Hey everyone. I am currently writing the second draft of my novel and I have been trying to decide if I should once again spend tons of money on a professional editor after the final draft is complete. In my opinion, it is a gamble because unless you are widely known as an author, you never know how many copies of your book will sell; and you don’t want to go broke trying to fund the self-publishing and marketing of a book that might only wind up on a Dollar Store shelf.

I can edit this book myself and the only reason I haven’t is that I was afraid to try. I think it’s about time I finally used my editing skills to edit this book before I forget everything I learned. I have also been testing out using the AI-powered Chat GPT when it comes to editing. Now you know me. I have always been against using AI to help write a book but editing is different and I had to give it a shot. One night I gave Chat GPT the first page of my novel and what I received back was astounding. Chat GPT quickly rewrote the entire page with improved grammar and style without changing my voice. Now the question is, would I use Chat GPT to edit the rest of my novel? The answer is yes and no.

AI may be proficient but it is not perfect nor can it replace the work that a human with a brain can do, although there may be some creators out there who would love for that to happen. I feel that I learned enough from my editing course to edit my book, but I do feel that I need help as well. I would allow Chat GPT and other editing software to aid me in editing my novel and save me money that I cannot afford to throw away. I feel that for anyone who cannot afford a high-priced editor, it is best to start learning how to do the job yourself, especially if you are just starting and have not made a name for yourself yet. You really can lose a lot of money trying to do what already established authors are doing to get their books sold and no one should have to do that to follow their dreams of becoming a published author.

A few weeks before I let Chat GPT edit the first page of my novel, I played around with it a little. I asked it questions and allowed it to help me find a new title for the book and some names for a new character. All of the answers to my questions were correct but although it gave me some pretty good ones, I didn’t use the book titles. They just didn’t fit the overall plot of my story. I came up with one on my own.

The title of my new novel is called Dominion Lost.

Although I seem to be having fun with Chat GPT, the reality is that it is still AI. I don’t want it to do my thinking for me so I will only use it sparingly and would advise others to do the same. It may have been created to help us, but it may have also been created to overthrow us. Enjoy it but be cautious.

Until next time…