Week Ending March 6, 2026
In this week’s Author Update, we unpack how world events are impacting your author business, Audible’s aggressive response to Spotify, why Substack may be quietly hurting your Google rankings, and whether Apple’s new $600 laptop could be a smart buy for writers.
We also look at ChatGPT’s growing ability to act like a digital assistant, the Authors Guild’s new line between human and AI-created work, reports of Meta employees viewing private videos, and the ways AI is already reshaping the English language.
Iranian Drone Strikes Damage AWS Data Centers in UAE and Spark Cloud Outages for Authors
Thomas: An Iranian drone has struck several AWS data centers. The UAE seems to be the center with the biggest outage, and people using AWS in that part of the world are seeing a lot of outages as a result.
The cloud is supposed to have redundancies, but when multiple data centers get hit with multiple bombs in the same week, that is probably more than Amazon had planned for.
Jonathan: Nobody expected Iran to start shotgunning every country around them in response to the US strikes.
Here is what I think happened in the background. We took out so much of their senior leadership. In their top-heavy organization, all orders proceed from the top. They do not have enough training or decision-making capability built into other levels of their military structure.
It is not like the Marine Corps, where if we cannot hear from our officers, we can still get stuff done. In a top-heavy system, the officer has to tell you what to do, because you do not know what to do.
So they probably had doomsday orders, like, “If the Ayatollah is ever taken out, fire these missiles at these places.” I suspect they were probably just following a checklist.
From where we are sitting, it looks insane. Dubai had nothing to do with what just happened to you. The UAE had nothing to do with it. So why go after them?
Thomas: The Wikipedia page for this conflict did not even have the UAE on the list until Iran blew up one of their data centers. And Amazon is like, “Why? Why are you targeting us?”
Sources:
Amazon cloud unit’s data centers in UAE, Bahrain damaged in drone strikes
Service health updates – AWS Health Dashboard
Amazon says it fixed issue that led to website outage for thousands
Iranian strikes on Amazon data centers highlight industry’s vulnerability
Amazon Down for Thousands of Users, Downdetector Reports
Amazon’s cloud unit reports fire after objects hit UAE data center
Amazon cloud unit’s data centers in UAE, Bahrain damaged in drone strikes
Is Amazon down? Latest updates on outage on Thursday March 5 2026
Amazon Down for Thousands of Users, Downdetector Reports
AWS Service Health Dashboard – Middle East (UAE) and (Bahrain) Regions
Amazon says drones damaged three facilities in UAE and Bahrain
Amazon Down for Hours: What the March 5 Outage Means for Authors
Thomas: If you are in the United States, the drone strikes on data centers have only affected you indirectly. For authors, there is often something more dangerous to your platform than an Iranian drone: a software update.
If you tried going to Amazon yesterday, you may have run into problems. I did. Amazon.com was not working properly. Book pages would not load, search results would not load, and purchases were failing.
At first, I assumed it was connected to the week’s news. Another Amazon data center goes down, and suddenly Amazon.com will not load. But it was not an external attack. It appears the outage was caused by a failed software update.
To resolve the issues, Amazon rolled back the change and restored from backup. As of now, Amazon.com appears to be back up and running, and readers can buy books again.
I am curious what the downtime will do to Amazon rankings. My guess is that it affected everyone evenly. Still, yesterday would have been a terrible day to launch a book.
If yesterday was your launch day and you had promotions lined up, with readers clicking through to Amazon, the outage could have undermined your entire campaign. It is also a reminder of the vulnerability in an Amazon-exclusive strategy.
Kindle Unlimited can be strong income, especially in genres like romance, but every website has outages. Amazon has had more outages than normal lately, and this one was significant. One advantage of selling across multiple retailers is that you are less exposed when a single platform goes down, whether from technical failure or from being pulled into a larger geopolitical conflict.
Jonathan: Do you remember that story earlier this month where the AI coding assistant reviewed the existing code, decided it did not like it, turned it off, rewrote it, and the system lost functionality? The AI effectively made the call: “This code does not work, so I am disabling it.”
I wonder if AWS is seeing something similar as they integrate AI into their code-writing workflows. That could explain some of the hiccups.
Thomas: It is possible. We get so little information from press releases. The people who know do not talk, and the people who talk do not know. So we cannot say for sure. My guess is it was basic user error, but we do not know.
Sources:
Is Amazon down? Latest updates on outage on Thursday March 5 2026
Amazon Down for Thousands of Users, Downdetector Reports
Amazon says it fixed issue that led to website outage for thousands
Amazon cloud unit’s data centers in UAE, Bahrain damaged in drone strikes
AWS Service Health Dashboard – No retail impact from Middle East regions
Audible Fires Back on Spotify and Launches New Lower Priced Audiobook + Podcast Subscription
Thomas: The Audible versus Spotify market-share fight is heating up. Spotify has rolled out a broader slate of book features, including ebooks and print books, and it is clearly positioning itself as a direct competitor to Audible and its parent company, Amazon. Now, Amazon is responding.
Jonathan: Audible has launched a new lower-priced membership plan. The Standard plan costs $8.99 per month after a free 30-day trial. Subscribers get one audiobook selection each month from the full catalog, but they can only listen to that title as long as their membership stays active.
