Tag: ai

🎊 2025 Highlights, and 2026 Hopes 🎊

In the first Elizabeth Barone newsletter of 2026, I reflect on 2025’s hardships and highlights, and look forward to hopes for the new year.

Happy New Year, dear readers!

Every year has its challenges, losses, and wins, and 2025 was no exception. I took a huge step back from writing and marketing, not by choice but I need to focus on my physical and mental health. Quite frankly, the autoimmune neurological issues I’m dealing with are kicking my ass. I’m slowly but steadily finding my way, equipping myself with the right-for-me team of doctors, treatment regimen, and mental health tools.

2025 wasn’t entirely hardship, though! I had a few highlights.

I rewrote most of Sleeve of Hearts. The manuscript had been through a few rounds of editing and revisions and still wasn’t quite working, so I read back through the previous two drafts, kept what I loved, and cut the rest, rewriting everything in between. This book hands down has been the hardest to write between my health issues, life stuff, and a smidge of imposter syndrome. I’m really proud of myself for sticking with it, even when I wanted to—and swore to Mike that I was going to—quit. Some days I can’t even string a sentence together, the brain fog is so bad, but the beauty of writing is that thing really isn’t going anywhere (even when you kinda sorta wish it’d delete itself*).

I started doing Whatnot shows, even though I didn’t think there was anybody there shopping for books. Wrong! There’s a lovely community of readers, authors, and bookish creators there. Madd thanks to my sister-in-law for encouraging me (and then surprising me with a shipping label printer for Christmas, I’m cooking now).

I’m doing a show tomorrow (Friday, January 2nd) at 9 pm EST (6 pm PST). If you’re new to Whatnot, it’s like TikTok live with shopping, without all the distractions. They’re a lot like my old Facebook reader group livestreams, you can just hang out with me, no pressure to buy. Follow me and save the show to join!

Follow me on Whatnot

I also found myself involved in my first ever copyright violation. In case you missed it, a bunch of AI companies used authors’ and other artists’ work without permission, and the artists sued in several class action lawsuits. Unfortunately, the River Reapers MC books were used, so like it or not, I’m in the class. Several of my other books were also used, but like many others, I can’t do anything about it because one of the stipulations is that authors must have a registered U.S. copyright before the lawsuit. Another downside is that this ruling seems to give AI companies permission to use authors’ work, as long as they purchased a copy of the books in their database. Reader, I’m not feeling that. I’ve been thinking long and hard—said the romance author—about what I want to do, and I’ve finally come to a decision. More on that soon!

I’ve decided to take 2026 as it comes. That doesn’t mean I don’t have hopes for this year, because I certainly do!

First thing’s first, it’s time to get back to writing. I’ve got about 10K left to write for Sleeve of Hearts, and I will finish it soon, perfectionism and suspected dysautonomia be damned. It’s also time to get my ass into gear and release the first two books in the series in paperback.

Depending on how things go, there are a few other books I’m hoping to write this year. Two are for the River Reapers MC series, another is a Stagwood Falls novella (series finale), and the other isn’t a romance.

There’s lots to look forward to in 2026. Thank you for all your support in 2025. I hope this next chapter is the best one yet for you and your loved ones.

*I obsessively backup, so it could never, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fantasize!

Open letter to Kindle: Authors concerned about your use of AI

Your lack of response to authors’ queries about how our books are being processed by the AI is most concerning, especially in light of all these lawsuits.

Dear Kindle Direct Publishing,

I’ve been publishing to the Kindle store since 2012, when my debut novel Sade on the Wall was a quarterfinalist in your Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. I’ve published dozens of titles in your Kindle store since. I’m so grateful for the platform you provide indie authors and how it revolutionized self-publishing. However, I’m deeply concerned about how you’re implementing AI.

Many authors have expressed concerns about the beta Kindle summaries feature, provided by AI. A number of complaints have been filed about errors in the summaries and trope lists the AI generates for books. There is no way for authors to opt-out of this feature, nor is there any way for us to correct the errors.

