(Write What You Don’t Know.)

I also didn’t get anywhere with my writing. Yes, I improved, and I had encouraging beta readers, but I could count the number of full requests I received from agents over multiple books on one hand. It started to feel like this dream wasn’t going to come true.

While querying one book, I started another: The One and Only Vivian Stone. As a lifelong lover of old Hollywood, particularly movies like Gone with the Wind and the sitcom I Love Lucy, this was a compelling time to explore. I wrote the book in first-person POV, but the feedback I received from beta readers was that they didn’t particularly like my main character. Despite spending a whole book with her, they felt like they didn’t know or understand her. There wasn’t anything making them want to keep reading because they didn’t care about her. Ouch.

They were right, though. I tried to model my main character’s personality after what I’d read about Lucille Ball—she had to work very hard to be funny and wasn’t like that off-screen; she was also, supposedly, prone to anger and pettiness. I struggled to write a character like this, and my readers picked up on it. There was a wall in my mind between me and Vivian, and I didn’t know how to break through.

In the beginning of the book, Vivian is an actress struggling to break into the film industry. Surrounded by a sea of talent, she would have had to be worried that a nobody like her would never be taken seriously, would never stand apart from the rest. How long would it take to get somewhere? Would she ever? How long before she threw in the towel?

And then, it hit me: This was how I felt about writing, with those exact worries and questions. Only I hadn’t been leaning into it because I’d been too focused on creating a particular kind of character, one I didn’t truly understand. I needed to tear down the wall between us and rebuild the character was from the ground up—using my own emotions. I needed to become vulnerable for the sake of the character.

Is this obvious? In hindsight, it feels like it. But I’d written three books—four if you count this one before my rewrite—without ever really connecting on a deep, emotional level with my characters. Once I shifted my mindset, the writing became cathartic and so much fun.

“Write what you know?” I finally did.

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The responses from readers were completely different from what they’d been the first time. Vivian had become someone readers rooted for, someone they related to.

I tried to be more strategic about querying this story than I’d been with my previous books. First, I scoured every resource I could find about writing query letters, then I wrote and rewrote mine. I sought feedback and kept fine-tuning. Queries were always a mystery to me. I understood what they required, but I couldn’t figure out how to write a compelling hook and show the character’s wants while also picking out the most important plot strands. But after about a hundred attempts (not an exaggeration), I had a letter I felt confident about.

I also looked for opportunities everywhere: I submitted my query and first pages to The Shit No One Tells You About Writing podcast, which ended up getting chosen, giving me valuable feedback. I submitted to a mentorship program called RevPit. All of the mentors rejected me, but I received a lot of encouraging messages. I also posted on Twitter/X for #moodpitch, which isn’t around anymore but involved posting a mood board and an elevator pitch. I’d done these kinds of contests for previous books, without any success, but this time I received interest from about a dozen agents. These were all great, low-stakes ways to test the waters.

If there had been more opportunities, I would have tried them too. Yes, a lot of people apply, and yes, it’s easy to get lost in it all. But there is also the chance that it can go very well. I had already put so much effort into the book, so why stop there?

Finally, I started querying, confident that I’d done all I could do but still worried because an agent liking a pitch is not the same as them liking the whole book. And while I received plenty of rejections, I also received several offers.

As I’m drafting my next project, I wonder if it ever gets easier to “write what you know.” I hope so. There continues to be the question of which parts of myself to bring to the character and a resistance to the reflection needed to figure it out. What I do know is it’s essential, even if it can feel vulnerable.

Check out Melissa O’Connor’s The One and Only Vivian Stone here:

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(All My Friends Are Co-writing Without Me.)

We have a punk-rock relationship to composition. We write daily, fail fast, and are willing to accept a better idea. Maybe this method of collaboration is inevitable when a rockstar (Buechner), craftsman (Mueller), and teacher (Ward) decide to write a book together?

Good, bad, or other, having three people in the room to tell stories means we never have to find someone to give us notes. There are plenty of opinions in the writing room and we are quick to share them. Our friendship helps drive us, and honestly it’s nice to have each other to lean on. 

A few weeks ago our first book in a three book series, The Unraveling The Counsel of Crows was published by Th3rd World Studios with distribution from Simon and Schuster. We are even luckier because Recorded Books picked up our project and will release the audiobook on July 15, 2025. Talk about dreams coming true, right?

Beneath the seeming miracle of getting a great publisher, distribution, a PR firm, and an audio book lies one of the simplest and most difficult realities of writing: we had to be extremely patient. None of this was served to us overnight. To be clear there is a difference between being patient and waiting.

