May '23 Newsletter
Brain Foods
I just finished listening on Audible to a fascinating book called Genius Foods.
The book goes into the body’s biological response to various deleterious food products, such as carbs, soda and vegetable oil, and how they negatively affect not just the gut but also the brain.
The book also discusses other food products that enhance one’s clarity, creativity, memory and focus.
These include extra virgin olive oil, avocados, dark chocolate (yeah!), blueberries, eggs (particularly with a runny yolk), grass-fed beef, dark green veggies such as spinach, kale and broccoli, wild salmon, and almonds.
The author proposes a 2 week period of eating just the good foods, which will lessen one’s desire for carbs, sugar and other bad foods. That 2 week period is then followed by slowly introducing a moderate level of carbs back into one’s eating regimen, so you don’t have to go the rest of your life without the foods you love. I’m hoping I can get my husband to try this out.
On a different note, starting in May, IngramSpark (IngramSpark.com) has announced that it will no longer be charging authors for uploading their books to that platform or making changes to their books. IngramSparks distributes books to all of the major online book retail sites, including Amazon. However, if you want to receive larger royalties, I recommend that you get your book published directly on Amazon, as otherwise IngramSpark will take a portion of the royalty from sales of your book on Amazon. Given that Amazon has over 60% of the online book market, you might feel like it is unnecessary to get on other platforms, such as BarnesandNoble.com; but why not cover most of the remaining 40% of the market? Furthermore, libraries and bookstores don’t purchase books on Amazon, but they will purchase books through IngramSpark. If you want to get your book up on IngramSpark and want help with that, reach out to me at judy@skillbites.net.
1. The SkillBites Show
Each month, we bring you an expert to help you get your book done, leverage your book, grow your business or improve your life. The shows are recorded, and you can listen to the recording by clicking here.
This month, my guest is Tyrone Robinson, owner of Opportunities 2 Serve, a business and IT consulting firm and author of The Light Within Us All: Life Lessons Through Self-Discovery. Tyrone is a highly sought-after speaker and passionate business consultant with over 15 years of experience in developing, managing, and leading successful programs, organizations, and small businesses. In this podcast episode, Tyrone shares his insights on
- how businesses can adapt to and work with technology in today's environment;
- strategies for keeping up with and adapting to the latest technological advancements;
- minimizing the risks associated with technological change; and
- ethical considerations businesses need to keep in mind when using technology.
Whether you're a business owner or an employee, this episode offers valuable insights into the evolving relationship between technology and the workplace. This episode will be available around May 18.
Last month, I recorded two episodes for you. In the first of those, my guest was Charmaine Hammond, sharing her wisdom on how authors can get corporate sponsorships that help them get their book done. Charmaine offered listeners two opportunities: 50% off her Sponsorship Essentials program, and 50% off her Virtual Book Tour Boot Camp. To get the 50% off the Sponsorship Essentials program, click here. To get the 50% off the Virtual Book Tour Boot Camp program, click here.
In the second episode, my guest was Tony Guarnaccia, who talked about how to get guest appearances on podcasts.
Tony offered listeners the opportunity to gain free access to his app for creating a podcast one-sheet and researching podcasts to pitch to. To take advantage of this opportunity, click here.
You can listen to these episodes by clicking here.
Do you have expertise that you believe would benefit the SkillBites community of entrepreneurs and authors? If you would like to be the guest on the monthly SkillBites Show, contact me at judy@skillbites.net or 610-783-4519. If there is a topic you would like to hear on the podcast, let me know and I’ll look for an expert to cover that.
2. Tip of the Month: What Every Non-fiction Author Should Know About Working with AI for Book Writing
Writing a non-fiction book can be an arduous, time-consuming effort. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play an invaluable role in accelerating this effort, making book writing much easier, and even improving the quality of the writing. Tools are now available that can generate ideas for topics, conduct research, suggest enticing book titles, write book description, provide book outlines and even generate content.
The tool that I have been using is called QuickWrite, and is amazing! It significantly accelerates the writing of a non-fiction book. If you want to check it out, click here.
Relying exclusively or even heavily on AI, however, is not recommended for the following reasons.
- Using AI without sufficient authorial oversight may result in the content losing your voice and tone.
- AI tools lack your unique perspective and experience. Your emotions, empathy and personal experiences are what make your book engaging to your readers.
- There is some risk that AI-generated content could plagiarize someone else’s content, and result in a claim of copyright infringement. However, the US Patent, Trademark and Copyright Office does not recognize the copyrightability of material that is not produced by people. The developer of QuickWrite has also assured me that the tool does not infringe any intellectual property.
- Without knowing where the content that is generated by an AI tool comes from, you won’t know for sure whether the information is accurate. Unfortunately, at present and probably for the foreseeable future, there will not be a way to find where the content that an AI tool generates comes from since AI looks at thousands or hundreds of thousands of sources. One tool, for example (not QuickWrite), answered a query about the winner of the 2016 US presidential election with the response that Hilary Clinton won the election as she had the most votes. You need to do take some steps to confirm the information that you include in your book that is generated by an AI tool.
- As AI tools are used by millions of people, the AI-generated content you use could be identical or substantially similar to that published by others, which could diminish your credibility.
- Privacy invasion is another potential risk. AI systems’ algorithms scour online sources, which could include social media sites or online forums, resulting in sensitive material appearing in the AI generated pages.
Thanks for supporting SkillBites. If there is anything you think we ought to be doing better or anything we should be doing that we’re not, please let us know. We value your input.
Cordially,