Authors spend hours crafting summaries, descriptions, trope lists, and more to market our books. We’re required to input some of these things into our book’s metadata in KDP. I’m not sure why KDP decided it was necessary to roll out an AI tool to do this, inefficiently at that, when authors make these resources readily available in KDP and on our websites and social media. I’m also not sure why there’s no way for authors to opt-out (personally, I’d prefer if something like this was opt-in).

Furthermore, KDP has yet to explain how authors’ books are being used by the AI or update your TOS regarding this feature. My books are involved in lawsuits of multiple instances of AI companies using artists’ work to train their LLMs without knowledge or permission. I don’t consent to my work being used with or to train any AI. I want to ensure that my work isn’t used without license. Your lack of response to authors’ queries about how our books are being processed by the AI is most concerning, especially in light of all these lawsuits.

I’ve decided to pull all my titles from the Kindle store until these issues are addressed. I’d like to see KDP continue working directly with authors for marketing materials, rather than rely on AI. I’d like to see AI tools and features made opt-in and editable for authors. And I’d like to see your TOS updated to outline in clear, direct language how authors’ books are being used.

KDP was once an underdog, supporting authors who are also underdogs. I’d like to see this dynamic and relationship continue. I’m so grateful to the many other platforms available to authors for carrying on this spirit, and I hope that KDP will course-correct.

Thank you for the time we’ve had together, and thank you for hearing me out.

Sincerely yours,
Elizabeth Barone

Photo by appshunter.io on Unsplash

Pulling my books from Kindle

Amazon won’t listen to authors’ concerns about their AI summaries tool for Kindle books, so we gotta make them listen.

My dear readers,

Recently, Amazon rolled out automatic AI summaries for Kindle books. They gave authors no way to opt-out of this or edit what the AI generates. They also have yet to update their terms of service, explaining how books will be processed by their AI and for what purposes. This is all problematic for several reasons.

AI doesn’t understand nuance or sarcasm or storytelling. Many authors have reported glaring errors in the AI’s summaries and trope lists, asking Amazon to let us opt-out or fix the mistakes, as well as asking how our books are being used with their AI—all these messages we’ve collectively sent have fallen on disorganized, deaf ears.

At the time, I decided to wait and see what Amazon did. The new feature was beta, after all, so it’s always best to focus on other things while they work out the kinks. Except… they didn’t. They haven’t given authors any sort of meaningful response. Their customer service reps seem to know next to nothing about this feature, and the company itself still hasn’t updated its TOS months later. This is concerning, since tech companies are stealing content to train their AI. It wouldn’t surprise me if Amazon is waiting to see how all the lawsuits shake out.

I’m not okay with my books being used to train AI, especially without my knowledge. I’m not okay with my books being incorrectly summarized by AI, with no way to revise errors or opt-out entirely. I’m also not okay with third-party book review sites scraping these erroneous summaries and using them as marketing materials. We’ve collectively dived headfirst into AI without much thought and certainly without baking in protections for artists—which artists have asked for from the jump. We certainly didn’t ask for these features, which are more like bugs.

Every book I wrote took months if not years of my life to write, and I put time, research, energy, and heart into every single one. I also spend hours crafting descriptions, summaries, trope lists, and other marketing materials that are readily available for Amazon’s use—right in their dashboard. It’s redundant and silly of Amazon to use AI for these materials. It makes me wonder whether they’re quietly working on AI-generated books, which would be a slap in the face of all authors who’ve dedicated years of our lives writing for Kindle.

It’s not enough for me to say I’m not okay with this. I have to walk my talk; I have to tell Amazon in no uncertain terms that this won’t fly. I believe that if enough authors pull our books, Amazon will finally listen to us.

Or maybe they won’t. Maybe they’ll keep pushing their AI onto authors and readers who don’t want it. That’s not my circus or my monkey.

Retailers need creators, not the other way around. There are other platforms we can sell our books on—places that support rather than push around authors.

