Is There An Ai Book Editor

Gary Smailes | 3 November 2025

What an AI “book editor” really is

An AI book editor is not a single magic button. It is a toolkit. At the center sits a large language model, which reads and responds to your pages. Around it sit grammar and style checkers, readability highlighters, and consistency tools. Together they assist with editing tasks. They do not replace a professional editor who brings taste, genre fluency, and market sense.

Where it fits in your process

Used well, this toolkit supports several stages.

• Brainstorming and assessment. Ask for a scene list, a beat summary, or three risks in the middle third. You get a quick map of what you already wrote.
• Developmental feedback. Request notes on character goals, stakes, and pacing. The model points to slow scenes or thin motivation. It will miss subtext and theme across a whole novel, so treat it as a spotlight, not a verdict.
• Line-level suggestions. Prompt for tighter sentences, stronger verbs, and fewer filler phrases. You accept or reject, line by line.
• Copyediting checks. Run a grammar and style tool to catch comma problems, capitalization, and number treatment aligned with Chicago style.
• Light proofreading. Ask for typos and missing words. Final proofing still belongs on designed pages, done by a human.

A quick example. Give the model one chapter and say, “Summarize the scene in three sentences. Flag one place where tension drops.” Use the note to rethink a lull. Keep your judgment in the driver’s seat.

Set your expectations

AI proposes options. You choose. It writes fast and without ego, which helps when you want twenty versions of a sentence. It does not own taste, voice, or reader savvy. That part stays with you, or with the editor you hire.

Use it to generate choices, not to overrule your ear. If the model flattens a lively line, revert. If a grammar tool insists on a rule that hurts rhythm, mark it “stet” and move on.

Two guardrails keep you safe:

• Give constraints. “Keep Southern dialect. Preserve humor. Reduce adverbs by twenty percent. Do not change slang.”
• Work in small chunks. One or two thousand words at a time reduces drift and keeps voice intact.

Map needs to tool types

Pick tools by task.

• Big picture notes. Large language model. Ask for a scene-by-scene outline, character goals, and places where stakes fade.
• Sentence mechanics. Grammar and style checkers such as Grammarly, ProWritingAid, or LanguageTool. Use them to spot agreement, punctuation, and wordy phrases.
• Readability and flow. Highlighters such as Hemingway. Use sparingly for dense passages. Ignore advice that dulls voice.
• Consistency across a book or series. PerfectIt or similar tools. Feed in your style rules and glossary, then check names, hyphenation, and capitalization.

Think of the model as a smart reader with infinite patience. Think of the other tools as tireless proofers. Your job is to direct, then verify.

Build a style sheet early

A style sheet keeps choices consistent. It also teaches any helper, human or machine, how your book speaks. Start one now. A simple table in a doc works fine.

Include

• Names and spellings, including diacritics.
• Place names and preferred versions.
• Hyphenation choices.
• Capitalization for titles, ranks, and invented terms.
• Numerals and dates.
• Voice notes, such as register, dialect rules, and banned words.
• Usage quirks you prefer, such as toward vs. towards.

Example entries

• Spelling: US English, per Merriam-Webster.
• Style guide: Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.
• Hyphenation: time skip, one word. ice cream, two words. 1920s, no apostrophe.
• Titles: King of Ardem, cap King when used as title before name.
• Names: Jax D’Var, capital D and V. The Black River, cap both words.
• Numbers: spell out one through nine, numerals for 10 and above, except at sentence start.
• Dialogue: double quotes. Internal thoughts in italics, no quotes.

Hand this sheet to the model before each pass. Paste the rules into your prompt. Tell it to follow existing choices unless instructed otherwise. Share the same sheet with a human editor later. You save hours and prevent backtracking.

A quick way to test the idea

Try this on a spare scene.

1. Paste your style sheet rules.
2. Paste one page of text.
3. Prompt: “Line edit for clarity and concision. Keep voice per style sheet. Do not change dialect. Highlight only changes that fix repetition or wordiness.”
4. Review with Track Changes. Accept what helps. Reject anything that erases tone. Update the style sheet if a new choice sticks.

You will see the right posture in practice. AI assists. You decide. And when you bring in a pro editor, you bring them a cleaner manuscript, a clear rule set, and smart questions. That partnership pays off on the page.

