Navigating the AI Landscape in Non-Fiction Writing for Business Owners in 2023

Written by: Angela Lauria • January 31, 2023

Image Source: https://unsplash.com/@lilartsy

As a business owner looking to write a non-fiction book in 2023, are you prepared for the impact of AI on the publishing industry? 

AI has the potential to transform the publishing industry in significant ways—some good, some really damn scary. With 30 years of experience, I've witnessed firsthand so many changes that doomsayers said would end the book publishing industry 

Spoiler alert, none of them did, and this won’t either…

But nothing I’ve lived through compares to what is going to happen in publishing in 2023 with the widespread adoption of machine learning algorithms to create written content at scale. 

This is a time of great crisis and a great opportunity for business owners that pay attention. 

The question is, do you want to be one of them?

AI and Non-Fiction in 2023

As business owners, we have to prepare for the impact AI will have on our business. 

You have probably already thought about the upside of AI: using it to churn out SEO copy, write long-form sales pages faster, chop up existing content for social media, et al.

It’s exciting. But if you can easily do it, so can everyone else.

And the signal-to-noise ratio just got jammed! 

When signal quality is poor, it’s difficult for prospects to discern or distinguish your message from the noise; which helps neither you nor them.

So here are a few things I’ve been thinking about in recent weeks:

1. The market is already flooded with books, and it’s about to get so much crazier. Consider this, when I started in the publishing industry, there were about 300,000 books published every year. In 2022, this grew to 400,000 books published every MONTH. And in 2023, we will (at minimum) hit 1,000,000 books published EVERY MONTH! 

2. Many of these books will be written by AI, which means they're often lower quality. But look, AI is improving daily; and AI books are already better than at least half the books on the market. Soon they’ll be better than 80% of books. Standing out is going to get a LOT harder.

3. You have to be able to stand out in a sea of mediocre books. Frankly, business owners with great ideas have been able to skate by with average or below-average writing skills. Editors clean things up but turning a beautiful phrase has not been required to make $100K (or even $1M with a prescriptive non-fiction book). Those days are over. Vulnerable storytelling and great writing will soon be the only way to rise above the sea of AI books.

History Repeating Itself?

My first job was working for an old, hardened newspaperman named David Wise. 

He was a NY Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner who was not afraid of new technology. I worked for him 20 hours a week interviewing sources and editing the five pages he religiously wrote each morning before heading off for a swim and lunch. 

In the afternoons, I trotted off to the America Online campus, where my second job involved coding keyword pages of content in RAINMAN (a forerunner to HTML). 

David wanted to know everything about how the Internet would change his life as a journalist and author. This was in the early 1990s, and he was much more excited about the prospect of having access to historical research without having to go to the library than scared about the Internet moving so fast it would make the morning paper (which he once edited) irrelevant.

Times of great technological innovation bring us some fantastic benefits to our business.

Yet they also change the landscape in ways we can’t always see in advance. 

As business owners, we must try to see both sides.

This is why I see this period as a great opportunity, although one you have to tread carefully and make sure you make the right decisions at the right time.

Here are five specific suggestions on how you can…

1: Stay Up To Date on The Latest Developments in AI Technology

It’s important to stay informed about the latest developments in AI technology and how they may impact business owners with books (or those thinking of writing one). 

This may involve reading articles and reports on the topic, attending conferences and workshops, and connecting with other authors and experts interested in AI. 

Because things are moving so quickly and books and articles are out of date almost as soon as they’re published, I keep up-to-date on AI developments by following hashtags like #ChatGPT and #openAI on Tiktok and Twitter. 

Such platforms are a great way to keep up with news before it even becomes news.

2: Protect Your Intellectual Property

With the rise of AI-powered content generation, it’s important to take steps to protect your intellectual property and ensure your work isn’t copied or used without your permission. 

This may involve registering your copyright, using watermarks and other protective measures, and being vigilant about monitoring for unauthorized use of your work.

3: Explore New Opportunities For Using AI in Your Work 

While AI may pose some challenges and limitations, it also presents new opportunities for authors to create and distribute their work. Now is the time to explore new tools and create systems that integrate with the needs of your business. 

There are many directories like Futurepedia that can help you find the AI-powered tools that make the most sense for you.

For example, I use Jasper.ai for research into what I might include in a book, then I use Chat GPT to help generate chapter drafts and automate parts of the writing and editing process. 

Finally, I use BookBlaster.ai to create automated book trailers and social media graphics to use in my book marketing. As you can see, there are multiple ways to use AI, not only in your writing but throughout the whole publishing process.

4: Reassess Your Social Media And Networking Strategy

As AI becomes more prevalent in the book publishing industry, it may be necessary to reassess your social media and networking strategy to ensure you’re reaching the right audiences and effectively promoting your work.

Right now, Open AI is integrated into lots of different software services—both new and existing. 

I expect it will be virtually ubiquitous within a year or two. 

Your biggest job now as a business owner is to identify the places in your business that can be assisted by AI tools. 

Ironically, one way to do this is to go to a tool like Chat GPT and ask AI to give you suggestions for where automation might be most helpful. This may involve experimenting with new platforms, targeting specific groups of readers, and leveraging data and analytics to better understand your audience so you can optimize your efforts.

5: Join A Community of Fellow Authors and Experts 

As the impact of AI on the book publishing industry becomes clearer, it will be important to have a community of fellow authors and experts to

1. Share knowledge and resources, 

2. Discuss challenges and opportunities, 

3. and Collaborate on projects and initiatives. 

The publishing industry is diverse, and not all advice will relate to you as a business owner, so it’s important to carefully curate who you listen to in times of great change like this. 

By being a part of a strong community—like my free Facebook Group, the Difference Makers Club —you can stay informed about the latest developments in AI and the publishing industry, working to navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead.

There are many communities in social networking tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, Discord, and Reddit. Use the search tools on those platforms to find a group that’s a good fit for you. 

I recommend looking for places where members are sharing tools and prompts they are using in their business so you can get ideas for how to apply this advice to your book and business.

Your Next Steps To Mastering AI in Your Non-Fiction

Right now, everything to do with AI moves at an exponential rate.

It’s hard to know what will happen next, so I won’t try and predict it.

However, what I do know is there’s a shift and it is one that will alter many industries in many ways. For a lot of business owners, this will create pain. Yet for others, huge opportunities.

It’s the steps you take now that determine which group you fit into.

Although AI creates quite a few problems for the book publishing industry, I like to look beyond these and focus on the positive impact it will have. I encourage you to join me, whether you have several books already in the marketplace, are currently writing one, or have plans to do so.

Now is the time to embrace the next step, not hide from it.

About the Author

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