That said, a lot of my readers are Kindle users. Amazon’s making it more and more difficult to sideload and backup ebooks, which is yet another way they monopolize the market. Reading should be easy and fun, especially now that we have so much technology available. That’s why I publish my books as widely as possible.

I’m in the process of re-launching my shop, which will carry ebook editions of my books in all formats (including Kindle). I’m also always expanding into new-to-me platforms.

In the meantime, I’ll start pulling my books from the Kindle store next week, updating here as I go. If there’s a book you’ve been eyeing, I’d grab it now if you don’t want to wait for me to roll out my new shop. (At the time of this writing, AI summaries don’t affect paperbacks, so those editions will remain available in the Amazon store for now.)

I really appreciate your understanding and patience during this process. It’s just another bump in my little author journey, and we will get through it. After all, I was writing and publishing before Amazon, and I’ll be writing and publishing after Amazon, too.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out! You can email me privately, or reply to this to add your public comments.

As always, I wish you happy reading!

Photo by Perfecto Capucine on Unsplash

Book tariffs, pirating my own books, and ways Canadians can still support American authors

In the April edition of author Elizabeth Barone’s reader newsletter, Romance with a Body Count, I share what I’m working on, how we can all support each other during boycotts and tariff wars, and why I’m pirating my own books.

I’m trying to find my footing after all the things life’s been throwing at me, in an industry that’s more tumultuous than ever. With everything going on, I’ve had to make some big changes.

Romance with a Body Count

Author Elizabeth Barone’s Reader Newsletter

April 2025

Archive: January 2025 | February 2025

My dear readers, I pulled a classic “me.” I meant to send a March newsletter weeks ago, said weeks flew by, and now it’s April! On the plus side, it’s spring. And I’ve got even more updates for you, so let’s dive in.

what I’m working on 💻

I’ve been floundering these last few months, trying to find my footing after all the life-y things life’s been throwing at me, in an industry that’s more tumultuous than ever. With everything going on, I’ve really had to fortify my mental fortress. It no longer serves me to be frozen in anxiety from or reactive to every crisis that arises. Instead I’m focusing on being proactive where I can, and writing rather than worrying I’m not active enough on social media or booking enough appearances.

This means I’m less active on Instagram (Meta sucks anyway, more on that in a sec), my new podcast is on hiatus (at least until Mike and I find a peaceful home), and I’m no longer actively booking events.

I’m still working on Sleeve of Hearts revisions, even though my progress has slowed quite a bit with this latest flare a la peripheral neuropathy. PN really, really sucks! I’ve had it as a “side” symptom for a while, so I’m not exactly new to it, but this is the first time it’s gone full throttle on me, and that I’m not used to. Luckily it usually responds well to my Tylenol, ibuprofen, and cannabis cocktail, except when the New England weather is weather-ing, which is frequently. It responded beautifully to both courses of prednisone I did in March, but I think at this point I need a stronger, longer course. It’s tricky.

With all that said, 2025 is officially a writing year for me, and with everything on, it’s exactly what I need.

book tariffs are coming to publishing
what readers need to know 📖

Unfortunately, U.S. tariffs on books go into effect this week. This means readers could see a drastic increase in cover prices. Right now, indie books shouldn’t be effected at all, since most self-published authors use IngramSpark or Kindle Direct Publishing, and the tariffs are on books printed in China. We could see indie prices increase, though, depending on how well publishers and printers adjust to a forecast increase in demand.

It’s really just my forecast, though, so we might not see much impact on indies at all. Only time will tell.

If you’re interested in the deets, or if you’re an author who might be effected, I wrote a quick blog post about it with some recommendations.

pirating my own books 🏴‍☠️

Since Meta apparently used 15 of my titles to train its AI without my knowledge or consent, I’m pirating my own books.

Just kidding—I was actually already serializing the River Reapers MC series with plans to serialize my other indie romances. Just when I was thinking Should I continue?, The Atlantic published their database of the books that Meta copied, cementing my plans. The RRMC books were sort of a test balloon for me, and now I’ll almost definitely be “pirating” the rest of my books.

