer's Creative Hand, I write, 

'With a simple click, imagination suffocates. 

Telling stories trained on writers who

labored with quill, pencil, and pen.

An unregulated thief that replaces souls;

O writer's creative hand, you must always be the one to take control.'

Though there are lawsuits about copyright issues, AI tools will not be able to be created from scratch and will not be trained on human work. Mia Ballard claims that if AI was used, it wasn't by her, but by her editors. My poem tries to show that now there might be many ways to express oneself; it is up to the human writer to take charge and to have the final say. There must be regulations and guidance in place to clearly label AI-generated work. Pangram suggested Shy Girl was 78% AI generated, but we need to dig deeper. We need to dig deeper into how Pangram came to that conclusion. What they trained their AI tool on, and if the use of sharp was because AI wrote the manuscript, or that was not picked up in editing. My question as well is why Hatchette's editing team didn't pick up on the repeated use of sharp or edge.

All authors have words they constantly use. I have a bad habit of using that, the name at the start of paragraphs, said, and a few others that ProwritingAid points out on their Repeat report. I try to change most of them, but if I do get lazy, I might leave them in if it doesn't affect the script. But then, does that put me in the AI bucket because I got lazy with my editing? I also use human copy, line, and proofread editors who don't always change the wording. Would it not just be considered bad editing?

I think bad or weak editing will be labeled as AI-slop or AI-generated for us, honest writers. I paid for a copy editor for USD$497, a line editor for $350, and a proofreader for $190 on Fiverr and Upwork. And that was one manuscript. I recently hired a copy editor freelancer who said their turnaround time was one month. One month passed, and they requested a two-week extension. I said no, and when they submitted what they had done, I discovered they had made the manuscript worse. I don't know if they used AI or hired someone else (I used them once before, and their work was perfect), but I was sorely disappointed. If I had used an AI tool, I could have had it edited within hours. Luckily, I got my $325 refunded, but I lost a whole month of time.

Other News

I decided to take the summer off from studying so I can focus on my writing. I plan to continue to write and release Books E-H this year without the fanfare of ARC copies, street teams, and focus on social media posts, blogs, and articles. 

Washington State has created an AI task force, which I only learned about recently. I want to understand what they are doing as I think it could be useful in the writing industry, especially when it is home to Amazon's headquarters. I have only started reading through the meeting notes and analysis, but I hope to catch up before they release their final report in June or July.

My uncle, with whom I live, is retiring soon, so I will need to understand how it will affect my writing schedule with him being home all day ( he loves the TV on all the time). I currently have an office upstairs, but the walls are thin. We have a big backyard, so I'm contemplating whether I should build a writing studio. There's an already fenced-off area that used to be a friendship garden and now sits empty. Maybe it can look like an Orangery or greenhouse, like all the Regency houses had (a girl can dream)!

The FIFA World Cup is happening in Seattle. I have been looking for seasonal jobs to join in the action, but so far, everything I want to do is volunteer-based. So, not sure if I should go that route or just be a spectator. I can't afford tickets, but I'm pretty sure there'll be watch parties.

Until next time…

MNP xx