@woodpigpress
WoodPig Press is an independent micro-press specialising in speculative fiction and non-fiction. We are a loose collective of creative freelancers who share a belief that humans are more than machines, and there’s more to life than money. WoodPigPress.com
WoodPig Press supports human-made creativity: woodpigpress.com/supporting-h...
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There's also a searchable list that book reviewers who oppose AI can sign up to.
#booksky
If you're a book reviewer, and you agree with these pledges, then you can sign up to be considered for the verified reviewers list here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
If you're an author or publisher looking for reviewers who abide by these principles, then you can check out our list of verified reviewers here (it's just getting going, so give it time): woodpigpress.com/the-reviewer...
5. AI Free: The reviewer will abstain from using AI tools for the creation of any review, and agree not to review books that have been created or assisted with AI (including their cover design).
4. Ethical: The reviewer will accept no payment, favours or benefits of any kind in return for reviews, other than a complimentary copy of the book.
3. Professional: The reviewer will be respectful and fair minded, paying due care to quality of written expression, and backing up critical analysis with reasonable opinion and evidence.
2. Accountable: The reviewer will inform the author/publisher of any book accepted for review of the expected timeframe, and complete the review within that period.
1. Responsive: The reviewer will respond to all requests for reviews within a reasonable time.
Picture credits (left to right): Anita Zaramella, Jimmy Makepeace, Jeleynai, Kai Shüttler.
For more examples, see: woodpigpress.com/publishing-s...
WoodPig Press is a collective of top illustrators, designers and editors who eschew AI and the whole money-grabbing, trend-chasing shallowness of mainstream publishing, and are dedicated to unearthing those voices the algorithm ignores.
Want to work with us?
woodpigpress.com/publishing-s...
Fantasy illustration by Anita Zaramella.
Fantasy Illustration by Jimmy Makepeace.
Fantasy Illustration by Jeleynai.
Children's book illustration by Kai Shüttler.
Writers and publishers:
What happened to quality? To originality and quirkiness? The meaningful and the subtle? Or did all that get quashed by the algorithm and lost amidst the sales reports?
#booksky
We've just finalised our author contract - what do you think?
#authors #writing #contracts #booksky
woodpigpress.substack.com/p/the-author...
"We are here because you were there."
Perfectly put.
To help fund this, we offer freelance services: cover design, editing, typesetting. We don't use AI, nor work with those who do. If you're an author or indie publisher, check us out: woodpigpress.com/publishing-services
Woodpig Press is a new micro-press based in Wales. We're a loose collection of publishing freelancers who oppose AI and think books should be more about art than money. We want to publish the unusual fiction and non-fiction that mainstream publishers ignore.
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#booksky
You're welcome! And thank you too for your considered responses.
No problem, Stuart. This is a fraught issue that we're still trying to get our heads around, and we're having to field a lot of opinion from passionate people across the issue spectrum. I guess it'll just come down to what we think is best.
Yes. I think, on reflection, it's best to keep it simple. "No gen AI". If someone wants to quibble that, they're not for us.
I agree. It's just whether that broad a definition for standard use of writing software (which is increasingly coming bundled with AI tools).
True, but the point is that it's the publisher's job to polish and refine your manuscript (within reason). Authors seem to assume that they have to turn in a perfect specimen. That's not the case.
I once wrote a book for a mainstream publisher, and was disheartened at the number of corrections the copy-editor suggested. "Don't worry," she said. "You're the talent. It's my job to show it off in its best light." This hasn't stopped over the years!
Well, writing isn't just about grammar and spelling, and we'd hate to debar those with original ideas or a talent for humour or creative expression, just because they're not top-notch grammarians. In fact, that's our job - to take their skill and talent and polish it.
OK [breathes in], we're finalising our author contract and putting in a clause about AI use. We want to say "none" but recognise that there's a difference between assistive AI and generative AI. What do people think? Any suggested phrasing? What about internet search? Grammarly? Thoughts?
#booksky
Excellent post by Ted Gioia on how publishing became so boring and repetitive - and what we can do to change that: substack.com/home/post/p-...
#booksky
WE'RE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS, a 📚🧵
STUDENT JOURNALIST: How has your business survived after e-books?
ME: 🤦
STUDENT JOURNALIST: I mean, real books smell great, but the market has really changed, hasn't it?
ME: We're actually not much affected by that.
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Anyway, I've now deleted my original post, so that I don't get any more people pointing out what I shouldn't have agreed with in the first place!
So really I was looking at all of this from a submissions perspective, and thought that the sort of blanket ban that the Nebula now seems to adopt is not practical. Aside from that, I wholeheartedly second what Wendig says. In fact, the avoidance of AI is a fundamental tenet of our press.
But if we take a harder line - as the revised Nebula guidelines seem to do - and say, "Well, you can't even use AI to explore ideas", then that seems harsh. You could have a really useful conversation with a terrible person; that doesn't mean the ideas aren't useful (accuracy caveats aside).
Our response to this so far has been, "We'd rather you didn't." We employ experienced developmental editors, copy-editors and proofreaders to do just that. Show us you can write, that you have an idea and a voice, and we will help you polish that.
From the perspective of submissions, we're already fielding queries along the lines of, "I'm neurodivergent/EFL, and I use AI to help me iron out the kinks in my sentences. Is that OK?"