Why am I posting my books online for free?

I’ve always offered alternatives for readers on no, low-, or fixed incomes, because I believe reading should be accessible. That’s why I’ve always enrolled my books in library catalogs and why I chose Kobo Originals to publish my first trad series (they’re sisters to Overdrive/Libby, the most widely used ebook distributor for libraries). I enjoyed posting on sites like Wattpad and Radish, where my stories did pretty well if I do say so myself. I was fortunate to be able to set up something similar using WordPress, which also gave me the ability to offer paid subscriptions. Some of my serialized books will be free for all, some will be free for those subscribed to my (free) email list, and some will be exclusively for (paid) Sponsors.

Right now, you can read the first two books in the River Reapers series, and I post new episodes of Her Mercy every Tuesday and Thursday!

I’m also considering reopening my review program. It was wildly successful when I launched it a few years ago. Basically, readers could request a review copy of a book of mine they weren’t able to purchase, no questions asked, as long as they posted an honest review. If you think I should do this again, hit the like button below!

How Canadian readers can still support american authors 🇨🇦

Or, low-key, how American authors can support #BuyCanadian and #BoycottUS 🙌🏼

With all the shots our strangely orange president’s been taking at Canada, it’s no surprise that Canadians are boycotting U.S.-made products and services. In some bookish spaces, it’s getting pretty ugly on all sides. I don’t think any of my readers are like that, but I believe we all succeed when we work together, so I put together some recommendations.

I’m still working on my mega list of ways people can boycott Amazon while supporting authors. It started off as like 10 things and now it’s grown monstrous—a wonderful problem to have, so I’m breaking it into several parts. The first will go out this week, probably Wednesday or Friday.

Leave me an emoji comment if you’re a proud reader! 🇨🇦🇺🇸📚🙌🏼

It’s been a bumpy year, and it’s only April. We will get through this, though, I really believe that. We just have to stick together and get creative. That goes for anything in life, not just dictators and religious crazies. Nothing can get ya when you’re stubborn. 😉

Happy resisting, and happy reading! 🖤

Thank you to March and April’s Sponsors: Katy Nicole, Dee, B., and Lauren!

Become a sponsor for $5/month.
Subscribing to my free newsletter is another great way to support me.

Photo by Elin Melaas on Unsplash

Meta used my books to train its AI

Yesterday The Atlantic reported on the latest in the Meta AI hearings, breaking the story that unsealed employee communications revealed that not only did Meta knowingly use stolen content from the piracy site LibGen, it was Mark Zuckerberg who okayed it.

Authors can check the tool The Atlantic put together to see if their work was used.

There’s a class-action lawsuit against Meta, Open AI, Microsoft, and other companies. If your work was used to train AI, you’re already included in the lawsuits. (There’s no need to join Authors Guild or take any further action at this time.) Right now courts are determining whether Meta, Open AI, et al violated copyright.

15 of my titles were used. I checked LibGen using a mirror site and they have over 20 of my titles. (I don’t recommend doing this, because the mirror sites are full of garbage and porn pop-ups and sketchy redirects. I don’t know how to check LibGen directly. Big props to The Atlantic for putting together tools for both waves of this!)

I’ve always looked at piracy the same. Yeah, it sucks that sometimes people don’t pay me for my books. I’ve got medical issues and bills like everyone else, and I really like to eat. The thing about pirates is, if you send one DMCA takedown, two more will pop up in its place. I’d rather spend my time writing. I like to think that piracy helps readers discover my books. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. I do have readers who buy my books and stuff, and my platform continues to grow every year.

This is different, though. These corporations are directly profiting off their AI and therefore artists’ work, without compensating us. We didn’t have a choice in contributing (I for sure would’ve declined had they asked and made me an offer).

And it won’t stop at books.

If Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft, and other corporations are allowed to use artists’ work without consent, compensation, or consequence, they’ll also use people’s medical information and other personal and even private data.

This is bigger than books.

Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash