The ChatGPT scenario is disheartening on many levels, and my heart hurts for these editors tasked with the impossible. It’s a shame.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to submit to speculative outlets anymore. I’m on the fence. 2023 was going to be the year I start submitting stories to other publishers again, but now I’m not so sure. Besides...at this point, Brian, our words may reach an even wider audience here on our personal Substacks! The fiction writing community is ever-evolving. I’m not sure there’s anywhere else I’d rather be.
Thank you for sending this out. It’s an important topic right now and one that should be considered by fiction writers.
Thanks, Justin. It is a shame because editors like Neil are truly on the side of writers. He was kind enough to reply back to an inquiry and I can tell he is thinking positively and hopeful about the future. I don't lament AI, but I do see how it's going to change the game for us, just like automation has in many other industries. I'm going to lean into that, learn from it, and I think you're right that our ability to reach people will be better served here.
Thanks for reading and writing! It's great to experience and share our successes along similar paths.
“A group can gather on Substack around shared interests and have flawed discussions with emotion, bias and sometimes ethically questionable conversations. Out of that emerges conflict, empathy, relationship and even forgiveness — uniquely human characteristics. ChatGPT won’t allow that. I asked.” - beautifully said, Brian.
I’m agnostic on the competition from robots... on the one hand, as long as I submit fiction about golden-hearted necrophiliacs, ChatGPT can’t compete... on the other hands you’re right, a lot of editors of hugely popular markets are going to pass on that... but - and here’s my Palahniuk influence showing - there’s a desire for whispered and shameful and so outrageous you can only laugh type of stories - and those are the stories I think fiction can do best, the type of stories that’s too profane (or sacred) to be adapted to other mediums like film or radio or tv or games... so my hope is that more markets who publish unfilmable stories like that will open
Thanks, Wil. I'm not even sure the stories need to be profane (although that works as well) so long as they reflect some perceived absurdity that is shunned in a more public forum. That could be just about anything these days that will get you "cancelled".
I'm agnostic as well in terms of the rise of language AI or however people want to use it. With its advent, I'm simply going to stress here, at Future Thief, stories will come from my lived experience and emphasize the community here can't be replicated. I'm hopeful other writers emphasize the same on their platforms and we can provide something truly unique.
I’ll be very curious to see your audience grow and how that affects your writing, and also, your ability to monetize, if just through collections of the best stories after a year or so... that’s my need for external motivation to write. But to clarify, I don’t want AI generated stories! And I do worry the software will improve to make genuinely entertaining mashups. I want authenticity. But... maybe sometime I’m also going to want a werewolf story written in Hemingway prose?
I think about that often. I'm not sure a subscription model fits me. I plan to self-publish more and so readers buying my fiction is likely the best way for now. I've considered some other avenues like merchandise, but the management of that is not fun. It would have to strike the right balance and be a real benefit to readers.
I think the advent of AI is a good thing for fiction. It's a wonderful opportunity to rise above and show our humanity, our creativity. The world has seen plenty of artificial work for decades, just from a different factory than where ChatGPT works. This may be a welcome wakeup to explore and realize our actual potential. Publications will need to adapt but they are made up of flexible and evolving human beings who are able to do so much more readily than a million lines of code. Thanks for the article Brian.
A wakeup call! That's a great way to put it, Victor. That's what it was for me. It's not inherently a bad thing. It's the birth of something new and exciting. Thanks for reading.
Good stuff Brian. I have decided to stay on Substack too and no longer submit pieces to journals. I have been accepted at a few places but once accepted there was no real benefit at least to me. Here on Substack, I get to interact with people like you and get satisfaction from that.
Later this month, I am going to start to publish series of interconnected stories that may be read individually or in sequence. It will be like a TV show with episodes. Each story gradually adds details about the main character’s back stories so regular readers will learn more about them. We will see what happens.
Thanks, Scott! I've found the interactions to be extremely valuable as well. A number of connections and conversations have produced quite a bit of value. I don't think I would get that from traditional outlets either, although the credentials feel like they should be rewarding. In time, I get the sense the rewards here will outweigh that.
That's awesome about your upcoming series! I look forward to reading. It's important to experiment and see what comes of it. You may find it evolves into something else entirely, or blows up big. 😁
Thank you for this story, Brian. I've been tentatively submitting work to publications and contests over the last few months, and I'm looking ahead to a year of writing queries to agents, who btw are also being inundated with AI generated cover letters and synopses for books that may be all or partly written by AIs. It's so discouraging and it's very hard for me to think that the "traditional" route is even fathomable anymore. I'm already at a disadvantage because my books aren't plot heavy, hook monsters, with massive/automatic commercial appeal. They make you slow down and think, which it seems people don't have the time or desire to do anymore. I get sad in bookstores now. Because I see the physical evidence of people's hard work on display, work that simply doesn't have the same reach it used to. Who buys books anymore? I feel like I'm one of the last ones on earth sometimes.
I love what you said about your work here being, at times, messy, inconsistent, and unpredictable. I'm in that boat, too. I knew my decision to deliver a new piece of fiction every week would mean some of them would be duds. And some of them have been. But others have earned a surprising amount of engagement, which is such an important boost for me. It keeps me going. I don't get that boost when I send a personalized letter along with pages of my novel to a complete stranger who is most likely going to ignore it, or they'll see it and pass after 4-6 months of it collecting dust (perhaps among AI copycats) in their inbox.
I recently changed my one sentence description of my Substack from "Fictional ramblings inspired by stock photography" to "Experimental fiction inspired by..." Because "ramblings" suggests I don't really care about the work. I'm just doodling around for kicks. But I care deeply about what I'm doing. And "experimental" suggests commitment, bravery, ingenuity, and most importantly, the very real possibility of failure. Experiments often fail, and by making that adjustment to my creative statement, I'm hopeful my attitude about failure/success might change for the better. 🤞🏻
I'm glad you're here writing and inspiring us, Brian. There is such a fantastic fiction community here, and I feel so very fortunate to have stumbled upon it. And I fully support your move to original art. It's awesome. Keep at it.
I think that a lot of people are still willing to buy books and are eager to discover a new voice. In recent years, though, the traditional publishing industry is only willing to invest in books that meet their very narrow criteria. Our audience is out there. The problem for us indies is finding them and distributing to them because book buyers are often locked into established favorites. We certainly have more competition for their attention, but I really do believe readers are willing and ready to be captivated. If you can't find an agent to represent your work, then publish on Amazon or with Ingram. Those are low-cost self-publishing alternatives, and it demonstrates you did the hard work of finishing and putting it out there. It might take several books before you gain traction, but you'll have a physical representation out in the world of your hard work.
One reason I like Substack, especially with short stories, is it gives me an opportunity to see how readers respond to different styles of storytelling, covering different subjects, both fantasy and science fiction. This can really help us with the longer pieces to understand what we're doing right. That engagement is not only a boost, like you said, but super important to our development. Then, when you do publish, you'll have a more refined perspective -- that of your audience of readers!
Regarding the story from NPR, I read that when it came out and had a good laugh. I know not everyone agrees with me, but I would rather engage with a saucy, unrefined chatbot any day of the week, than one that has been neutered. However, there are certain liabilities and harm it can do out in the wild. I'm not naive to that.
I’ve spent a lot of time exploring, ChatGPT, and written a couple of pieces about it and and I agree with your conclusions. It is a wave that is upon us. There is no avoiding it and it’s like every other innovation that’s come before it. There is a shadow cast behind the promise of a any game changing advancement.
It does feel overwhelming to think about a world, cluttered with more generative content when we struggle to find an audience for all the wonderful work crafted the old fashioned way. Thanks for continuing to write and share your perspective.
Thanks, Ben. It makes what we're doing more important. It's the preservation of our human spirit and individual experiences. AI can't live experiences and can therefore only replicate, and with boundaries. We're free to explore!
These are exactly my thoughts on AI! It can't replace human connection & I believe this is why there will always be demand for art created by humans. I found this Substack only recently but I'm looking forward to exploring more of your writings.
Thank you for this very raw and honest writing. ChatGPT is something we all need to be more aware of and this was a helpful way to learn more about the realities of how it will affect us. What a fast changing world we are living in.
“This is Future Thief. I am human.” Such a good line for your newsletter in general, as well as a means of summarizing your thoughts. Great post, Brian.
The ChatGPT scenario is disheartening on many levels, and my heart hurts for these editors tasked with the impossible. It’s a shame.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to submit to speculative outlets anymore. I’m on the fence. 2023 was going to be the year I start submitting stories to other publishers again, but now I’m not so sure. Besides...at this point, Brian, our words may reach an even wider audience here on our personal Substacks! The fiction writing community is ever-evolving. I’m not sure there’s anywhere else I’d rather be.