Where AI shines—and where it falls short

AI editing tools excel at pattern recognition and mechanical fixes. They struggle with judgment calls and human nuance. Here is where each type of editing lands on that spectrum.

Developmental editing: solid at structure, weak on soul

AI reads your manuscript and spots structural problems fast. Ask for a scene-by-scene breakdown, and you get one in minutes. Request a list of pacing issues, and the model flags long stretches without conflict or stakes. It notices when a character disappears for thirty pages, then returns without explanation.

This helps during revision. You see the skeleton of your story laid bare. Plot holes become obvious. Repetitive beats stand out.

But AI misses the deeper currents. Theme emerges through accumulated moments, not single scenes. Subtext lives between the lines, in what characters do not say. Reader emotion builds through dozens of small choices about voice, image, and rhythm. The model reads each scene in isolation. It cannot feel the weight of grief building across three chapters, or recognize when a comic beat lands differently because of what happened fifty pages earlier.

Use it as a diagnostic tool. Let it map your manuscript and flag obvious problems. Keep the thematic and emotional work for yourself, or for a human developmental editor who reads novels whole.

Line editing: ruthless efficiency meets voice preservation

Here AI shines brightest. It cuts wordy sentences without mercy. It finds redundant phrases, weak verbs, and filler words you stopped noticing. Ask it to reduce adverbs by twenty percent, and it delivers options within seconds.

The problem comes with voice. AI defaults to clean, neutral prose. It smooths out intentional roughness. It straightens sentences you crafted for specific rhythm. It removes dialect markers and regionalisms that do not parse as "correct."

A client sent me a chapter that had been through an AI line editor. The tool had changed "She was fixing to leave" to "She was about to leave." Grammatically correct. Regionally wrong for a story set in rural Georgia.

Set strict constraints before you start. Tell the model to preserve dialect, humor, and metaphors. Specify voice elements you want untouched. Work in small chunks so you catch drift early. Read the results aloud. Your ear will catch what the algorithm misses.

Copyediting: strong on rules, blind to context

Grammar and punctuation follow patterns. AI excels at patterns. It applies Chicago style consistently. It catches subject-verb disagreement, missing commas, and number treatment errors.

But copyediting requires context judgment. Consider this sentence: "The ship's complement was forty sailors." A model trained on general usage might flag "complement" as a misspelling of "compliment." It does not recognize the nautical term.

Worldbuilding creates similar problems. Your fantasy kingdom has ranks and titles the model has never seen. Your sci-fi uses invented terminology. Your historical fiction includes period-appropriate spellings that modern tools mark as errors.

Feed your glossary and style sheet to the tool before each pass. Review every suggested change. Accept the mechanical fixes. Question anything that touches invented terms, proper nouns, or specialized vocabulary.

Proofreading: decent on typos, useless on layout

AI catches missing letters, doubled words, and basic punctuation errors. It works well on clean text files. It fails completely on designed pages.

Layout matters for final proofing. Hyphenation can break across lines in awkward places. Headers and footers can carry errors that do not appear in the running text. Page breaks can split dialogue attribution from the speech, creating confusion.

A model reading raw text sees "Go she said." It flags the missing comma. The same model reading a PDF might miss the problem if the page break puts "Go" at the bottom of page forty-seven and "she said" at the top of page forty-eight.

Use AI for early proofing passes on text files. Always finish with a human proofreader working on designed pages.

Research and fact-checking: confidently wrong

Large language models hallucinate. They generate plausible-sounding facts that are completely false. Ask about historical dates, scientific processes, or geographic details, and you might get convincing misinformation.

A model once told me that the Battle of Hastings occurred in 1067. Close enough to sound right. Wrong enough to embarrass you in print.

Use AI for initial research directions. Ask for topic overviews and source suggestions. Then verify everything through credible sources. Keep citations for any factual claims. Trust but verify becomes verify, then trust.

Sensitivity and representation: missing the lived experience

AI reflects the biases in its training data. It cannot replace sensitivity readers or subject-matter experts who bring lived experience to cultural representation.

The model might flag obvious stereotypes, but it will miss subtle problems. It cannot tell you whether your deaf character's experience feels authentic, or whether your depiction of poverty includes harmful assumptions.

