Well, writers and readers are two different planets locked in the same chaotic orbit, colliding in a wild dance of likes, dislikes, and "meh, not for me." As a writer, I’ve long accepted that trying to understand reader behavior is like trying to catch fog with a fork. And for readers? Imagine reading someone’s deeply personal work and being asked to validate it with a five-star rating. No pressure!

But let's talk about something else today.

So, a review rolls in. Not a review of the book, no, that would be too conventional. It’s a review of a promotional method.Someone wrote, “I won’t read this book because the author used AI to promote it.”

Oh. Okay. Sure. I mean… who am I, James Patterson, with a million-dollar marketing team?

Look, yes, indie authors use AI tools. Why? Because most of us are not backed by a billion-dollar publishing machine. And guess what? AI-generated trailers or voiceovers are a lot cheaper than hiring a full creative agency. Groundbreaking news, right?

So, what’s the response? A one-star. Boom. For the crime of budget marketing. Not for bad writing. Not for a weak plot. Just... for using tools that help us survive. I’m not mad, promise. I am many months past being mad. But let’s keep it real - AI can’t write books. It doesn’t even outline them. And if it ever did? You’d know. Instantly. You’d be halfway through the first paragraph thinking, Was this written by a sentient toaster?

Can AI help edit? Sure. So does Grammarly. And that’s AI too. Are we banning spellcheck now? Let’s be reasonable. Tools don’t write books. Writers do. Whether we use a pen, a keyboard, or a bit of software polish, the story still comes from a real person staring at the ceiling at 2 a.m., wondering why they gave their protagonist such a complicated backstory. So yeah, let’s not confuse the medium with the message. And maybe, let’s read the book before rating it. No grudges held, though.