Thank you for sending this out. It’s an important topic right now and one that should be considered by fiction writers.
Thanks, Justin. It is a shame because editors like Neil are truly on the side of writers. He was kind enough to reply back to an inquiry and I can tell he is thinking positively and hopeful about the future. I don't lament AI, but I do see how it's going to change the game for us, just like automation has in many other industries. I'm going to lean into that, learn from it, and I think you're right that our ability to reach people will be better served here.
Thanks for reading and writing! It's great to experience and share our successes along similar paths.
“A group can gather on Substack around shared interests and have flawed discussions with emotion, bias and sometimes ethically questionable conversations. Out of that emerges conflict, empathy, relationship and even forgiveness — uniquely human characteristics. ChatGPT won’t allow that. I asked.” - beautifully said, Brian.
I’m agnostic on the competition from robots... on the one hand, as long as I submit fiction about golden-hearted necrophiliacs, ChatGPT can’t compete... on the other hands you’re right, a lot of editors of hugely popular markets are going to pass on that... but - and here’s my Palahniuk influence showing - there’s a desire for whispered and shameful and so outrageous you can only laugh type of stories - and those are the stories I think fiction can do best, the type of stories that’s too profane (or sacred) to be adapted to other mediums like film or radio or tv or games... so my hope is that more markets who publish unfilmable stories like that will open
Thanks, Wil. I'm not even sure the stories need to be profane (although that works as well) so long as they reflect some perceived absurdity that is shunned in a more public forum. That could be just about anything these days that will get you "cancelled".
I'm agnostic as well in terms of the rise of language AI or however people want to use it. With its advent, I'm simply going to stress here, at Future Thief, stories will come from my lived experience and emphasize the community here can't be replicated. I'm hopeful other writers emphasize the same on their platforms and we can provide something truly unique.
I’ll be very curious to see your audience grow and how that affects your writing, and also, your ability to monetize, if just through collections of the best stories after a year or so... that’s my need for external motivation to write. But to clarify, I don’t want AI generated stories! And I do worry the software will improve to make genuinely entertaining mashups. I want authenticity. But... maybe sometime I’m also going to want a werewolf story written in Hemingway prose?
I think about that often. I'm not sure a subscription model fits me. I plan to self-publish more and so readers buying my fiction is likely the best way for now. I've considered some other avenues like merchandise, but the management of that is not fun. It would have to strike the right balance and be a real benefit to readers.
I think the advent of AI is a good thing for fiction. It's a wonderful opportunity to rise above and show our humanity, our creativity. The world has seen plenty of artificial work for decades, just from a different factory than where ChatGPT works. This may be a welcome wakeup to explore and realize our actual potential. Publications will need to adapt but they are made up of flexible and evolving human beings who are able to do so much more readily than a million lines of code. Thanks for the article Brian.
A wakeup call! That's a great way to put it, Victor. That's what it was for me. It's not inherently a bad thing. It's the birth of something new and exciting. Thanks for reading.
Good stuff Brian. I have decided to stay on Substack too and no longer submit pieces to journals. I have been accepted at a few places but once accepted there was no real benefit at least to me. Here on Substack, I get to interact with people like you and get satisfaction from that.
Later this month, I am going to start to publish series of interconnected stories that may be read individually or in sequence. It will be like a TV show with episodes. Each story gradually adds details about the main character’s back stories so regular readers will learn more about them. We will see what happens.
Thanks, Scott! I've found the interactions to be extremely valuable as well. A number of connections and conversations have produced quite a bit of value. I don't think I would get that from traditional outlets either, although the credentials feel like they should be rewarding. In time, I get the sense the rewards here will outweigh that.
That's awesome about your upcoming series! I look forward to reading. It's important to experiment and see what comes of it. You may find it evolves into something else entirely, or blows up big. 😁
Thank you for this story, Brian. I've been tentatively submitting work to publications and contests over the last few months, and I'm looking ahead to a year of writing queries to agents, who btw are also being inundated with AI generated cover letters and synopses for books that may be all or partly written by AIs. It's so discouraging and it's very hard for me to think that the "traditional" route is even fathomable anymore. I'm already at a disadvantage because my books aren't plot heavy, hook monsters, with massive/automatic commercial appeal. They make you slow down and think, which it seems people don't have the time or desire to do anymore. I get sad in bookstores now. Because I see the physical evidence of people's hard work on display, work that simply doesn't have the same reach it used to. Who buys books anymore? I feel like I'm one of the last ones on earth sometimes.
I love what you said about your work here being, at times, messy, inconsistent, and unpredictable. I'm in that boat, too. I knew my decision to deliver a new piece of fiction every week would mean some of them would be duds. And some of them have been. But others have earned a surprising amount of engagement, which is such an important boost for me. It keeps me going. I don't get that boost when I send a personalized letter along with pages of my novel to a complete stranger who is most likely going to ignore it, or they'll see it and pass after 4-6 months of it collecting dust (perhaps among AI copycats) in their inbox.
I recently changed my one sentence description of my Substack from "Fictional ramblings inspired by stock photography" to "Experimental fiction inspired by..." Because "ramblings" suggests I don't really care about the work. I'm just doodling around for kicks. But I care deeply about what I'm doing. And "experimental" suggests commitment, bravery, ingenuity, and most importantly, the very real possibility of failure. Experiments often fail, and by making that adjustment to my creative statement, I'm hopeful my attitude about failure/success might change for the better. 🤞🏻
I'm glad you're here writing and inspiring us, Brian. There is such a fantastic fiction community here, and I feel so very fortunate to have stumbled upon it. And I fully support your move to original art. It's awesome. Keep at it.
Also, I felt compelled to share this NPR story with you. Because not all Chatbots are on their best behavior. Some of them are being outright dicks. https://www.npr.org/2023/03/02/1159895892/ai-microsoft-bing-chatbot
I think that a lot of people are still willing to buy books and are eager to discover a new voice. In recent years, though, the traditional publishing industry is only willing to invest in books that meet their very narrow criteria. Our audience is out there. The problem for us indies is finding them and distributing to them because book buyers are often locked into established favorites. We certainly have more competition for their attention, but I really do believe readers are willing and ready to be captivated. If you can't find an agent to represent your work, then publish on Amazon or with Ingram. Those are low-cost self-publishing alternatives, and it demonstrates you did the hard work of finishing and putting it out there. It might take several books before you gain traction, but you'll have a physical representation out in the world of your hard work.
One reason I like Substack, especially with short stories, is it gives me an opportunity to see how readers respond to different styles of storytelling, covering different subjects, both fantasy and science fiction. This can really help us with the longer pieces to understand what we're doing right. That engagement is not only a boost, like you said, but super important to our development. Then, when you do publish, you'll have a more refined perspective -- that of your audience of readers!
Regarding the story from NPR, I read that when it came out and had a good laugh. I know not everyone agrees with me, but I would rather engage with a saucy, unrefined chatbot any day of the week, than one that has been neutered. However, there are certain liabilities and harm it can do out in the wild. I'm not naive to that.
I’ve spent a lot of time exploring, ChatGPT, and written a couple of pieces about it and and I agree with your conclusions. It is a wave that is upon us. There is no avoiding it and it’s like every other innovation that’s come before it. There is a shadow cast behind the promise of a any game changing advancement.
It does feel overwhelming to think about a world, cluttered with more generative content when we struggle to find an audience for all the wonderful work crafted the old fashioned way. Thanks for continuing to write and share your perspective.
Thanks, Ben. It makes what we're doing more important. It's the preservation of our human spirit and individual experiences. AI can't live experiences and can therefore only replicate, and with boundaries. We're free to explore!
These are exactly my thoughts on AI! It can't replace human connection & I believe this is why there will always be demand for art created by humans. I found this Substack only recently but I'm looking forward to exploring more of your writings.
Thank you, Vanessa! Im happy you're here. Our connections will continue to define us and separate us from the artificial world growing around us.
Thank you for this very raw and honest writing. ChatGPT is something we all need to be more aware of and this was a helpful way to learn more about the realities of how it will affect us. What a fast changing world we are living in.
I think about the last 20 years alone, and they feel like 1000 years of progress all caught up at once. Pretty wild! Thanks for reading, Lacey.
Right on--I share a lot of these opinions with you.
Good luck on your presentation, Brian!
Thanks, Winston!
“This is Future Thief. I am human.” Such a good line for your newsletter in general, as well as a means of summarizing your thoughts. Great post, Brian.
Thank you, Bryn!
The AI generated stories remind me of Muzak. Good luck on the 31st!
Thanks, James! I like Muzak, but only when I got older and exposed to liminal spaces. Mixed with nostalgia it has a different affect.