The plan also includes access to a curated podcast library which features a selection of Audible Originals and nearly 200 popular shows that previously lived on Wondery Plus. Audible’s Chief Financial and Growth Officer, Cynthia Chu, framed the plan as a response to “different listening habits” and an entry point for new listeners.
Thomas: Here is the translation. Spotify is putting real pricing pressure on Audible, especially with new audiobook listeners.
Spotify is more beginner-friendly. A new listener can sample a book for 30 minutes, decide it is not for them, try another title, and keep sampling until they find something they like. That kind of low-risk discovery is a major advantage for acquiring first-time audiobook users.
Many listeners start by testing audiobooks casually, then audiobooks become a habit over time. That shift does not happen overnight. I did not go from zero audiobooks to more than 100 audiobooks a year overnight. That took time.
If Audible does not have a pipeline of new listeners who are just testing the format, Spotify will capture that segment and Audible will lose market share over the long term.
Audible’s challenge is contractual. Many publisher contracts are built around the credit model, including how credits translate into purchases and royalties. Audible has tried subscription approaches before, and they have not fully replaced the credit system. This new plan still keeps the “one credit, one title” structure, but it adds a second product line of podcasts.
The marketing is not subtle. The pitch is that you can choose a book from the library and it is yours as long as you remain a member. Then the next bullet point is podcasts. Audible is putting podcasts front and center inside the app.
Warning for Nonfiction Authors
That is a shot across Spotify’s bow, but it is also a warning for nonfiction authors. You are not only competing with other nonfiction books. You are competing with podcasts covering the same topic.
In some categories, podcasts are extremely difficult to compete with. AI is a good example. By the time an book on AI is written, edited, produced, and released, the landscape has changed. Models and techniques change constantly. A podcast can keep up in real time and a book often cannot.
On the other end of the spectrum, topics like theology change slowly. Catholic theology has been debated for centuries, but the fundamentals remain unchanged. You are largely translating and explaining established ideas for modern readers. A book on Catholic theology would have a longer life, but even there, you still compete with theology podcasts.
This is not hypothetical. At one point, Novel Marketing was meant to be a book about book marketing. The podcast was originally designed to promote that book. Instead, the podcast took on a life of its own. The podcast and the courses connected to it now support my family, and the book never happened. That is the environment Audible is moving into as it emphasizes podcasts.
For listeners, this Standard plan is not a great deal. If you want to spend less, this plan is still expensive compared to what you might get through Spotify, especially if you already pay for Spotify for music. The bigger issue is that you lose access to your Audible audiobooks if you cancel the subscription.
Jonathan: There is also a psychological trap. The longer you stay subscribed, the more titles you “have.” Then it starts to feel like, “If I stop paying $9 a month, I lose 14 books.” That pressure encourages people to keep paying just to retain access.
At a certain point, users may try to upgrade so they can keep more value, such as rolling purchases forward, but Audible may not allow that.
For an extra $6 a month, do they roll over your 15 titles? Do you get to keep them?
Thomas: They might let you upgrade to keep your titles.
UPDATE: If you upgrade from Standard to a higher Audible plan (like Premium Plus), your Standard-plan selections should remain available, because Audible’s policy is that Standard selections are playable as long as you’re a member (not only as long as you’re on Standard specifically). (Audible.com)
What you cannot do is keep those Standard selections permanently the way you can with titles purchased with credits or cash.
How it works in practice:
- Standard selections: You can listen to your selected audiobook(s) for as long as your membership is active. (Audible.com)
- If you cancel membership: You lose access to Standard selections (they show as locked), but Audible says you regain access when you are in a membership again. (Audible.com)
- Titles bought with credits or cash (Premium Plus credits, or direct purchase) are yours to keep even after cancellation. (Audible.com)
Sources:
Audible Expands Subscription Offerings with Launch of Standard Membership Plan Membership Plans & Pricing
Cheaper Audible for podcast-lovers
Apple Refreshes Entire MacBook Lineup with M5 Chips, Double Storage, and New $599 MacBook Neo
Thomas: The next major story is Apple’s newly announced computer lineup. AI has distorted the broader PC market. Many computers now cost more while offering less performance than last year, largely because memory prices have doubled or tripled. Apple’s response is a machine positioned as its most affordable new MacBook to date.
Jonathan: Apple has announced a major refresh of its MacBook lineup, introducing three new models with performance gains, more storage, and improved connectivity at each price point.
The headliner is the new MacBook Neo, starting at $599. It is built around the A18 Pro chip, first introduced in the iPhone. The 13-inch model includes a Liquid Retina display, 8 GB of unified memory, and 256 GB of storage. Apple rates battery life at 16 hours, and the fanless design is designed to run silently.
Connectivity includes two USB-C ports, support for one external display, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 6. Apple is positioning it for students, families, and first-time Mac buyers on a budget. It runs the full version of macOS, including Apple Intelligence features.
Thomas: Early benchmark reports are beginning to circulate. I will cover this more fully in a 2026 laptop buyer’s guide on Novel Marketing once the broader test suite is available. Based on what has leaked so far, the bottleneck does not appear to be the A18 Pro chip. Early performance looks strong. The limiting factor is memory.
That constraint is not unique to Apple because memory supply is tight globally. Major buyers are effectively pre-purchasing production months in advance, which is pushing prices up and keeping entry-level configurations low.
For typical author workflows, the Neo should perform well. It uses the same keyboard layout as Apple’s other laptops, but it is not backlit, which makes it less ideal for writing in low light. For writing, email, web research, and presentation work such as Keynote, the Neo should be fine.
Where the Neo may struggle is heavy multitasking, particularly with large numbers of Chrome tabs. Many authors keep a dozen or more tabs open, and Chrome is memory-hungry. If you rely on that kind of workflow, the Neo is not the best fit. If you are willing to use Safari as your browser, memory use is generally more efficient, and performance should be fast for common tasks.
Thomas: It should run Vellum without issue, and likely better than an M1 MacBook Air in day-to-day use. Vellum is largely driven by single-threaded performance, and early signs suggest the Neo’s single-core speed is excellent for the price.
Where the Neo is weaker is multi-threaded performance. For most author use cases, that is less important. Many common tools, including browser-based writing platforms and most AI chat interfaces, do not benefit from high multi-core throughput in typical use.
The Neo makes the most sense as a secondary machine. If you have a desktop Mac for heavier work but need a small, inexpensive laptop for writing on the go, the Neo fits that role. Real-world battery life in the 14 to 16 hour range would make it an all-day device for travel, conferences, or writing sessions away from your desk.
If this will be your only computer, I would recommend stepping up to at least a MacBook Air with more memory, depending on your workload. The Neo is better viewed as a student machine, a backup device, or a Chromebook replacement.
Jonathan: As a Chromebook replacement, the value proposition is straightforward. The Neo is metal, substantially faster, and designed to last. In my experience, MacBooks routinely last six years or more.
Thomas: Early impressions are strong on build quality, especially at this price point. Most competing laptops in the same range are made of plastic.
I will do more research before making final recommendations and will include Windows alternatives. More broadly, if you can delay a primary computer purchase until next year, 2027 may be a better buying environment than 2026. That said, the Neo is a compelling budget option right now. If Apple eventually raises the base configuration to 16 GB of RAM in the future, it could become an easy recommendation.
We also have an affiliate link available for the Neo if you choose to buy it through Amazon.
Mac Neo: https://amzn.to/4rVBGjt (Affiliate Link)
Sources:
Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5
Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max
Say hello to MacBook Neo
Apple’s Biggest Week of 2026: Details on Every New Product Announced
Is Substack Hurting Your Google Rankings? What Authors Need to Know
Jonathan: Is Substack hurting your Google rankings?
Author Ryan Williamson has been sharing frustrations with Substack in an article titled Google Can’t Find Your Substack, and Neither Can Anyone Else. He claims Substack slows Google indexing for newer newsletters by limiting or removing sitemaps for smaller publications. The result, he argues, is reduced visibility for months because even well-optimized content will not appear in search if Google is not indexing it.
Williamson reported zero organic search traffic after three and a half months of publishing, with most subscribers coming from existing social media followers instead.
Thomas: I am hearing this more and more. The Substack gold rush appears to be over. If you have not started a Substack yet, it is now harder to build a new publication from scratch.
More broadly, I am concerned about Substack’s direction. The original vision was a premier publishing platform for independent journalists, authors, and creators who wanted to monetize their work. More recently, Substack has been trying to become a generic social network, and that is a difficult lane to win.
Jonathan: I still do not understand it. We have known it is a mistake for months. They have known it is a mistake for months, and they are still doing it.
Thomas: They are doubling down. Ownership has shifted, even though the CEO remains the same. The strategy appears to be competing with X, essentially trying to become a “better Twitter.” Meanwhile, many platforms are moving away from the traditional social-network model.
From a technical SEO standpoint, Substack gives you very little control. You do not control your sitemap. You do not control robots.txt or other crawler directives. You do not get canonical URL control. You do not get robust schema markup. Those are foundational tools for ranking on Google, and Substack does not provide them.
What does? WordPress.
Jonathan: Your own website.
Thomas: Exactly. WordPress, with Kit (affiliate link), is still the best option for raw performance. That is the Novel Marketing method and the one I have been recommending for years.
Substack is easier to use, and it is cheaper, but it is no longer the same as it was two years ago, when early adopters could grow quickly through the platform itself. That window has closed.
Substack also created an additional problem by borrowing features from X. Elon Musk responded by adding Substack-style features to X.
Now long-form content on X is outperforming Substack posts in many cases. It used to be that a viral Substack article could drive major attention and even move markets. A lot of that influence has shifted back to X, where more creators are posting long-form writing directly.
Substack did not need that fight. It was thriving in its lane, but then it tried to become something else.
Jonathan: And it picked a fight with someone who has been flattening competitors for a decade. That is hard to understand.
Thomas: People liked Substack when it focused on publishing. I am not against Substack. I just do not want authors to overestimate what it can provide now.
Jonathan: Value is still value. If you are consistently providing value to readers, they will keep showing up. This does not automatically hurt creators who already have an audience and publish strong content.
Where it may hurt is for people trying to use Substack primarily as a discovery engine.
I know someone who built an audience on LinkedIn, then moved to Substack. She is doing well because her long-form content is strong, and readers were already looking for it. They are not necessarily finding her through Substack’s internal discovery tools.
Thomas: And that highlights the key point. If you already have a substantial email list or established audience, you do not need Substack to help “find” your readers. You already have them.
But Substack also limits what you can do as a marketer. You cannot run onboarding sequences or use reader magnets effectively. You cannot send purely promotional emails the way you can with Kit.
For example, if you have a book launch, you may want to send three or four launch-related emails in a short period. In Kit, that is normal and expected. On Substack, those emails can violate the platform’s expectations because every email is treated as a “post,” and the platform is not designed for traditional email marketing workflows.
Substack can still be a viable starting point if you have no budget and want to focus on a single, simple platform. But it comes with tradeoffs, especially if Google search visibility and email marketing automation are central to your strategy.
Sources:
Google Can’t Find Your Substack. (Neither Can Anyone Else.)
Guide to Substack SEO Settings
The Complete Guide to Optimizing Your Substack for SEO
Substack SEO: A guide to grow newsletter reach and visibility
How can I optimize my Substack publication for SEO?
SEO Limitations of Substack (And How to Fix Them)
Reasons why Substack doesn’t do SEO very well.
Substack vs. Ghost: SEO and Bilingual Blogging
Authors Guild Expands Human Authored Certification Program to All U.S. Authors
Jonathan: The Authors Guild launched this program for members a while back, and we covered it then. It allowed members to place a seal on their books indicating the work was “Human Authored.”
Now they are offering it to every author and publisher in the United States. If you sign up, you get a trademark seal. You can certify up to 10 books a year without special requests.
The program is meant to signal that a literary work qualifies as human authored when one or more humans fully author the text. There are small exceptions for tools like spelling and grammar checkers and basic editing software.
You can also use generative AI for research, brainstorming, outlining, and creating tables of contents or indexes without losing eligibility. The certification applies only to the body of the work, not the cover.
Thomas: That means you can use every single Patron Toolbox tool and still qualify for the Authors Guild certification.
It is also an honor system, which is why I do not think many people will pay for it.
First, I do not think readers care. They say they care, but they do not act like they care. It is a stated preference, not a revealed preference.
Readers do not like AI slop, but if a book is indistinguishable from a human-written book, and the only difference is a sticker on the cover, most readers will not care at that point.
Jonathan: I am going to a book festival next weekend. It is like a farmer’s market. At a farmer’s market, the produce often says it is grown organically without pesticides.
You might not care about the label in terms of taste, the food can be just as good. But seeing that claim does put something in your mind that you are buying a better product.
So, if you can say “Human Authored,” it signals quality. But you do not necessarily need to pay someone else to say it.
Thomas: A farmer’s market is actually a great example, because a lot of what you buy there is organic, but not certified organic.
Going through the certification process is a long ordeal and it is expensive. So a lot of farmers basically say, “Trust me, I don’t use pesticides.”
When you can meet that person and shake their hand, you might believe them more than a sticker. The personal connection is more powerful than a certification label most people do not understand. Plus, the really crunchy health-food people do not necessarily trust government certification anyway. They would rather trust the farmer they can meet than a label.
I think the same dynamic applies here. People who care most about this will trust an author they know over a sticker.
That said, even though I do not care for the Authors Guild, and I do not have a high opinion of them as an organization, I have used their guidelines to shape the Patron Toolbox. None of the Patron Toolbox tools violate their rules. These guidelines are not new.
Jonathan: Even if you did violate the Authors Guild guidelines, the people who get angry would not care about the details. They would be mad that AI was used at any point.
This feels detached from the real argument people are having.
Thomas: If someone wants a lot of press for their book, I have an idea for a strategy that will work for the first author who tries it.
Get an Authors Guild certification for a book that is legitimately, 100% written by you. Then put the most AI-sloppy cover you can on it, a cover that is obviously generated.
That does not violate the rules, because the rules only apply to the substance of the book.
The first author who does this will trigger a massive outcry, and it will be funny to watch. There will be think pieces. There will be Substack posts. There will be X posts. You will be in the middle of a firestorm.
It will make you money, but it will require emotional fortitude and thick skin. People on the internet will say mean things, but other people on the internet will buy your book, especially if you take a stand and say, “No, I wrote every word,” and it is true.
Jonathan: You would have to position yourself as a troll and make it clear you did it on purpose. That is what will really make it work.
Thomas: This will not work if all the characters on your book cover have five fingers. You have to go full slop. It has to be obvious from the start. It cannot be a well-done AI cover. It has to be sloppy. This is troll marketing, and it will work for whoever tries it first.
I am curious how the Authors Guild would respond to fully organic, human-authored substance wrapped in fully artificial AI slop.
Sources:
Authors Guild Launches Expanded “Human Authored” Certification Program
Authors Guild Expands ‘Human Authored’ Certification Program
GPT-5.4 Gives ChatGPT Real Computer Control: Mouse, Keyboard, and Browser Automation for Authors
Thomas: ChatGPT has just launched GPT-5.4. Some of you may be thinking, “Wait, wasn’t I just on 5.2?” Version 5.3 was only available to developers. The rest of us did not get access to it. Now everyone has 5.4. According to the benchmark crowd, it is the newest and best model.
Jonathan: The company is calling it GPT-5.4. This model can now operate computers directly. It analyzes screenshots, issues mouse clicks, and sends keyboard commands to complete tasks. It can also write code to control web browsers through tools like Playwright.
It can perform multi-step actions across different applications with less human input, and it is showing impressive results. GPT-5.4 scores 75% on the OSWorld Verified test for desktop navigation. For context, average human performance is 72.4%.
Thomas: Let me explain what this benchmark measures. This is not a writing test. It measures using a mouse, clicking icons, and completing tasks on a computer. GPT can now handle complex projects that require multiple windows and moving between applications. On these benchmarks, it is scoring better than humans performing the same tasks.
Jonathan: This moves ChatGPT closer to acting like a true digital assistant that executes work instead of just suggesting what to do.
The market has always been moving this direction. We knew this was coming. In theory, you will have a small AI assistant that can do tasks for you. You could send it to shop online, research a thesis topic, return with a summary, and even generate a rough draft. That is where the technology is headed.
Eventually, you may simply control which paywalls your assistant is allowed to access.
Thomas: Do not use ChatGPT for writing. I am not morally opposed to AI writing, but if you are going to write with AI, do not use ChatGPT. Do not use the AOL of AI for writing.
Jonathan: The sentence structure is so bad.
Thomas: It is really bad. I was testing GPT-5.4 because I pay for it. I pay for all of them. I even sort of pay for Gemini through my Google Suite subscription. I tried using ChatGPT while preparing for this episode, and the output was not just bad. It was really bad.
Jonathan: I was telling Thomas before we started that I have seen a decline in ChatGPT’s writing quality. The writing is now easier to identify as AI. You can recognize the cadence. And it is not about M-dashes. That is not the issue.
It has always been about the cadence of the sentences. Humans do not speak with that cadence. Humans also do not structure comparisons in that rigid, hierarchical way. It does not sound natural.
Sources:
Introducing GPT-5.4 | OpenAI With GPT-5.4, OpenAI Promises Fewer Errors, Preps for Autonomous Agents | PCMag
OpenAI’s new GPT-5.4 model is a big step toward autonomous agents | The Verge
Introducing GPT-5.4 | OpenAI ChatGPT Release Notes – March 5, 2026 Update
New Review Linker Tool Makes Amazon Reviews Easier for Readers and Authors Alike
Thomas: A new tool has been added to the Patron Toolbox called the Review Linker. The tool helps authors make it easier for readers to leave reviews on Amazon.
Most authors spend a great deal of time on Amazon and know how to navigate the platform, but their readers often do not. Many readers have never left an Amazon review, so the number of steps required to find the correct Amazon page page discourages them from doing so.
The Review Linker solves this problem by generating a direct link to the review page for a specific product. To use the tool, simply, enter the ebook or paperback URL, and the tool produces a link that sends readers directly to the “leave a review” page.
The tool also generates a downloadable QR code. Authors can place the QR code in the back of their paperback books so readers can scan it and go straight to the review page. This reduces friction and makes it significantly easier for readers to leave reviews.
The launch of the tool comes with a pricing decision that may surprise some listeners. Jonathan has been encouraging me to raise the price of the Patron Toolbox and introduce a $20 tier.
Instead, I have decided to make this tool free. Anyone can access the Amazon Review Linker at no cost. My hope is that offering the tool for free will introduce more authors to the Patron Toolbox and help grow our subscriber base.
Sources: Announcing: Review Linker (Free) Review Linker – Amazon Review Link Generator
Author Media Adds a QR Code Generator to the Patron Toolbox
Thomas: After building the Review Linker, I added another tool to the Patron Toolbox, called the QR Code Generator. The concept is simple. Paste in a URL and the tool generates a QR code.
The code is permanent and designed to work decades from now. Many free QR code websites route your link through a redirection service. If that service fails, the QR code stops working. Most of those redirection services eventually break. Bitly is one of the few that has remained widely reliable.
When a QR code links directly to your website, however, it does not depend on a third-party redirect. As long as the destination URL exists, the code will continue to work. QR codes contain the underlying text within the code itself. A phone does not need a separate website to interpret it, and a website is not required to generate the code.
Both the Review Linker and the QR Code Generator are available for free. I still plan to introduce a $20 tier in the Patron Toolbox with additional features, but these two tools do not cost me tokens when they run, so I can offer them for free. Please spread the word so your author friends can take advantage of them too.
Jonathan: Many QR code generators offer customization features, such as adding logos or branding inside the code, but that customization often reduces readability. When images or graphics are inserted into the QR code, scanning apps rely on error-correction software to interpret the missing data.
This generator avoids those problems. It does not add branding elements. Most QR codes already appear on branded materials such as bookmarks, books, or business cards. Functionality matters more than appearance.
Thomas: When I use QR codes, I keep them simple, black code on a white background. That format is easy for phones to scan. I own professional QR code software that can generate branded designs, but I rarely use those features.
If you attended the Novel Marketing Conference, you may remember the QR codes in the workbook. Every one of them used the same simple format. That was intentional. A QR code does not need to be decorative. It needs to work every time.
The QR Code Generator produces simple, reliable codes that are easy for any phone to scan.