We worked for seven years with no promise of publication. We wrote and drafted, edited and redrafted. We found an artist to illustrate our book and he created an outstanding book cover (even before we had a publisher). We started our social media presence, paid someone to design a website and called everyone we knew to offer insight into our project. We secured domains, email handles, found beta readers, and pull quotes for our book. In short, we were patient, but we didn’t wait for someone to do this for us. 

Click to continue.

Writer’s are told to believe in their work. Believe against all odds that your work is worth it. We like that idea, but we might suggest clarifying the word belief. Belief in the absence of action isn’t worth all that much.

If we’d simply believed in our characters and the settings they inhabit while waiting for someone else to bring them to readers we bet we’d still be waiting around. We thought once our book arrived on shelves and was available at all the online chains we could sit back and enjoy the view.

Nope.

That’s not a thing.

The day the book dropped was when the really hard work started. In addition to writing the series we were also booking podcasts, bookstore and school talks, signings, conventions… Oh Lord, it keeps us busy.

Believe mightily in your work, and take the action necessary to allow others to believe too. And keep believing and acting for months after your book comes out. It sounds difficult, we know, but take heart writer friend, we offer this advice because we found that we could do it. Swear on our moms, if we can you certainly can.

Check out Buechner, Mueller, and Ward’s The Unraveling The Counsel of Crows here:

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(5 Ways to Write Better Copy Than ChatGPT.)

So my first recommendation to my fellow copywriters is to figure out your AI policy, make it plain to see for the companies you write for, and post it on your site.

Mine reads:

“ChatGPT does not write copy for me or my clients.

“It never has. And I will never allow it to do so.

“I occasionally, though not very often, turn to ChatGPT for ideas, research, and outlines.

“But I do NOT use ChatGPT—or any other AI tool—to write copy.

“Either for my client projects. Or for my own products.

“No prompting. And no ‘training’ ChatGPT to write in my (or any other) voice.

“Nor do I subcontract to other copywriters—or have ‘copy cubs,’ ghostwriters, or anyone else write copy for my clients.

“When clients hire me, I write every word of the copy myself.

“In fact, I have written all the copy—for my clients and my little info marketing business—all by my lonesome, for more than 4 decades.

“And dozens of these clients say it has worked out pretty well for them—and for me—so far”:

https://www.bly.com/newsite/Pages/testimonials.php

*****

I will probably soon add a bit more explanation of the limited ways in which I do use ChatGPT, which are:

• For web search—in addition to, but not instead of, Google.
• To come up with multiple points for either making or proving a logical argument.
• Asking for further details or clarification of things I already think, believe, or know.
• Vetting of “big idea” promotions, most often for investment advisories but also for alternative health and certain other offers.

For example, when there was talk of Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a strong promotion for a stock newsletter promotion on oil occurred to me and many other writers.

With a few queries to ChatGPT, I quickly got logical and cogent arguments of how this blockage would affect global oil supply, the U.S. stock markets, energy, and prices for gasoline and heating oil—with trends, forecasts, and conclusions backed by facts and data.

Then ChatGPT asked me whether I wanted specific stocks to invest in and also which ones to sell now—which I did. In short, everything a copywriter needs to write a strong promo on the effects of the current geopolitical situation on energy stock investing. That ChatGPT came up with loads of good ideas, information, data, and proof points vetted the big idea in a positive way.

On the other hand, if ChatGPT had produced a paucity of evidence or worse, thought the idea was weak and told me so, I would have concluded that the big idea had not passed the vetting process. So the odds of a winning Strait of Hormuz oil profits opportunity and a promotion based on it would have been too thin, weak, and risky.

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(4 Ways to Write Hooks for Books.)

One, I’d never written a novel before. Didn’t even know where to start. And two, I was building a photography business, working full time in the corporate world, and co-parenting two rambunctious toddlers. I had enough on my plate. The novel would have to wait.

Spoiler alert: That novel, Soulmatch, publishes July 29th with Simon & Schuster. So, how’d I get from there to here? Photography made me do it.

In 2013, three years after my lightbulb moment, I left my corporate job and became a full-time photographer. I specialize solely in portraiture, which may sound strange coming from someone who self-identifies as an introvert. But I love meeting people, hearing their stories, and looking through the lens to capture the very essence of who they are…their souls, if you will.

My business grew and prospered. I won awards and was fully booked six-to-eight months in advance. Then, as was the fate of most small business owners, it all came to a screeching halt in March 2020. Photography is not an essential business, but it was essential to me. I went from spending 12 hours a day taking and editing photos, emailing clients, marketing, and keeping my business running to doing absolutely nothing. The jarring change was enough to bring about my first-ever panic attacks.

