25Q2: Book Updates, AI Lawsuits/Deals, and PassionFlix
Hey Y’all!
This quarter has been crazy busy with book edits and preparations for publishing. It's been three years since I published my debut novel, so I'm revisiting how things are done (and learning what's changed). Watch my blog for updates to any long-standing how-to articles reflecting changes in the processes of self-publishing.
In personal news, early summer has two big birthday months for us. One in May and the other in June. And this year, with middle school looming next fall, the eldest grandkid is old enough for a cell phone. My husband has been texting her dad jokes, and she's quickly become a master at GIF responses. It's been fun watching him deepen his relationship with his granddaughter.
Things I’m Working On
Women in Caprock Series
Left Turn (Book 1)
Man, I don't know if I just have lousy timing or what. In my last update, I reported that moving Left Turn to Kindle Unlimited hadn't affected my sales, but in the months since then, I've seen a significant drop. And I've heard other authors have seen similar results. I can't help but wonder if it's related to the boycotts happening everywhere. There was a big push in the U.S. to boycott Amazon (and other big profit companies) as an expression of people's unhappiness with the economy, the government, and the political landscape. Or maybe the algorithm has changed again. Who knows? I'm keeping an eye on it and will make changes as needed.
Code Block (Book 2)
Since early February, when we last spoke, Code Block has been through two developmental edits and is currently with my copyeditor. I say two dev edits because I had an unexpected experience with my first editor. The short version is that the book I wrote was not what she was looking for and she wanted me to change it to fit her image of the story. It was pretty heartbreaking and caused some serious soul searching for where I wanted to go from there. You can read more about my experience here.
The good news is I moved past it and am now almost to the finish line. I've secured my ISBN numbers and hope to have the book up for preorder this week. I'm also looking into finding ARC readers for book 2, which I didn't do for book 1. (Let me know if you're interested.)
Book 3 (Untitled)
And surprise! I've started working on book 3 in the series. Several people who have read both books have asked me, "Who's book is next?" I was surprised when one person pointedly asked for Grace's story. I have to be honest… I hadn't considered Grace's story. But once I did, the ideas started coming hard and fast. And I'm happy to say, I've already mapped critical plot points and have ideas for key scenes in her story. Hopefully, I'll get her book out faster than I did for Claire and Noah. Fingers crossed!
Publishing News
Lawsuits and Generative AI
There are several lawsuits in progress against various AI companies (OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, etc.), claiming they broke copyright infringement laws when they used copyrighted content to train their large language models. The AI companies are defending themselves, saying their actions were covered under "fair use." Fair use refers to using copyrighted material for a limited and transformative purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. In the past, this has meant quoting a portion of the material in an article or review, and not grabbing the entire body of work.
Interestingly, some media companies are moving forward in licensing their content to Generative AI companies. Both The Washington Post and Guardian Media Group (publisher of The Guardian) have signed deals with OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, according to Joe Panettieri. Here's the article, which gives more detail on the various lawsuits and agreements going on.
Created by Humans
In May, The Authors Guild sponsored a webinar by Created by Humans, a company working on the problem of how books fit into the world of artificial intelligence. They're starting with books, but plan to expand into other creative outlets.
Their goal is to facilitate the licensing of AI rights from authors/publishers to AI companies seeking to use the authors' works. From what they demo'd, it looked like a marketplace where the author or publisher enters their works and what type(s) of licensing they will consider. Then the AI companies shop the database for the specific books they need for their purpose. Created by Humans will work as the mediator between the two for a percentage of the deal. And if the author prefers not to license any work for AI, that is also an option the author can check.
My thoughts? I think this would be GREAT… if it works. My gut reaction is to be skeptical. These companies went after illegally obtained copyrighted works before. Why would they pay now? Especially since they can still get the pirated material for free?
However, it gives me hope that they are making deals with major news outlets. I fall into the "I'll believe it when I see it" crowd, so I'm watching this space to see how it all plays out. I think it will be a huge setback if the lawsuits are dismissed.
Anyway, check out the Created by Humans website for more information.
Latest Articles on Writing
Here's what's new on the blog since last time:
Surviving an Editor Mismatch - Six lessons I learned from hiring the wrong editor.
Author Business: Filing Your Taxes in the U.S. - April was tax time and an excellent time to talk about how to fill out your Form 1040 Schedule C for your author small business.
Author Community Spotlight
Years ago, I read J.R. Ward's series The Black Dagger Brotherhood. (Or at least most of it. I think I trailed off somewhere around book 11.) Last year, the series was picked up by the streaming service, PassionFlix, to make into a TV show. The first episode dropped last week on June 5, 2025.
I was skeptical, as I'd never heard of the channel. (Do we call them channels anymore?) And some of the promo images seemed… well, not the greatest quality. But the terrible wigs didn't stop Twilight from becoming a major success, so I checked it out.
Y'all! I was so surprised and how well done that first episode was. It followed the book exactly. So much so, that I pulled out my old copy and reread it. So much of the dialogue in the show was directly from the book! I'm really looking forward to the remaining episodes. Heads up, though… the steamy scenes are blush-inducing. Oh, my!
What’s On Your Mind?
I learned this month that PassionFlix is a streaming service dedicated to transforming romance novels into movies or TV series. As I skimmed through the offerings, I saw several author names I recognized, like Allesandra Torre, Brenda Jackson, and Jennifer L. Armentrout.
Anyway, it got me thinking about books I would love to see turned into movies. What about you?
What book would you like to see made into a movie or TV series?
Drop me a line and let me know.
Until next time, happy reading, happy writing, and hope you're doing well.
Lancy