Monday, September 23, 2024

New from Saguaro Books, LLC

With Damian and his men closing in, Kiara and her family frantically hunt for another entrance to Emeraldo. Unable to gain access, they find refuge in Sapphira, another of the underground cities. To their horror, Sapphira too has been infiltrated. When her emerald begins to weaken, a desperate race to recover emeralds stolen from Emeraldo results in an unforeseen disaster.


 

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

What are some ethical considerations of machine-generated content?

 

Huiling Ding
Professor of English

AI-generated content, be it texts or artwork, introduces many ethical challenges related to authorship, copyright, creativity, plagiarism and labor practices. For instance, text-to-image AI generators like Midjourney and DALL-E 2 use images available in the public domain and/or images available online through Google search, Pinterest, and other image-sharing and art-shopping platforms as training data for their algorithms.

By supporting text-prompt-driven image creation, these AI generators then produce artwork that can imitate individual artists’ styles. In doing so, they compete with if not displace artists who have spent decades improving their craft. 

AI-assisted writing faces similar challenges in terms of transparency, explainability, plagiarism and authorship attribution. Using online texts as training data, AI writers such as GPT-3 can generate original summaries and syntheses based on existing content. 

Traditional writing classes are disrupted by these AI tools, which speed up and automate the process of online research and the summary and synthesis of reference materials. Students can easily copy and paste AI-generated content as their own written work without being caught by plagiarism-detecting tools such as Turnitin.

In other words, natural language generation tools such as GPT-3 transform how we detect and define plagiarism. That, in turn, calls for new research and adaptation from writing instructors and scholars. 

Outside the classroom, professional writers and businesses use AI content generators to create preliminary ideas, generate quick summaries of online publications, write stories and engage with customers in chatbot conversations.

While famous artists such as Greg Rutkowski may feel their rights infringed by AI art generators, other artists are using AI-generated art for inspiration. In the content generation marketplace, these AI tools can compete with writers and artists or can be used as human-augmenting tools to help writers and artists produce content more creatively, efficiently and collaboratively. 

From: https://chass.ncsu.edu/news/2023/03/27/how-is-ai-changing-how-we-write-and-create/


Monday, May 13, 2024

Are There Genre-Specific Page-count Requirements?

 

Young Adult (YA) Fiction: YA novels typically have between 55,000 and 80,000 words. John Green's The Fault in Our Stars is a well-known example, with about 67,000 words.

Romance: Romance novels often fall between 70,000 and 100,000 words. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, has approximately 122,000 words, though it's longer for the genre.

Mystery/Thriller novels usually have between 70,000 and 90,000 words. Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None is about 60,000 words. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is approximately 175,000 words. While longer than the typical range, this book is a popular example of a modern mystery novel.

Science Fiction/Fantasy: These genres can have a broader range due to world-building elements, typically between 90,000 and 125,000 words. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien has around 95,000 words. Other examples include The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (112,815 words) and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (100,609 words)​​.

Literary Fiction: Literary fiction can vary widely, but is generally between 80,000 and 100,000 words. For example, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has about 100,000 words. Other examples include The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (85,199 words) and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (97,364 words)​​.

Historical Fiction: This genre often requires more words to build the historical setting, with typical word counts ranging from 90,000 to 120,000 words. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak has around 140,000 words.

 

Nonfiction: The word count of nonfiction books can vary greatly depending on the subject matter, but they typically range from 70,000 to 90,000 words. Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers has about 70,000 words.

Memoir: Usually between 80,000 and 90,000 words; Educated by Tara Westover is around 100,000 words, which is slightly above the typical word count range but has been well-received by readers and critics alike.

Western Fiction: Typically ranges from 45,000 to 75,000 words; Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry is roughly 365,000 words. This epic Western novel far exceeds the typical word count range but is considered a classic in the genre. True Grit by Charles Portis is about 60,000 words, a well-known example of the genre.

Erotic Fiction: Short Story: In the realm of erotic fiction, word count guidelines can vary, with short stories typically ranging from 1,000 to 7,500 words for quick, steamy reads, novelettes spanning 7,500 to 20,000 words to allow for more character and plot development, novellas falling between 20,000 to 50,000 words for complex storytelling, and full-length novels ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 words to explore intricate narratives and themes.

These are general guidelines, and there are always exceptions. It's important to focus on telling the story effectively, rather than strictly adhering to a specific word count.

Find much more at: https://badredheadmediallc.substack.com/p/optimizing-word-counts-for-writers?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1RLQsxmkiAMVcf92anm7tvWP8crw91Q0im3V-wk1K7FT0CNfWtvk6-RQ8_aem_AVjjELM26h1yigK-HwNwsgmtFw9wbozoJCMiUuGsDclh4MxDfE8sVZ2EeR2K7MpSaQIkx4itC6aP83M39cBuPu62

Thursday, April 25, 2024

New from PTP Book Division

 Valencina, the Ivory Woman

 

Yes, the Ivory Man was really the Ivory Woman. Now that has been established, where did the precious, unusual burial goods come from? How and why did she accumulate them? Valencina was a woman who led hunting forays in early life and continued to lead during her entire life. How did she, a woman in a male world accomplish this? Read this story and find out how Valencina may have been a success in a male dominated world.

 

 

 

Author Bio

 Mary Jo Nickum is an award winning author. She has published a chapter book, three young adult novels and eight reluctant reader books for high school science students.
She is a retired professional librarian and an English teacher. She lives with her husband, John, in the Phoenix, Arizona