My kids were twelve and fourteen and didn’t need or want constant supervision. My husband was on back-to-back Zoom calls, and I could only make so much bread. Lying in bed one night, discussing our fears and brainstorming ideas, I blurted out, “Well, I always said I’d write that novel if I had the time.” I said it as a joke, but the next day, halfway through a Photoshop workshop on CreativeLive.com, I hit pause, took a deep breath, and searched their site for “how to write a novel.”

The only result was a three-day workshop called “Wired for Story: How to Become A Story Genius,” led by Lisa Cron. Sounded perfect. I pulled out a notepad and clicked “Buy.” By the end of the exercises, I had a rough outline for a character-driven novel and held the reins to a dystopian world I could bend to my will. Turns out that was the perfect remedy for someone struggling to comprehend their dystopian reality. 

Click to continue.

My work ethic took over. The hours I used to devote to taking and editing photos were spent typing and editing words. I shared each new chapter with my husband and best friend the way I shared galleries with clients, reveling in their encouraging compliments. Two months later, I had a first draft and was obsessed with it. I was humble enough to know the story needed work, but I also felt deep in my bones that Soulmatch would be published someday. I just needed to figure out how.

Launching my photography business required years of research, trial and error, sleepless nights, and dog-headed determination. But I’d accomplished a lofty goal once. I could do it again.

I contacted a published friend for a primer in the industry, another for help with my query letter. I joined the once-flourishing writing community on Twitter. And revised, revised, revised. The rejections kept mounting (whew, that was tough), but fortified by the support of friends and family, I pushed on. Maybe next time. Maybe this pitch. Maybe this revision.

Finally, I signed with an agent. Hoorah! Surely a book deal was close behind!

Ha. Did I mention I‘d written a YA dystopian novel? In Soulmatch, teens report to the government on their 18th birthdays to learn about their past lives and if they have a soulmate. Because I’m fascinated by stories where a new world order emerges from advancements in existing technology, the method for identifying souls stems from improved photo resolution. Perhaps someday we’ll be able to zoom in enough to see the unique markers of someone’s soul. Believable… and terrifying if the government holds souls accountable for past crimes. They could literally capture souls.

But in 2021, YA dystopian was not selling.

Nor was it in 2022.

In March 2023, I pulled up Publisher’s Marketplace, saw an announcement for Jill Tew’s The Dividing Sky, and sat upright. Though her debut was described as “sci-fi romance,” I saw it for what it was. Futuristic Boston? Memory dealer? Corrupt government? Oh yeah, dystopian all the way. Hope blossomed once again. (Side note: The Dividing Sky is incredible. Highly recommend.)

Around the same time, my agent asked if I wanted to try another round of submissions with Soulmatch or begin submitting my next manuscript. I sent her Jill’s announcement and said I wasn’t ready to give up. We had a book deal a month later.

I’ve often claimed Soulmatch’s main character is nothing like me. But I take it back. She gets repeatedly knocked down, her plans subverted, her heart broken; but her tenacity, family, and friends keep her going until she finally attains her happily ever after. If I knew from the outset five years would pass before Soulmatch hit the shelves, I’m not sure I would’ve stuck with it. Coincidentally, it also took five years of blood, sweat, and tears to become a full-time photographer. Now that I’m on the other side of both, I don’t regret the pursuit of either.

As a photographer, I have the honor of capturing the beauty of my clients’ souls. I’ve poured my own into pages you’ll soon be able to hold in your hands. May the story elicit the same emotions as a meticulously crafted portrait, and may it help you see the world through a new lens. But if you’re simply pleased with the final product, I’ve done my job.

Check out Rebecca Danzenbaker’s Soulmatch here:

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Fair play. Gaia Wakes is a book that explores the idea of planetary consciousness, and in doing so, violates the formal boundaries traditionally separating the natural sciences from the social, the scientific from the speculative, and the academic from the literary. It had posed a central question: What if the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence were the first stirrings of a vast, emergent, interconnected consciousness—a brain capable of intentionally and rapidly coordinating the planet’s bodily functions? In it, I made the argument that such a development—something I call Gaiacephalos—would fit an evolutionary pattern of upgrades to the complexity of life that has already repeated four times over four billion years. It would be governed by a logic articulated in development economics, driven by the collapse of environmental services and systems.

How should one categorize such a treatise? A recent text from a friend wondered: “Is Science Non-Fiction really a genre?” No, but I like the sound of it. Or a not-quite-portmanteau perhaps: “Social Science Fiction”? Or just: “Speculative Nonfiction”?

The genre questions I was now fielding were the latest iterations of a lack of traditional recognizability that had plagued my book since it was no more than a disjointed collection of notes straddling platforms (bulleted Google documents and chicken-scratched notebooks) and time-frames (stretching 3.8 billion years in the past to the first life on Earth, and into a hypothetical and indeterminately proximate/distant future) and genres (Environmental Science, Social Sciences, Science and Technology, maybe Science Fiction).

A word then on what qualifies as “scientific”: There is an irony in the sciences, whether of the natural or social persuasion. On one hand, they are entirely geared toward prediction; if a hypothesis fails to improve our ability to predict the developments of our observable universe, it is rejected. Robert Pirsig famously observed that our capacity to generate hypotheses outpaces our ability to test them—a dilemma that forces science into a widening liminal space between the knowable and the known. But on the other hand, good (i.e. predictive) scientists are strongly cautioned against making prognostications: the foretelling of future events without ample caveats regarding all the parameters and conditions that must remain stable in order for their predictions to hold.

While my book did not claim to predict the advent of Gaiacephalos, it did claim to identify Gaiacephalos as one possible analytic outcome of current developmental trajectories. And it conjectured a scenario in which a scalar leap of organization had occurred, throwing into question many of the social parameters that we might otherwise deem fixed. I evoked the anthropologist Gregory Bateson’s analogy of a truck reversing to describe the challenge of understanding the mechanics of ever-higher levels of analysis: Add a trailer and the process gets tricky. Add a second and it becomes diabolically difficult for one to intuit the dynamics of control. Add a third and we are entirely adrift.

So here was another point in favor of my “Speculative Nonfiction” non-genre: I was loosening too many parameters at once to really be recognized as “science” at all. And yet, we can simultaneously acknowledge the pitfalls of forecasting, while nevertheless defending the need to do so. As historian David Christian writes in Maps of Time, humanity may be seen as hurtling into a dark, unknown future, and any light we can cast upon the road ahead, however dim, might help us avert disaster. 

Click to continue.

Even if a reader were to grant my book the moniker of “scientific” for the sake of finding a genre home, it wouldn’t be clear from which science it derived, or even from which family of sciences. My history of scalar upgrades itself crossed (or “trespassed, in Albert O. Hirschman’s evocative phrase) the disciplinary boundary between the natural and social sciences. And my next predicted upgrade would transcend our understanding of the “social”, as well: What we currently think of as interacting collections of multifarious individuals would be incorporated into a unitary superordinate entity.

In addition to genres, the book straddled markets. It was too irresponsibly speculative—too willing to conjure untested futures—to be embraced as a proper academic work. The university press with which I had published my last book advised: Take it to the trades. (They had recently published a similarly future-looking, speculative social science and technology book that had sold well, but which received some blowback for being ungrounded.) Even to consider it, the university press would need the sign-offs of three separate acquisitions editors who don’t usually work together. But the trade folks I spoke with thought the book too dense and scholarly to be widely accessible: I should take it to a university press. Neither fish, nor fowl. Much has been written about outsider hybridity in the context of ethnicity and culture, and I began to recognize my book as a different manifestation of the same interstitial phenomenon.

So I set about scanning the scene for recently released social science books that did something new or different, noting the publishers of each. In this way, I quickly alighted on a promising match: a boutique trade press with a thematic specialization in the social sciences, a director with a passion for sharp thinking and beautiful books, and a distribution arrangement with a top-tier university press. And not a word about genre. I would like to think that in resisting easy classification, Gaia Wakes demands that its readers—and its author—learn to accept the indeterminacy that is required in all moments of great change, and to struggle with conceptual synthesis. That, more than another marginal addition to a formal genre, is what I think these times require.

The thing is, of course, that all this nonsense about genre isn’t really nonsense. Bookstores, from the local haunt to Amazon’s vast online catalog, adopt categorization principles, usually based on genre.  (One bookstore I used to visit in Massachusetts famously organized its books by publisher rather than genre, subject, or author—probably easy for staff to stock, but delectably maddening for would-be buyers. It went out of business.) And this categorization may affect its visibility, ultimately determining whether one’s book is discovered or not. Gaia Wakes has been categorized by Amazon under “Environmental Science” → “Environmental Policy”. We’ll see.