Use sensitivity readers for identity representation. Use subject-matter experts for professional, medical, or technical details. Use AI for basic consistency checks, nothing more.

Test before you scale

Before you run AI on your whole manuscript, test it on one or two chapters. Pick a section that showcases your voice. Run it through your chosen tools. Compare the output against your style sheet.

Ask three questions:

• Does this still sound like me?
• Did it catch problems I missed?
• Did it create new problems I need to fix?

If voice drift is severe, adjust your constraints and try again. If the tool misses your genre's conventions, try a different model. If it creates more work than it saves, stick with human editors.

The goal is not perfection. The goal is useful assistance that respects your voice and accelerates your revision process. Some tools will fit your work. Others will not. Test small, learn fast, and scale what works.

How to use AI editing tools effectively

Prep the manuscript

Clean files lead to clean feedback. Work in .docx, double spaced, with standard paragraph styles. Remove Track Changes from older rounds. Save two copies before experiments: Manuscript_MASTER and Manuscript_Sandbox. Keep the master untouched.

Standardize basics:

• Straight quotes or smart quotes, pick one and stick with it.
• Emphasis style, italics not caps.
• Scene breaks, use a single marker, for example, three asterisks on a line.

Build a style sheet now, not later. List names, place spellings, hyphenation choices, number rules, and voice notes. A single page helps every tool, and every human, stay aligned.

Work in small pieces. One to two thousand words per pass. Smaller batches protect voice and reduce fatigue.

Developmental prompts that produce usable notes

Large models read fast and summarize fast. Give context first, then direct tasks. A template helps.

• “You are reading a [genre] novel. Protagonist: [name], goal: [goal], stakes: [stakes]. Create a scene-by-scene outline for Chapters 3 to 5. For each scene, give summary in two sentences, goal, conflict source, and exit condition.”
• “Identify inconsistent character motivation in Chapters 6 to 8. Cite sentences. Propose two plausible fixes for each inconsistency.”
• “List top five pacing risks by chapter for Chapters 1 to 10. For each risk, label as slow start, sagging middle, or rushed turn. Suggest one cut or one beat to add.”

Mini exercise: paste Chapter 4. Ask, “What promise does the opening make to the reader, and where does payoff appear?” If payoff never appears, revision target found.

Line-edit prompts without losing voice

Clarity and concision help, voice rules. Frame constraints with precision.

• “Tighten prose without changing voice. Keep metaphors. Preserve humor and regional idiom. Reduce adverbs by about 20 percent. Do not alter dialect markers such as ‘fixing to’ or ‘y’all.’ Provide revised paragraph followed by a bullet list explaining every change.”
• “Rewrite only for concision. Keep sentence rhythm. Do not touch dialogue unless grammar blocks comprehension.”

Before pasting a big chunk, teach the model your voice. Paste a page you love and say, “Study this page for rhythm and diction. Future edits must preserve these qualities. Confirm with three features you notice.” Now run the working page.

Read the output aloud. If breath or music disappears, roll back. A quick safeguard: “Replace only the words in brackets. Do not modify anything outside brackets.” Then bracket your flabby phrases, not whole sentences.

Copyedit prompts with a house style

Rules help here, context guides the rest. Prime the model with your style sheet.

• “Apply Chicago Manual of Style for commas, capitalization, and numerals. Follow my style sheet: serial comma on, em rule replaced by spaced en rule, email not e-mail, percent sign for figures, nine and below in words, 10 and above in numerals unless dialogue. Flag contradictions only, do not rewrite for tone.”
• “Build a style sheet from Chapters 1 to 3. Include proper nouns, hyphenation decisions, numerals versus words, italics rules for foreign terms, and recurring terms from worldbuilding. Present as a two-column list.”

Review flagged items against your world. If a tool marks complement as error in “the ship’s complement,” reject and add to exceptions. Feed the updated style sheet back before the next pass.

Proofing prompts that stay in bounds

Proofing serves accuracy, not style. Keep the scope narrow.

• First pass: “Find typos and punctuation errors only. Do not rewrite sentences. Return a list with location, original, correction.”
• Second pass: “Audit numbers, names, and timelines. Build a table with chapter, reference, and any mismatch. Flag date arithmetic and age math.”

Final proof belongs on designed pages, PDF or InDesign proofs. Ask a human for that round. Line breaks, widows and orphans, header errors, these require eyes on pages.

Reader simulation for quick gut checks

A model will simulate a reader persona well enough for early signals. Frame genre, comps, and target expectations.

• “Respond as a target audience beta reader. Genre, cozy mystery. Comps, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It and Dial A for Aunties. For Chapter 2, note any confusion, boredom, or delight by scene. Quote one line you loved. Give an engagement score from 1 to 5 with a one-sentence reason.”
• “As a romance reader who likes slow burn, report where tension dips between Chapters 10 and 12. Suggest one beat to raise longing without adding new plot.”

Use these notes as triage, not gospel. If feedback repeats across chapters, you have a fix list.

Workflow that protects voice and time

• Work small. One to two thousand words per round. Large dumps lead to generic output.
• Keep Track Changes on when possible, then accept or reject one edit at a time. A fast skim leads to voice drift.
• Read aloud after each pass. Your ear catches flattening faster than your eyes.
• Keep a change log. Date, chapter, tool used, prompt, and a two-line summary of what changed. Future you will say thanks.
• Version names matter. Title_01_MASTER, Title_02_DEV_AI, Title_03_DEV_HUMAN, Title_04_LINE_AI, Title_05_LINE_HUMAN. Order reveals workflow.
• Measure voice preservation. Pull three lines that sound like you from the source. Do those lines survive the pass? If not, tighten constraints and retry.

A quick run-through with one chapter

1. Paste Chapter 1 into the sandbox file. Run the developmental outline prompt. Mark two pacing risks.
2. Run a line edit on one scene only, with strict voice constraints. Read aloud. If the rhythm holds, proceed.
3. Apply the copyedit prompt with your style sheet. Accept mechanical fixes, reject worldbuilding errors, update the sheet.
4. Finish with the proofing passes, first typos, then numbers and names.
5. Ask the reader simulation for a gut check on engagement.

If this sequence saves time and keeps your voice, roll forward chapter by chapter. If not, adjust prompts, shorten batches, or switch tools. The goal is simple, faster clarity without losing you on the page.

Choosing and combining AI tools

You do not need a giant toolbox. You need a small set that fits your book and your workflow. Think roles, not brands, then pick one or two in each role.

Know your tool types

• LLM assistants. Good for outlines, developmental notes, and line-level options. They read fast, spot patterns, and propose edits in context.
• Grammar and style checkers. Grammarly, ProWritingAid, LanguageTool. Useful for mechanics, usage, and common slips.
• Readability and highlight tools. Hemingway and similar highlighters surface long sentences, passive voice, and dense paragraphs.
• Consistency checkers. PerfectIt hunts for mismatched hyphenation, capitalization, headings, and style guide drift.

Each group covers a different job. An LLM helps reshape a scene. A style checker polishes commas and usage. A consistency tool protects decisions across 300 pages.

Pick with intent

Before downloading anything, set criteria.

• Privacy. Read data policies. Look for training opt outs, on-device or enterprise plans, and document retention settings.
• Integrations. Word, Google Docs, Scrivener, and PDF. Track Changes support matters. So do custom dictionaries and style guides.
• Regional support. US or UK spelling, specialized dictionaries, and hyphenation rules.
• Reports. Exportable comments, change logs, and style sheets help handoffs.
• Cost. Monthly price plus any limits on words or projects. Team plans if you work with a coauthor.

Quick test. Paste one page with dialogue, one page with exposition, and a paragraph with jargon. If a tool mangles dialect or flags correct terms, move on.

Build a simple stack

Here is a clean sequence which avoids rework.

1. Structural pass with an LLM. Ask for a scene map, pacing risks, and a list of open questions. Do not accept rewrites yet. Gather notes.
2. Line pass with the LLM on small chunks. Set constraints on voice, humor, and dialect. Accept only edits which serve clarity.
3. Copyediting pass with a style checker. Apply Chicago patterns for commas, capitalization, and numerals. Feed in your style sheet.
4. Consistency pass with PerfectIt or a similar tool. Lock names, hyphenation, and headings. Build custom rules where needed.
5. Human proof on designed pages. PDF or InDesign proofs. Layout hides traps which software misses.

Nonfiction tweak. Insert a reference check after the line pass. Verify citations and quotes using reliable sources. Keep a source log.

Test before purchase

Do not guess. Run a bake-off.

• Pick a 1,500 word chapter with narrative, dialogue, and at least one thorny sentence.
• Create a style sheet in advance. Include names, place spellings, hyphenation choices, number rules, and tone notes.
• Run the same chapter through two LLMs and two style tools.

Score with a simple rubric, 0 to 5 for each line.

• Voice retention. Do your favorite lines still sound like you.
• Error detection. How many true problems surfaced.
• False positives. How many good sentences flagged as errors.
• Handling of dialect, humor, and idiom.
• Ease of use. Setup, speed, and export quality.

Add the numbers. Trust the output, and your gut. If a tool feels like it keeps reaching for the boring version of you, pass.

Mini exercise. Paste a page you love into an LLM and say, “List three features of this voice which you will protect in future edits.” If the response misses rhythm or diction, do not use that model for line work.

Mind your genre and glossary

Genre shapes language. Your tools need to respect it.

• SFF. Preload a glossary with names, invented terms, ship classes, magic systems, and capitalization rules. Add pronunciation notes if needed.
• Historical. Titles, honorifics, period hyphenation, and archaic spellings. Build entries such as “Mr”, “Mr.”, and “Mister” with rules for dialogue versus narration.
• Medical or legal. Latin plural forms, abbreviations, and capitalization for bodies and courts. Create a list of “do not autocorrect” items.

Where to store this. Use custom dictionaries in Grammarly or LanguageTool. Build a PerfectIt style with preferences and exceptions. For LLMs, paste the glossary at the top of a session and say, “Follow these terms without alteration.” Save the prompt for reuse.

Two sample stacks

Fiction, single author.

• LLM for outline and pacing notes.
• LLM for line options on 1,000 word chunks with voice constraints.
• ProWritingAid for grammar and style with your sheet loaded.
• PerfectIt for consistency.
• Human proof on PDF.

Nonfiction, coauthors.

• LLM to produce a chapter outline and a list of unanswered questions.
• Grammarly for copyediting within Word with Track Changes.
• PerfectIt with a custom style tuned to Chicago plus house preferences.
• Offline reference check by a researcher.
• Human proof on PDF.

A quick setup checklist

• Create a master style sheet. Names, places, hyphenation, numbers, capitalization, and voice notes.
• Pick one LLM and one style tool to pilot. Add PerfectIt if consistency often slips.
• Set data privacy options to the strictest level. Keep local copies of all files.
• Prepare a 1,500 word test chapter. Run the bake-off. Pick winners.
• Save prompts and settings as templates. Reuse for each chapter.
• Track versions with clear names. Title_01_DEV, Title_02_LINE, Title_03_COPY, Title_04_PROOF.

You do not need perfection from software. You need speed, clean catches, and respect for your voice. Build a small stack which delivers those three, then write the next chapter.

Pairing AI with human editors for best results

Use AI to warm up the draft. Hire a professional to shape taste, voice, and market fit. Think of it as prep work, then expert guidance.

Start with a smart pre-edit

Give AI tight jobs. Keep scope small.

• Tighten sentences for clarity and flow.
• Flag repetition, filler, and vague phrasing.
• List plot questions, timeline gaps, and character inconsistencies.
• Build a provisional style sheet with names, spellings, hyphenation, and number rules.

Set guardrails. Tell the model to preserve humor, rhythm, and idiom. Keep metaphors and slang. Limit rewrites to wording, not meaning. Work in 800 to 1,200 word chunks. Save the original file and a change log.

Quick prompts to try:

• “Summarize this scene in three bullets. Note any tension drop or unclear motivation.”
• “Tighten sentences for clarity. Preserve voice and dialect. Reduce adverbs by twenty percent. Keep unique phrasing.”

Hand off like a pro

Editors do better work when they see how you think. Share your AI outputs upfront.

Send:

• A clean chapter and the same chapter with edits tracked.
• AI-generated outline, scene list, and pacing notes.
• Your style sheet, even if rough.
• A list of open questions. Example, “Does Chapter 7 pay off the setup in Chapter 3.”
• A short note on audience, comps, and goals for the next draft.

Sample email you can copy:

Hi [Editor],

I ran a light AI pre-edit for clarity and a scene outline. Attached: clean draft, tracked changes, outline, and a one-page style sheet. My top questions: is Mara’s motivation convincing in Chapters 4 to 6, does the midpoint twist land, and where should I cut for pace.

My priority is voice. Please flag any over-smoothing, loss of humor, or generic phrasing. I am open to structural notes and a focus for the next pass.

Thanks,

[You]

Define scope by stage

A clear sequence saves money and stress.

• Developmental editor. Big picture. Structure, character arcs, POV, theme, target reader. You revise.
• AI-assisted revision. Use the dev notes to guide scene cuts, transitions, and clarifying lines. Keep voice guardrails on.
• Human line or copyedit. Rhythm, diction, consistency, usage, house style. You accept or reject with Track Changes.
• Human proof on designed pages. PDF or InDesign. Layout hides traps. Rivers, bad breaks, wrong headers, orphaned words.

Two passes with purpose beat five messy ones.

Budget smart

AI trims easy problems so your editor spends time on high-value work. A typical result, fewer hours on copyediting and fewer back-and-forth questions. Savings vary by draft quality and book length.

Tips:

• Pay for a sample edit before a big contract.
• Limit AI to pre-edit tasks before hiring. Do not keep tweaking during an edit. You will pay to sort out churn.
• Bundle. Ask for a dev edit report, then a shorter follow-up read after your revision.
• Protect the final proof. Always human, on pages.

Quality check your editor

Request a sample from two editors. Ten to twelve manuscript pages work well. Give each person the same packet.

What to look for:

• Voice preserved. Your best lines still sound like you wrote them.
• Depth of note. Not “tighten here,” but specific reasons. “The sentence rhythm drops after the joke, try a shorter tag.”
• Fixes for AI artifacts. Bland verbs, repetitive sentence shapes, over-smoothing of dialect, mixed US and UK spelling, tense drift, echoed words.
• Market sense. Notes align with genre norms and your comps.
• Communication. Edits are clear. Comments respectful and precise.

A tiny exercise for you. Pull a paragraph you love and one you dislike. Ask each editor to line edit both. Compare choices. If you feel sharper and braver after reading one version, you found a fit.

Common pitfalls to avoid

• Over-editing with AI before dev work. Polished sentences hung on shaky structure still wobble.
• Mixing outputs from three models in one chapter. Voice splinters. Pick one, and keep a saved prompt.
• Letting AI flip regional spelling or hyphenation. Lock rules in your style sheet.
• Trusting AI on facts. Verify names, dates, and quotes. Save sources.
• Sending an editor only the latest file. Context helps. Share the change log and style decisions.

A simple workflow you can keep

• Pre-edit one or two chapters with AI for clarity and a scene map.
• Hire a developmental editor for a report and margin notes.
• Revise with AI for small lifts, under strict voice rules.
• Hire a line or copyeditor for precision and style compliance.
• Send the designed pages to a human proofreader.
• Do a final author read aloud. Ears catch what eyes miss.

Hand-off checklist

• Clean manuscript file and tracked version.
• AI outline and scene summaries.
• Current style sheet with names, hyphenation, numbers, spelling variant, and voice notes.
• List of questions and goals for this stage.
• Change log or version list with dates.
• A short note on target reader and comps.

Use AI to move faster. Use an editor to move in the right direction. Together, you get a tighter book without losing your voice.

Ethics, privacy, and rights when using AI on manuscripts

Your book deserves protection. Your readers do too. Work with AI, but guard the draft, the facts, and your name on the cover.

Confidentiality: protect the draft

Before sharing a single page with a tool, read the data policy. Look for three things.

• Does the provider train models on user text.
• Are there opt-out switches, retention windows, and a data processing agreement.
• Is an enterprise or business plan available with stricter privacy.

For sensitive work or NDAs, prefer local or offline models. No server, no leak. If that option feels heavy, at least keep excerpts short and scrubbed.

Practical steps:

• Use a privacy checklist. Training off. Retention minimal. Encryption in transit and at rest. Vendor location and legal jurisdiction known.
• Ask support in writing. “Do you train on user uploads. What retention period applies. How do I delete stored data.” Save the replies.
• Mask names and identifiers. Replace “Mara Jensen, Austin Children’s Hospital” with “[Protagonist], [City Hospital].” Swap back later through Find and Replace.
• Avoid sharing contract material, addresses, legal disputes, or anything that binds other parties.

Mini exercise: draft two versions of a scene. One full. One with redactions and code names. Use the redacted sample for testing prompts. If results help, move forward with care.

Copyright and originality: stay on the right side

You own your manuscript. A publisher agreement, a work-for-hire deal, or coauthor contract might add conditions, so read every clause and keep emails.

Skip “write in the style of [living author].” That line invites trouble and flattens voice. Better prompts focus on qualities, not names.

Safer prompts to try:

• “Plain, direct sentences, quick rhythm, dry humor.”
• “First person, rural Midwest idiom, no slang from outside that region.”
• “High-tension dialogue, short beats, no metaphors.”

Facts need receipts. AI produces invented claims under pressure. Do not trust dates, quotes, or medical details without outside confirmation.

Build a source log:

• One sheet per chapter.
• Columns for claim, source link or citation, date checked, and a yes or no for confirmation.
• Paste full quotes with page numbers. Screenshots help when links die.

When a model suggests unique phrasing you keep, label those lines in your notes. Not for fear, for clarity. If a phrase echoes a known line, swap fresh language.

Bias and representation: bring in humans

Training data carries biases. Stereotypes slip in fast. Your name sits on the spine, so take responsibility.

First pass tools:

• Ask the model to list potential stereotypes, slurs, and power imbalances in a scene.
• Request alternate phrasings for descriptors of body, culture, disability, or religion.
• Add a guardrail prompt such as “Avoid exoticizing language. Use person-first or identity-first terms as preferred by the group discussed.”

Second pass humans:

• Hire a sensitivity reader with lived experience or deep domain knowledge.
• Share your goals, your concerns, and any constraints from genre or period.
• Pay fairly. Credit the reader in acknowledgments when appropriate.

A quick self-audit:

• Are characters from marginalized groups given agency and interiority.
• Does harm show up without naming it as harm.
• Are dialect, slang, or cultural markers used for flavor rather than humanity.

Fix on the page. Then ask a reader to verify.

Data hygiene: share less, scrub more

Public chatbots feel handy. Risk grows with volume. Avoid pasting entire unpublished books into open services.

Safer habits:

• Work in 1 to 2 thousand word chunks.
• Remove personal identifiers. Names, addresses, phone numbers, medical details.
• Replace unique world terms with placeholders for testing. Example, “moon ore” becomes “[resource].” Restore terms after approval.
• Strip front and back matter, acknowledgments, and legal sections.
• Keep a separate file with real names and a replacement key.

A simple redaction key:

• [MC] for main character.
• [SC1], [SC2] for supporting roles.
• [CITY], [SCHOOL], [HOSPITAL] for places.
• [YEAR], [DATE], [AMOUNT] for numbers.

Consistency helps later restoration.

Version safety: control the chaos

AI sessions multiply files fast. Chaos drains focus. Build a version habit and stick to it.

Suggested naming:

• Title_v01_2025-03-14_original.docx
• Title_v02_2025-03-20_AI-preedit_ch1-3.docx
• Title_v03_2025-04-02_dev-notes-incorporated.docx
• Title_v04_2025-04-18_lineedit-editorA.docx
• Title_v05_2025-05-01_proof-ready.pdf

Rules that save headaches:

• One master folder per book. Subfolders for Drafts, AI, Editor, Proof, and Sources.
• Save daily snapshots. Cloud sync plus a weekly offline backup on a drive you unplug.
• Keep a change log. Date, file name, scope of changes, tools used, and goals.
• Export platform transcripts and reports to PDF. Store beside the relevant draft.

Quick test: restore last Tuesday’s draft within five minutes. If that fails, tighten labeling and backup routines.

A short code of conduct to post above your desk

• Protect reader trust.
• Share only what a vendor needs to perform the task.
• Use models to propose options, not to copy voices.
• Verify facts with external sources.
• Bring in experts for representation and for legal or medical content.
• Track versions like a pro.
• Leave a clean paper trail for future you and for any publisher.

Ethics is not a hurdle. Ethics is the guardrail that keeps the book, the author, and the reader safe. Follow these habits and every draft moves forward without risk to privacy or rights.

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