Sources:
QR Code Generator – Patron Toolbox
Announcing: QR Code Generator (Free)
How to Use QR Codes to Boost Book Sales & Grow Your Email List
New Author Arsenal Challenge Upcoming
Jonathan: A new Author Arsenal Challenge is scheduled for the second quarter of this year. In the first quarter, I ran the Author Arsenal Writing Challenge, where participants aimed to reach a word-count target over about 20 writing days spread across a month.
The next challenge begins in April. Think of it as a Marine-style push to help you finish your book.
During the first challenge, 12 authors produced a combined 655,003 words in 20 days. That averages 54,583 words per author for the period, or about 2,729 words per author per day. At a typical 70,000-word length, that total equals roughly nine completed novels.
Participants set different goals. One author aimed for 175,000 words for the month, while another set a goal of 20,000. These figures represent the overall averages across the group.
Throughout the challenge, I worked individually with participants to increase their output. The focus was on improving words per minute and identifying obstacles that slowed the writing process. Once a week, we held a video call where I coached participants through issues such as workflow bottlenecks, distractions, and writing speed.
If you want to produce the first draft of your book, the next challenge will run in April. A registration link will appear in the show notes once it is available. The announcement will also appear on Author Media’s social channels.
Thomas: Will you enjoy the process? No. Will Jonathan be gentle with you? Again, no. Will you produce more writing than you ever have before? Very likely.
Jonathan: That has been the consistent feedback. Many authors say, “I did not realize I could write that much.” The process shows authors what they are capable of.
Once writers experience that level of output, their expectations change. They begin to see how many books they could realistically write in a year.
The challenge costs $100 for the month. Many people will give up on themselves, but they are less likely to give up on $100.
Meta AI Glasses Send Private Recordings to Human Workers for AI Training
Thomas: Meta, the company behind Facebook, produces smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban. The glasses allow users to capture photos and videos hands-free while an AI assistant answers questions about what the user is seeing.
A recent investigation revealed that human data annotators review some of these recordings. Their work helps train Meta’s AI models to better understand the real world. The reviewers work for a subcontractor called Sama in Kenya, and some have reported seeing highly personal content.
If a user looks at a bank statement while wearing the glasses, annotators may see that information. The same is true for other private material that appears in the recordings. Critics say the practice raises serious privacy concerns.
Users can do little to prevent this if they choose to use Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses.
The reason we are covering this story is that it connects to a broader trend. Devices like these glasses exist because AI companies need enormous amounts of human language to train their models. The most valuable training data comes from real-world human conversations.
Many people focus on the camera built into these glasses as a privacy concern, but the microphone may be even more significant. The microphones capture conversations which allows AI systems to collect large amounts of natural language data for training.
Sources:
She Came Out of the Bathroom Naked, Employee Says
Meta Workers Say They’re Seeing Disturbing Things Through Users’ Smart Glasses
Meta workers forced to review intimate videos taken by Ray-Ban smart glasses
Meta Employees Are Seeing R-Rated Footage From Its Users’ AI Glasses
Meta hit with a class action lawsuit over smart glasses’ privacy claims
Supplemental Meta Platforms Technologies Privacy Policy
Zeitgeist: AI Could Trigger an English Language Reset Like the Norman Conquest
Thomas: If you are new to Author Update, the Zeitgeist segment is where we step back from breaking news and look at longer cultural trends. Instead of focusing on individual developments, we examine the broader shifts shaping the culture. It is easy to focus on the trees and miss the forest.
Language shifts are one example. People rarely realize they are living through a language shift because these changes unfold gradually over long periods of time.
Jonathan: I am not sure that is always true. Some slang changes feel obvious.
Thomas: Slang is different. New slang appears and disappears constantly. Young people adopt expressions that fade within a few years. That is not the kind of change I am describing.
I am talking about structural changes in language itself. To explain that, we need to go back to the year 1066 in England.
In 1065, people in England spoke Old English. Then William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. After the conquest, French-speaking rulers governed England for roughly 250 years.
William the Conqueror did not speak English. The famous English king Richard the Lionheart did not speak English either. He spoke French. Prince John, who later became King John, likely did not speak English as his primary language.
The first king after this period to speak English was King Henry V. He shifted the national identity from a French monarchy ruling England to an English monarchy confronting France. As part of that shift, he instructed scribes to stop writing in French and begin writing in English.
The problem was that English had not been widely written for roughly 250 years. During that time, the aristocracy had written primarily in French or Latin. As a result, scribes began writing English phonetically, reflecting how people actually spoke at the time. This marked the beginning of Middle English.
Middle English initially aligned closely with spoken language. Over time, however, spoken and written forms began drifting apart. In some languages the separation becomes extreme. In China, for example, speakers of different regional languages may not understand each other orally, yet they can read the same written Chinese.
Returning to England, Middle English continued evolving. Writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer produced major works in the language. Then a major technological change arrived in 1476 when William Caxton introduced the printing press to England.
Printing created pressure for standardization. Printers preferred consistent spellings rather than multiple variations of the same word. Before this period, spelling was flexible and often phonetic. After printing spread, readers began expecting standardized spelling and grammar.
I see something similar when my daughter writes phonetically while learning to read. Some of her spellings resemble Middle English. They require a bit of interpretation, but they capture the sound of the words.
Two other developments soon reshaped English even more dramatically. The first was the work of William Shakespeare. The second was the publication of the King James Bible in 1611. Shakespeare continued to influence the language through education and literature, while the King James Bible became a foundational text for generations of readers.
Together with the earlier influence of the printing press, these developments helped establish the foundations of modern English.
Jonathan: A similar dynamic occurred in Islamic history with the Quran. When the Sunni and Shia traditions divided over leadership succession, different versions of the Quran circulated. The Sunni leadership eventually standardized a single text and ordered other versions corrected to match it.
Researchers have studied early manuscripts and found evidence of earlier text beneath later writing on reused papyrus. Those findings illustrate how religious and political forces can shape the standardization of language.
Thomas: Another major step toward standardization came with Noah Webster’s dictionary. Webster’s work effectively separated American English from British English and helped stabilize American spelling. Since the publication of Webster’s dictionary, American spelling has changed very little.
British English spelling has shifted somewhat more, but overall the system remains relatively stable.
That brings us to the present. We may now be approaching another major transition in English, possibly a form of postmodern English influenced by artificial intelligence.
More people are writing with AI tools or editing with software such as Grammarly. These tools tend to standardize sentence structures and encourage a uniform style. Just as the printing press encouraged standardized spelling, modern editing tools may be encouraging standardized sentence patterns.
Another emerging pattern involves what I call “vectorized sentences.” For example: “This is not just a small tweak to the language. It is a tectonic shift.” That type of structure appears frequently in AI-generated text.
Large language models convert language into mathematical vectors and relationships between ideas. Sentences that compare and reframe ideas in hierarchical ways align well with that structure. As a result, this pattern appears frequently in AI writing.
What caught my attention is that I began hearing myself use these structures in everyday speech. Vectorized phrasing has existed for centuries, but it used to be relatively rare. Now it appears frequently in both AI writing and human communication.
Jonathan: To clarify the concept, think of vectorization as a process that takes many forms of input and pushes them through a single output pattern. In a factory, different donuts might enter the system, but they emerge packaged in the same configuration.
AI writing often works the same way. Different ideas enter the system, but the output tends to follow similar patterns. That is why AI-generated text is often recognizable.
For fiction writers especially, relying heavily on AI output can flatten their voice. Readers want to hear the author’s unique expression, not a standardized output style.
Thomas: With careful prompting and context engineering, large language models can produce writing that feels less standardized. Most people, however, do not use these tools that way.
Many users enter a single sentence into a prompt field and expect high-quality results. In practice, AI tools respond much better to detailed prompts written in full paragraphs.
Because most users rely on minimal prompts, we are seeing increasing homogenization in written language. Sentence structures are becoming simpler and more repetitive. Certain words are also becoming unusually common because AI systems favor them.
Two outcomes are possible. One is that AI language gradually becomes the dominant style and people begin speaking and writing in ways that resemble AI outputs.
The other possibility is a backlash. Readers may become sensitive to the patterns of AI writing and seek out language that feels distinctly human.
At the moment, we appear to be approaching a fork in the road. The direction language ultimately takes will depend on how writers, readers, and technology continue to interact.
Sources:
English 2.0: AI-Driven Language Transformation
AI is quietly reshaping the way we talk
Audio Is the New Dataset: Inside the LLM Gold Rush for Podcasts
AI systems are built on English – but not the kind most of the world speaks
How AI-generated prose diverges from human writing and why it matters
AI Suggestions Make Writing More Generic, Western
Zeitgeist: White House Uses Video Game Hype to Market War to Young Men
Thomas: The Trump administration is selling the war very differently from past conflicts. If you follow the White House on Twitter, you will notice the shift immediately.
They are bragging about how many people they’re killing. They’re puttingtogether hype videos that are clips of video games and action movies, interspliced with actual footage from the battlefield of things getting blown up and of people getting killed.
Jonathan: This is a glory approach. We are winning. There are no apologies for killing the bad guys. In fact, there is celebration for killing the badguys.
They even released what looked like a kill-streak video. In Call of Duty, the video game, you unlock weapons and abilities depending on how many enemies you kill in one life. Kill three enemies and you get a care package. Kill seven and you unlock a predator drone. The more enemies you kill, the more powerful the reward becomes.
The White House released a video styled like a kill streak.
Thomas: The White House. The government released the kill-streak video.
Jonathan: Yes, the government released it.
Thomas: That detail matters. Some people are deeply offended by this approach, while others are not offended at all.
I experienced an example of this recently. I bought an elliptical on Facebook Marketplace, because I am apparently a high roller. The seller’s teenage son helped load it into my dad’s truck. During the conversation, the war came up. He immediately said he wanted to join the Air Force and fly an F-15. He was excited about it. He was ready to sign up.
That reaction illustrates the point. If you want to win a war, who do you need to persuade? Do you persuade older women and older men who aren’t eligible to fight? Or do you persuade the young men who actually fight the wars?
The messaging clearly targets young men. The music, the references, and the visuals are designed for them. In marketing terms, the audience is clear.
Jonathan: My dad served during Desert Storm, the first Gulf War. The United States overwhelmed the Iraqi military. The technology gap was enormous. You can watch documentaries on Amazon Prime showing American tanks rolling over Iraqi forces.
The victory happened so quickly and decisively that it shaped that generation of soldiers. Many of them remained strongly patriotic afterward.
When I served between 2012 and 2017, we were near the end of Afghanistan and early in the fight against ISIS. We destroyed a lot of ISIS equipment and personnel, but the experience was not as broadly shared across the entire military. On the watch floor we were blowing up bad guys, but the national atmosphere was different.
Thomas: The phrase “blowing up bad guys” almost felt controversial in the previous cultural moment. The messaging was more restrained. The emphasis was on precision and minimizing harm.
Jonathan: Exactly. The word everyone used was “precision.” The idea was that strikes targeted only the one specific enemy. That’s why Obama could do all the strikes he was doing across the world (a lot of times illegally) because he was selling it as precision.
Thomas: And those strikes were rarely reported. Many people still do not know how extensive that drone program was. At one point a senator conducted a 13-hour filibuster simply to get the press to cover it because Obama was drone striking American citizens, killing them from the air without a warrant, without a trial.
Jonathan: Which is wildly illegal.
Thomas: Yet most people barely discussed it. Some listeners may even be hearing this and thinking it cannot possibly be true.
The larger point is about marketing. Understanding who you are selling to shapes your message.
There will always be people who oppose Trump regardless of what he does. His strategy appears to be to ignore those audiences and focus on young men. The message is clear: victory, glory, and success in battle.
That appeal has worked on young men for thousands of years. The Roman Republic used a similar strategy. Young Romans bought their own armor and horses because they wanted glory in battle.
Today, however, glory is rarely emphasized in modern fiction.
The more common narrative is reluctant heroism. The protagonist did not want to become a hero but was forced into it. That grim, reluctant model dominated recent storytelling, but young male audiences are increasingly rejecting that framework. They want characters who seek victory and embrace glory.
They want heroes who win.
Jonathan:. They want heroes who overcome enemies and achieve victory through strength and determination.
Thomas: And they are not apologizing for it. The tone is confident and direct. The message is simple: we destroyed the enemy ship, and everyone aboard died.
Jonathan: Victory matters.
Thomas: And this connects to publishing trends. Many current bestselling genres are cozy fantasy or cozy mystery. Those markets are dominated by female readers.
That market is well understood. The data proves it works.
Jonathan: But at the same time, a large male audience remains underserved.
Consider the recent release of Doom: The Dark Ages. Earlier Doom games included “glory kills.” After damaging a demon, the player could trigger a brutal finishing move that restored health and resources. The mechanic was fast, violent, and exciting. Players loved it.
The new game removed glory kills because developers felt they were too aggressive. Fans immediately questioned the decision.
It is Doom. The entire premise is destroying demons.
Thomas: When you try to soften a violent action game to appeal to people who dislike violence, you usually fail. The original audience loses interest, and the new audience still does not want the product.
Some listeners may already feel uncomfortable hearing us describe the game. My wife hates it.
Jonathan: My wife does too. She asks why I play it.
Thomas: That is the point. Not every product needs to appeal to everyone.
Trying to make romance novels appeal to men usually fails. Instead, make the romance better for the women who already love it.
Jonathan: But if you want to reach an underserved audience right now, male readers represent a major opportunity. Stories centered on glory, victory, and overcoming powerful enemies resonate strongly with them.
Thomas: The victory must be earned. Glory cannot be handed out like a participation trophy. It must come through hardship, sacrifice, and effort.
Part of the excitement surrounding recent military events comes from long anticipation. Some weapons systems have existed for decades without seeing real combat.
Jonathan: We built incredible technology and have rarely seen it used.
Thomas: The broader lesson for authors is about audience alignment. This opportunity may not apply to everyone. If you write cozy romance, stay in that market, but if you have been pressured by editors to soften your story, reduce aggression, or remove masculine themes in order to make it more marketable, reconsider that advice.
Independent publishing allows you to target your real audience directly.
Jonathan: Also remember that mixed audiences exist. Some female readers enjoy characters pursuing glory. Think of Troy. Achilles, played by Brad Pitt, pursued eternal glory. Hector, played by Eric Bana, represented family duty and loyalty.
Different viewers preferred different heroes.
Thomas: That approach works well in storytelling. If you want to appeal to different audiences, give them different characters. Films do this frequently.
In the Marvel films, some viewers prefer Iron Man. Others prefer Captain America. Each character embodies a different set of values.
That contrast creates discussion. One reader may hate a character that another reader loves. That disagreement generates conversation.
Jonathan: And from an SEO standpoint, arguments about a book are extremely valuable.
Thomas: People dislike feeling left out of a conversation. The classic example is the love triangle. Think “Team Edward” versus “Team Jacob.” That structure naturally divides readers and fuels discussion.
Different characters can appeal to different readers, which gives your story more room to breathe.
For genres such as thrillers, action, fantasy, and science fiction, this dynamic can work extremely well.
I will be exploring this topic in more detail in a future Zeitgeist episode of Novel Marketing. One of the questions we will address is why Asian storytelling, particularly manga, has become so dominant.
If you visit Barnes & Noble today, the largest section is often the manga section. Western readers clearly enjoy these stories.
The reason is not that readers suddenly want Eastern culture. Readers still want Western-style storytelling. But Eastern creators are currently delivering elements that Western stories often avoid, including glory.
That is one of the themes we will examine more deeply in the upcoming episode.
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