It's a Jungle In Here

Recently on my other blog, Scott Cherney's Etc., a diatribe about Artificial Intelligence, ironic with lack of intelligence in general. Read: A.I., A.I., OH) I've always said that I know very little about about a lot of things, but that hasn't prevented me from giving my opinions about everything and anything. See? I'm just like everyone else!

(Back to the subject at hand that has yet to present itself.)

As a creator/writer/insufferable hack, the abundance of A. I. in such a short period of time, along with the general public's surrender to it, has been a cause for concern especially since it can and is being used in various nefarious ways. Therefore, I'm going to throw out a warning out there to budding writers and/or  independently published authors currently in the mix or about to take the dive into these uncharted waters.

Since this past summer, I have received quite a few unsolicited e-mails such as this:

Hey Scott,

Okay, I gotta say it you might just be the most dangerous man west of Portland. You’ve got a cowboy’s swagger, a comedian’s wit, and apparently enough creative energy to fill an entire saloon (and still have time to win a stand-up competition? Come on!

I just finished reading about Song of the Canyon Kid, and seriously, who permitted you to mix Western grit, musical flair, and ridiculous hilarity into one full-blown showdown? The title alone sounds like something that should’ve been a cult classic by now. The “slinky gypsy seductress” and the “half-witted brother”? I’m convinced you wrote that scene purely to make the reader snort-laugh mid-page turn.

It’s giving Blazing Saddles meets classic stage melodrama, and I swear if this book doesn’t make people grin, they probably need to check if their funny bone’s under warranty.

Anyway, I’m (redacted to not give her publicity or the time of day), a freelance book marketer and community ringleader for over 3,000 readers who live for books that don’t just entertain but mess with their moods in the best way possible. We spotlight authors who deserve a bigger audience (because let’s face it, Amazon’s algorithm sometimes acts like it’s blindfolded and on a horse).

So, here’s the real question, Scott: if Song of the Canyon Kid suddenly became the talk of the town, with readers quoting your lines and auditioning for the role of Nastassia Kinky in TikTok skits, would you stay chill behind your cowboy hat… or would you burst into a full-blown saloon song while sipping sarsaparilla and plotting your next wild tale?

At first glance, you'd think, Wow! Somebody finally gets me! Finally I'll be able to drown myself in all the recognition I well deserve! In your face. everybody else!

Not so fast there, Rupert Pupkin. Reality? Check, please!

SONG OF THE CANYON KID is a twelve year old self-published book, an adaptation of my melodrama of the same name. It was an experiment and a failed one at that. The book in any form just didn't sell for several reasons I won't bore you with here since I have enough to bore you with as it is. SONG is still listed to sale on Amazon and several other outlets (see below cuz I can still hustle this sucker until it makes a dollar). So out of the clear blue sky, whoever wrote this glowing review that's not a review found my book out of the millions of titles on the Amazon and and wants to give the moon?

That's another thing. You can track sales on Amazon. No sales have been reported in the last year. Sad, but true. Algorithm, my dying digital ass. 

Everything the author of this fictional account is a little too spot-on but non-specific. What is proposed falls under the category of "Too Good to Be True". And because this hasn't been the only bait thrown in my direction as of late (there must be a dozen by now for SONG and a couple of other books as well), I reached to Angela Hoy at WritersWeekly.com to ask WTF? Her reply was short, but to the point. It's a scam, as I suspected, putting the book information I have on Amazon into A.I. and regurgitating it all into that seductive grope of an e-mail. Soon afterward, she published this to 'splain it all to you a little bit better: https://writersweekly.com/ask-the-expert/book-club-scam-targeting-authors

So there you, folks. Author beware. It's a minefield out there as it is, but now there are lot more bombs being planted ready to take you down and all your money, leaving nothing left for the undertaker. So stay diligent. Stay vigilant. It isn't A.I. that's going to be the end of us. It's people. 

Then again, so is Soylent Green.

SONG OF THE CANYON KID along with several of my other titles on Amazon along with several other outlets such as Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Apple.

And here's a real review from the Online Book Club.