Authors news: My new website is up and running, it's so pretty, please do check it out! www.steviemarie.com, I'm still writing Reaping Olympus bk3 of my Medusa Retelling. My books are now available direct, instead of in KU.
Today's newsletter is about Human vs AI, and I have some goodies in the Indie Temptations after too!
I fully support human artists and human created book covers. All of my books I've commissioned art from human artists, and hired human graphic designers for my covers, and hired human to edit my words. But I thought about how for many small indie authors, having material for marketing is cost prohibitive and I'm sure many will resort to AI to assist them with art on their books. So, I thought of the ethics of AI.
Did you hear about the "author" that completely generated their story from AI and got a book deal?!! There isn't a single author that has done this, many have, and found success. What is success? Making profit from a book instead of struggling like most indie authors do.
I spend 2,000 to produce and bring a book to life, not including my time.
An "author" using AI can produce the same book with many free AI services, making mostly profit right out of the gate.
This isn't a case for using AI. I don't want AI to write for me. That defeats the purpose of creating a book, for me anyways. It isn't just about making a profit for me. It's therapy and sharing feelings. All of my stories are fiction, but many of the emotions in them are not. They are stories that help me feel and release energy so I can process other things in my life. Just like I prefer to read indie books that I KNOW are written by humans to share in their worlds and imaginations.
More than anything else, I'm curious as to how you would answer the question of what makes AI a tool versus unethical usage?
Like most things in this world. Much of our advancements that we utilize and enjoy today are founded on unethical behavior.
We may be generations removed from unethical behavior, but for every generation there are new challenges and new choices to make.
I don't believe we will have much of a choice in using AI in the near future. I think it will proliferate too deep, that not using it will be the same as someone choosing not to use a smart phone in today's age. Not every AI will be generative, but AI as a tool at the bare minimum will be no different than phones within the next ten years.
One day, I can see a future where AI will probably be used by many indie authors just to be able to make end's meet, and slowly as they gain traction in the AI dominated world, they will make a choice on continuing to use it or transferring more and more tasks back to humans as they can afford to. It may be used as a tool to break into the market and afford things that are normally cost prohibitive for smaller businesses until they can afford to hire human again.
I do not condemn those who use it, I'm not here to spread hate, nor am I cheering AI usage. I'm firmly supportive of human-made, but I don't bash those who are using it either, I just choose not to consume the end result.
Human nature will probably have many of those authors never choose to use human services for their products, and that is truly sad. I believe that relying on AI too much will result in the deterioration of the human brain in much of human society. Without challenging our brains, we fail to form connections and strengthen connections between neurons. Many will become only "AI smart" and find that their brains are more prone to health issues. Ever watch the movie "Idiocracy"?
My hope and goal is that I can build my reader fanbase naturally before the world is dominated by AI to the point that new authors won't have much of a choice if they want to make it. I might be one of the few indie authors that can make it out of pure perseverance, on the cusp between the generations of how authors grew to make a living from their craft. I'm pretty sure that I only have a few years left to build my author platform the "old" way before I'll be pushed out by AI if I don't already own my customer data without it being walled behind big corp distribution.
This is one of my reasons for removing my series from Kindle Unlimited. It may hinder my reach of readers who use KU, but it gives me back control over being able to reach readers who have read and enjoyed my books.
When a reader buys from Amazon, Amazon has their data to be able to market to them again.
When a reader buys direct from an author, the author has that data and can email when the next book comes out, so they own that data, not the big corp. At any time, my readers can choose to unsubscribe, but at least I'm in control of being able to contact them without having to pay someone else for access to readers who have already found me.
What are your thoughts on the future of AI in creative spaces? Where is the line for you? What if the product is fully human-made, but AI handles the marketing? We aren't that far off from this future for many indie authors. I believe that much of the success of human made products will depend on what readers are supporting now.
If more readers choose to look at an indie author's work and think, how can I find it for free, while paying 9.99 for an e-book from a traditionally published author that may be using AI to produce their book, then indie authors won't have much choice but to join the AI train. No hate, please. I'm not here to condemn or praise the use of AI, simply observing the market and what is happening currently.
I will continue to read and support indie authors. I no longer subscribe on KU, and every book I read I grab from BookSiren as an ARC reader or buy the book, directly, if I can. If I love an ARC, I'll buy the book. I will do the extra effort of looking to see if the book is available direct from the author, if not, then if it's available on Kobo, if not then I'll grab it from Kindle. I have not banned or excluded Kindle, simply making an extra effort to seek the book from other sources first.
I will admit, I never liked an e-book being 9.99, ever. If an e-book gets past the 6.99 mark for an e-book, I definitely hesitate to buy unless I've already read a book from them and know that I'll love their story.
This is why, I price my books at 4.99 for my romantasy books, and 3.99 for my alien romance books. Taking Medusa and Breaking Fate are over 90,000 words each, and my stand-alone spicy alien romances are usually around 60 to 70k words each on average, though Her Alien Savior was my longest one at closer to 90k, but I still kept it the same price as the other alien romances.
That's around 6 to 9 hours to read depending on how fast you read 90,000 words. That's 70 cents per hour of entertainment.
Taking Medusa and Breaking Fate are no longer in Kindle Unlimited, you can now grab them directly from my Author Store and read them on any device!
Grab Taking Medusa or Breaking Fate Direct from my Author Store here:
https://payhip.com/BrokenBooksPublishing/collection/e-books
ALSO available direct from CURIOS here: https://marketplace.curios.com/creators/skyrobertromances-9PPLJ6
Have you already read Taking Medusa, or Breaking Fate, what did you think of the story?
✨"Breathtaking romantasy" - N.N. Light
✨"Flipping pages late into the night" - Rebel
✨"It's like watching a movie, only better" - N.N. Light
✨"I couldn't put it down" - Amy's Bookshelf Reviews
✨"Powerful and ever-changing FMC" - Mary
✨"Twistedly Brilliant" - Rose
✨"Mystery of fates and desires... Deliciously Torturous" - Jess
✨"A Fascinating Colossal World" - Sandra
✨"I absolutely love this book!" - LaWanda
✨"Hungry for more" - Jess
✨"This.author.is.EVERYTHING!!!!" - Megan
Have you shared your thoughts by leaving a review?
Us Indie authors survive off of shares, likes, and reviews to reach new readers! Check out my books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/S.M.-McCoy/author/B07F5T71VW
I'm trying Curios out as a potential replacement of my author store with Payhip, as they have a subscription option to have the books appear in their searches and on their socials for extra visibility, but I'm uncertain if that's really worth it right now. For the time being, I have both Taking Medusa and Breaking Fate available on Curios, as well as Her Alien Starbreaker, and TKManAteHer (Available in Audiobook too!) The audiobooks for Taking Medusa and Breaking Fate are still exclusive with Audible, but are also available in Audio!
Taking Medusa currently has 68 ratings on Amazon! and Breaking Fate has 25 ratings. I'd love to know what you think of the book and help Taking Medusa reach 70, 80, 100+ ratings! Taking Medusa has 113 ratings on Goodreads with a 4.24 average, and Breaking Fate has 50 ratings with a 4.66 average!
Coming 2025 is book three Reaping Olympus! Typically, many indie authors would have a pre-order link available for people to prep for Book Three, but I've found it gives me too much stress to have a preorder link until I have the first draft completed. Once I do, I'll let you know!
I've reached 500,000 words on my Freewrite! Author milestone! I love that Freewrite recognizes accomplishments!
I got distracted with writing a spicy demon romance called Unworthy this week. That happens more often than I'd like, but I think it's nice to just write whatever I'm feeling inspired with as a break from time to time. I wrote around 10,000 words in it, and think it's fun, but like most of my books, I can't just write a short story... it's definitely a full-length novel, so I'll have to set this aside.
My new WEBSITE is now live, check it out! https://steviemarie.com/
Happy reading, and perhaps you'll find your next favorite read among the featured indie authors below! And for those of you wanting to know the status of where I am in writing the next book, scroll to the bottom!
xoxo
Stevie
Hope you find some great indie reads! Chat soon!
xoxo
Stevie
Hi, I'm Stevie. I'm a mom of two kiddos, and I write fantasy romance, and alien romances. I started with writing a YA vampire romance, and I retired the 3-book series because it wasn't the same kind of style as the rest of my books, and I didn't want those books to be the first impression readers got of my writing. I also wrote a sci-fi fantasy mash up Kingdom of Acatalec, got a traditional contract book deal, but it flopped because I wasn't and still am not that great at marketing things without more control over what I can do with my books. I received my book rights back and will relaunch that book with my indie control after I finish my Medusa Retelling Series.
The Dark Gods Rising is mythology reimagined if you are like me and believe that the "monsters" of myth and legend were hunted by Greek gods because they were different, because they were a threat to their power and rule. Perhaps, the monsters weren't the bad guys after all, and Medusa wasn't the villain myth made her out to be. There is always more than one side to every story.
Dive into a slow-burn romance, fast-paced fantasy adventure with all the political mechanisms of Greek Myth, and the what-ifs from a different point of view.
Start Reading Taking Medusa today: https://books.steviemarie.com/takingmedusa
Taking Medusa is available on Kindle, and Audible!
Grab from Curios: https://marketplace.curios.com/creators/skyrobertromances-9PPLJ6
Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/150498806-taking-medusa
Book two is LIVE! https://books.steviemarie.com/breakingfate
Add to your Goodreads shelf: Breaking Fate (Dark Gods Rising, #2) by S.M. McCoy | Goodreads Breaking Fate on Amazon: https://books.steviemarie.com/breakingfate
Check out books narrated by me on Audible(US) here: https://www.audible.com/search?searchNarrator=Stevie+Marie
Check out the Author store and grab the signed hardcover or signed paperbacks! https://payhip.com/BrokenBooksPublishing
Also by me: Do you like Alien Romances?
Check out my Pen Name Sky Robert!
Chat soon!
xoxo
Stevie
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