In the event, I responded to my colleague’s question on stage that evening quite literally. On my bookshelf, thanks to a happy and completely idiosyncratic organizational scheme, Gaia Wakes can sit squarely between environmental studies, and technology and future studies. On the left: billions of years of slow evolution on Earth, from theoretical physicist Sarah Imari Walker’s treatise Life as No One Knows It on the origins of life, to veterinarian and legal scholar Charles A. Foster’s Being a Human about the neolithic self-domestication of our species through agriculture. On the right, a rapidly accelerating technological future: Benjamin Bratton’s The Stack about emergent global information architecture, Stewart Russell’s The Problem of Control about AI alignment, James Lovelock’s Novacene…

There’s a beauty in the fact that once books come home, we can re-wild them, incorporating their motley waywardness into whatever quixotic quest we are undertaking. Or vice versa: Walter Benjamin described a personal library as “a disorder to which habit has accommodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order.” So when circumstances—horrible circumstances—compelled Benjamin to pack up and then again unpack his library, he saw these old friends re-individuated. And he recognized himself in them; they were long ago transformed by some alchemy:

“Not that they come alive in him; it is he who lives in them.”

Check out Topher McDougal’s Gaia Wakes here:

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While you are writing, before your book is published:

1. Attend author events. Pay attention to what you like and don’t like. Take notes on a document titled “Events” so when it’s your turn, you’ll already have a curated list of tips.
2. Create an organized digital file storage system along with file naming rules. Down the line you may be looking for a document and you’ll be grateful you know where to find it.
3. Backup everything—on the cloud and/or on an external hard drive. End each writing session with a backup.
4. When doing research, take photos and videos of setting locations and items of inspiration for future social media posts and newsletter behind-the-scenes features. Store everything in one carefully named folder on your computer.
5. Write your “back cover blurb” right from the start. It will help you stay focused on the main idea and hook of your story. Revise as needed until the manuscript is complete and then use it in your query letters.
6. From the moment you start a manuscript, keep a list of your promotion ideas: affiliate groups, article and blog post topics, media outlets that would be a good fit, bookstores to contact, etc.
7. Keep a file of everything you delete from your manuscript in case you decide to add something back in or for a newsletter freebie—readers love deleted scenes.
8. Ignore the voices telling you that “X isn’t selling,” or “readers don’t like Y.” Write the book you want to write. Go into a bubble and write from your heart, without wondering how good it is or who’s going to read it. Worry about all that once the first draft is finished. Your unique voice is what readers will connect with most.
9. If you write nonfiction, you already keep a bibliography of your sources, but fiction writers should do this, too. You may need to refer back to something during revisions, find a particular quote or item of interest to share in a newsletter, or you may want to share the entire bibliography with readers so they can investigate the subject on their own.
10. Read as much as possible in your genre. Keep a list of comp titles and authors to approach about providing an endorsement for your book. Note what you liked about their book so you can personalize your email to them, as well as why a blurb from this author would help your book.
11. Get to know your local booksellers. Attend their events. Buy from their stores.
12. Collect bonus content to add to your website once your book is published, including a glossary, book club discussion questions, author Q&A, character family tree, recipes of dishes mentioned in the story, playlists, a deep dive into a unique aspect of your story’s setting or culture, maps, and so much more.
13. Never bad mouth other authors, agents, editors, bookstores, or publishers online. Be positive and supportive. Always.
14. Don’t rush. Do multiple rounds of revisions. Have beta readers give you feedback. Revise again. And then again. Don’t submit until the manuscript is the absolute best you can make it.
15. Be professional on social media. Only send friend requests to agents and editors who are sharing industry information, and pay attention to their preferences to learn who is a good fit for your work. If their content includes pictures of their kids or other aspects of their personal lives, skip the request. You don’t want to come across as creepy.
16. Take a class on anything you need to become a better small business owner, social media promoter, salesperson, speaker…any of the many hats an author must wear.

Once you have a contract, but before your publication date:

1. Maintain a Master Document for each of your books with info you’ll need to refer to often. Include the back cover blurb, cover images, buy links for your book in each format and on all platforms (shortened), your ISBN number(s), all review quotes you receive, author bio, author photo, links to your social media, link to your Amazon author page, link to your Goodreads author page.
2. Read your finished book, or have a trusted friend read it, and flag quotes that would be good to highlight in social media posts and as pull quotes on your website and/or newsletters.
3. Contact the people on your Promotions list. Tell them about your book, its pub date, back cover blurb, cover image, your bio, and why you think they and/or their followers would be interested in your book. Share your availability for interviews or events and how to contact you. Offer to send them an Advance Reader Copy.
4. Create a calendar for the months leading up to publication for social media posts (including what, exactly, you will post), and newsletters (don’t forget behind-the-scenes content and freebies that will add value for subscribers so your newsletters aren’t only saying, “buy my book.”)
5. Create and post to your website all the bonus content that you collected during the writing stage to add value to your readers’ experience.
6. Revise and format a deleted scene, or other content, and add it as a lead magnet (a.k.a. freebie, opt-in) for your newsletter sign-up.
7. As reviews come in, add them to your website and to your Master document.
8. Visit your local bookstores. Consider taking an Advance Reader Copy or, at minimum, a postcard or bookmark with your book’s cover image, publication information, your bio, and your contact information. Talk to the booksellers about your book and your availability for signings and events.

Click to continue.

After publication:

1. Let go of all expectations you have for your book. It is now out of your control. Continue to promote it but move forward with your next project.
2. If talking about your book makes you nervous, remember that you are at the event in service to the audience. Be: entertaining (make them laugh), educational (teach them something they didn’t already know), or inspiring (share something that makes them leave with ideas and dreams swirling around in their minds). Accomplish at least one on that list and you’ll be great!
3. Revisit all action items from “Before you are published” above.
4. Update your Master document and website with every link you receive: coverage/reviews of the book, interviews, articles.
5. After every event, send a thank you note to the organizer.

Whether you do all of these, or just a few, you will thank yourself one day down the road by being organized and prepared for your career as a successful published author.

Check out Kelli Estes’ Smoke on the Wind here:

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(Think AI Is Bad for Authors? The Worst Is Yet to Come.)

While the authors defended their use of AI as brainstorming and editing help, the incident sparked outrage and exposed a growing crisis. Artificial intelligence isn’t just competing with human creativity—it is quietly replacing it, often without readers knowing.

But this controversy is only the beginning. Writers, artists, and even tech giants are taking a stand against how AI is being used, especially when it comes to scraping human-created content without consent. At the heart of this movement is a call for ethical use.

Like humans, AI learns by consuming existing information. In the case of large language models (LLMs), the type of AI most readers and writers interact with, that information often comes from sweeping the internet and pulling data from original works, including copyrighted materials. Most creators never gave permission for their work to be used this way. Worse, they haven’t been compensated, even as AI companies profit from powerful tools built on the backs of these third-party assets.

Organizations like the Authors Guild have taken a public stand. In January 2025, they launched a “Human Authored” certification system to help readers identify books created without AI. (For transparency, I’m a Guild member.) Their statement reads: “Generative technologies built illegally on vast amounts of copyrighted works without licenses, without giving authors any compensation or control over the use of their works, are used to cheaply and easily produce works that compete with and displace human-authored books, journalism, and other works.”

In short, authors’ original work is now being used to train the very tools that threaten to replace them.

Some platforms are starting to respond. Substack now allows users to block AI models from scraping content. Google has introduced tools for website owners to protect their content without harming search visibility. These are steps in the right direction, but as bots evolve, the tools to block them will need to evolve as well.

So, what can writers, authors, and illustrators do to protect their work from being used without consent? Here are a few practical actions:

1. Opt out where you can.

Platforms like Tumblr, DeviantArt, and Substack now offer settings to opt out of AI data training. These options are typically found in privacy settings under “AI training” or “AI bots.”

2. Add a statement to your copyright page.

If you self-publish, consider including a line such as: “This content is not available for AI training. All rights reserved.” While this may not stop all scraping, it makes your intent clear and could support future legal protections.

3. Use digital masking for art.

Graphic artists and illustrators are encouraged to make use of watermarks and lower resolution images when posting publicly. If you want your images to look appealing to the human eye while still adding a layer of protection against AI theft, consider using a digital masking tool. One popular option is Glaze, a free app developed by the University of Chicago. It helps by making changes to pixels that are hard to decipher by machine learning models but cannot be seen by humans. 

4. Block bots on your website.

You can choose to block AI Bots on your own website to protect your work. If you have a website or blog and use a website builder like GoDaddy, Wix, or Squarespace to manage it, there are ways to block AI bots with a few steps. With Squarespace it’s a simple toggle in the settings. With Wix and other builders it requires an edit of your robots.txt file. Call support and let them know that you would like to stop AI Bots from crawling specific pages of your website and they will assist. Be aware that blocking certain AI bots may prevent your content from appearing in AI-generated previews or summaries in tools like Google’s AI Overviews or other search assistant features. However, it typically will not affect your traditional search engine rankings or visibility.

5. Be strategic about what you share.

Your best defense is to be intentional about how you share your work online. Be mindful of what you post and where you post it. Writers might post only short excerpts or summaries on platforms that still allow scraping. Artists may want to watermark or lower the resolution of shared images. The key is to be intentional with how and where you publish online.

Ultimately, AI is not the threat. It is how it is being used. The issue is not the technology, it is the ethics of those behind it.

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(My Unusual Debut Success Story That Landed a Two-Book Deal With a Major Publisher.)

This vacuum of information and knowledge, which I set out to demystify in my book Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life, sprouts all kinds of myths, conspiracies, and falsehoods. Let’s put a few of them to rest, shall we?

It’s Who You Know

I’ll tell you a secret. My first published book is not the first book my agent and I tried to sell. It’s not the second, third, or fourth. It’s the fifth! I have been a literary agent for 19 years and my own agent has been in the business longer. I knew every editor on my submission lists. And it still took me that many tries to get published. Maybe all my other books were bad. Or maybe it’s not who you know but what you write.

You Have to Be Published to Get Published

Like that entry level job where you need experience to get your foot in the door, it’s easy to think that you have to have a list of publishing credits a mile long before an agent or editor will consider your work. This is false. It can help, but I have never rejected a book I thought I could sell because the author wasn’t published elsewhere first.

You Have to Be Young

I am 46 years old. My first book comes out this June. I, too, thought I was going to write my first novel when I was 25. Boy am I glad that didn’t happen! No offense to young, successful authors. Please keep writing great books. But if you are not “young” anymore, don’t despair. You don’t have to flash your ID to get a book deal. There’s no bouncer at the door.

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You Have to Write to Trends

Where are we with vampires these days? Are they out? In? Scary? Sparkly? I don’t know and when I’m reading query letters, it’s not top of mind. Because what’s a trend on bookstore shelves right this very minute was sold two years ago and written three or four or more years ago. The trends I’m thinking of when I read queries are the ones that haven’t even happened yet, the ones that feel new and fresh and different from what’s out there. So write what you want. Maybe you’ll be the next trend.

Your Book Has to Earn Out to Get Another Book Deal

A book earns out when it sells enough copies to earn the publisher back the advance they paid the author. If your advance was $10,000 and your sales after two years are only worth $6,328, you do not owe any money back to the publisher. You aren’t automatically barred from ever getting another book deal, either. Most books don’t earn out, and that’s ok. Publishers take on the financial risk of paying advances and see what happens. Now, if you get a $1,000,000 advance and sell $3 worth of books, it’s not going to look great for your next one. (But at least you still have that $1,000,000.) Not earning out is not an automatic red light for your next books.

I could go on and on. The main way to tell if something is a myth or a truism is a myth is ALWAYS true, and the truth applies sometimes. You’ll NEVER get a book deal if you don’t have an MFA. (False.) But sometimes authors are plucked out of the slush pile. (True.) Don’t let a myth get in the way of what could be true about your writing career.

Check out Kate McKean’s Write Through It here:

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(Losing Your Champions Amidst Success.)

My journey to becoming a writer stemmed from my love of reading. I recall spending hours filling my arms with books by Beverly Cleary and other favorites when I was as young as eight. Once, my best friend and I discovered a book of lyrical poetry and copied all the lyrics into a notebook so we could read them at our disposal. It wasn’t long after that that I decided to try my hand at writing my own stories and poems. And once I began, I realized that there were many more stories to tell, all eager to be put on paper. 

Soon, throughout junior high school, high school, and college, I began writing those stories, starting with The Mystery of the Three Red Gowns (in homage to the Nancy Drew books), and my experiences growing up in Borough Park, Brownsville, and Flatbush in Brooklyn. Reading my handwritten manuscripts to my father, a Holocaust survivor from Poland, and seeing the proud smile on his face as he closed his eyes and listened, I knew that I had found my calling.

By the time I entered college, I had planned to pursue a career as a writer. I became an English major, focusing on the classical authors from England, like Austen, Dickens, and the Bronte sisters (to this day, Jane Eyre remains my favorite book). I also made sure to serve on the editorial staff of Brooklyn College’s literary magazine so that I could build a portfolio. However, as a practical individual (I am a Virgo, after all), I knew that I had to have a backup plan in case the writing career didn’t pan out. So, I decided to obtain a master’s degree in English and become an English teacher, first in a high school in Brooklyn, and then as a professor at a community college in New Jersey, where I worked for over 30 years before retiring as Professor Emerita last fall. 

They tell you that if you are writing, you should consider yourself a writer. In a sense, that is true. For the past 50 years, I have been a newspaper editor, freelance writer, and columnist for newspapers in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey, an author of children’s books, and a memoirist as I earned my Doctor of Letters Degree. I was a writer, yes, but there was a nagging feeling in my heart to become the published writer I dreamed of being since I was a little girl.

I kept writing, first with pen and paper, then using my sturdy Smith Corona, and later, the computer. And I made lists, searching my markets for my short stories and manuscripts. In this endeavor, I admit that Writer’s Digest remained an essential resource. In all, I must have sent letters to over 300 publishers and agents. Some politely declined, but most didn’t respond at all. I immersed myself in teaching and raising a family of three sons, but the dream was never far from my mind and heart.

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During this time as I turned 50, my desire grew along with my frustration. My hopes were buoyed for 10 years when a friend passed along one of my manuscripts to an agent in Manhattan. He made several attempts to sell this manuscript and others, only to land in disappointment each time. Nevertheless, I remained determined. And then in 2020, something wonderful happened. 

Unbeknownst to me, my youngest son, a screenplay writer, gave my manuscript to his agent who then sent it to Eve Attermann at William Morris. She loved it and pronounced me as a great writer. Eve became my new agent and later passed along another of my manuscripts to an editor at Little A who, in the most wonderful of surprises, made an offer to publish. My novel, A Castle in Brooklyn, came out in 2022, and The Baker of Lost Memories debuts in June 2025. The first is about the lasting trauma experienced by Holocaust survivors as they embark on a new life in America; the other deals with the Holocaust’s impact on the second generation. Both take place in my childhood home, Brooklyn. These were the stories I dreamed of writing as a child. 

So that’s how at almost 70, I finally became a published writer. And it all started with a dream and lots of persistence. I think my dad would have been proud.

Check out Shirley Russak Wachtel’s The Baker of Lost Memories here:

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One afternoon two years ago, I was taking care of my toddler and had just begun packing him into our car to go home from the zoo when I received a text message from my first literary agent at KT Literary asking if I had a few minutes to talk.

My mind began to swirl. Were they dropping me? We were just in the midst of revisions on a partial that I was hoping would lead to my first full-length novel sale, so I felt like it was unlikely. But then again, what did they want to talk about?

(I Got 8 Agent Offers; Then, My Book Died on Sub.)

My heart racing, I quickly typed back. A few minutes later, I was on the phone and my agent was telling me that they’d decided to leave the publishing industry entirely and, therefore, would no longer be representing my work.

To make it all worse, they also informed me that my editor for an anthology I was editing that we had sold two months prior, was also leaving the industry. From one minute to another, I was agent-less, editor-less, champion-less, and it was a harsh reminder that in publishing, things can change so quickly. The only silver lining: The amazing, Kate Testerman, owner of KT Literary, wanted to talk to me about taking over representation for my work.

I drove home, with my toddler falling asleep in the backseat, thoughts in chaos, unsure of what would happen next with my career.

TAKING A BREATH, TRUSTING YOUR GUT

That evening, after talking to my husband, who reminded me that no matter what, I would be okay, I took my first full breath. After all, even if Kate ultimately passed on me as a client, the trenches didn’t seem so doomsday scary to me. I’d survived them once, I would do so again, right?

The moment that Kate and I got on the phone, relief further spread over me, even more exciting was the fact that the call was one to officially offer representation. Although losing my first literary agent felt like a heavy weight and, on a personal level, was simply quite sad, the work that they did behind the scenes to try to pair their clients with another agent at their agency, for me, led to a wonderful new connection.

After the call, I had a choice: I could either take Kate’s offer or choose to leave KT Literary and query widely.

We talk a lot about how in publishing, your journey is only as good as your agent—and it truly is terrifying to think that you might make a mistake in choosing the wrong champion. In this case, I chose to trust my gut, and my gut was telling me to take Kate’s wonderful offer.

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BECOMING A CHAMELEON

A few weeks after taking the offer from Kate, I learned that my agent-client relationship would be much different in one particular way, which would lead to my chameleon era in publishing: Kate wasn’t as editorial as my first agent had been. Still, I knew she wouldn’t send anything out she didn’t approve the quality of, and I learned to trust the quality of my writing.

A few weeks after we sent it away, Kate and I heard back on the revise and resubmit, and received Wednesday Books’ offer for my debut novel, SALVACIÓN, a Zorro retelling seeped with salt magic, a slow burn romance, and a Mexican and very feminist heroine!

I’ve had other chameleon moments along the way: from Inkyard Press shuttering a few months before the release of my anthology, Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories, to losing my acquiring editor for SALVACIÓN a few months before its release now as well.

It’s always hurt losing champions that I so loved along the road to publication, but I’ve always been so thankful for every opportunity that they’ve given me and my work, and each one of them has helped shape me into the writer I am today: someone who feels confident enough that me and my work can stand on its own, regardless of any changes that happen.

And all of these happenings have confirmed that things can and (hey there, Murphy’s Law) will, change sometimes in drastic ways, but if you take a breath, and trust your gut, more often than not, these changes don’t mean chaos, but new opportunities to work with even more of the amazing champions that make up the publishing industry.

Check out Sandra Proudman’s SALVACIÓN here:

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