The Buffalo Erie County Public Library celebrated its ninth annual Indie Author Day on Nov. 15.

Indie Author Day is an event held by the Buffalo Erie County Public Library every year to celebrate independent authors part of the Western New York community. It is a day filled with guest speakers, tabling for authors to promote their work, and networking to encourage connection with like-minded creatives.

This year, 82 authors signed up to table at the library and present their work, and over 120 people attended the event.

The event was divided into two segments, morning and afternoon. The morning segment was dedicated to four guest speakers who gave insights on the process of writing and publishing one’s own work.

The morning segment began with Valerie Gee and Katelin Pickard, who are the co-owners of Writer Island. They specialize in beta reading. They spoke about the process of beta reading when writing your own book, which is when a person reads through the manuscript of a book and provides feedback to the author from the perspective of a reader. “We read with a question in mind: does that make sense?”

Gee and Pickard were able to be reached after their presentation, where they were able to answer a few short questions on the impact artificial intelligence is having on this process.

Q: Do you think AI will have an effect on people seeking the input of actual humans and paying them for their expertise as opposed to just asking a chatbot to give advice and corrections?

A: We are afraid that’s true. We cringe to think of a novice author offering up their work to “The Robot.” How could it ever truly answer the question, “How does my writing touch your heart?”

Q: If that is the case, do you think that will lead to a fall in quality due to writers relying on AI, which will most likely lead to an inferior product compared to if a real person looked over their writing?

A: Definitely. As we move forward in time, the original, human-made content that AI models depend on to create feedback will be heavily diluted by newer, AI-created content. What is experimental today will become increasingly useless in the future. When you want to know if your writing makes sense, makes readers laugh, or has them craving one more chapter, it’s sensible to seek a human reader for detailed feedback. Writer Island Beta Readers will always give you honest feedback that will make your writing better. AI feedback, on the other hand? It’s just randomly made up based on a prediction of what you want to hear.

The next to speak was Jennifer Borgioli Binis of Schoolman Advisors. She works as a developmental editor, where she specializes in editing work based around the history of education in America. The focus of her presentation was AI’s inability to look over and edit a person’s work to the same degree as a human being would.

Binis went on to underline AI’s tendency to hallucinate responses, or making up answers out of thin air without any source or factual background to support its claim. She referred to Cory Doctorow, who dubbed AI “the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations.”

She spoke from the perspective of an editor, stating that human feedback on writing can be more fruitful than asking a chatbot. She also highlighted AI’s inability to do proper research.

“If you ask for research on, say, Germany’s role in making nuclear bombs, it’ll say ‘here’s some sources’ just to completely fabricate them.”

Afterwards was H.R. Gordon of Gordon Publishing, who broke down the publishing process and the paths that writers can take in releasing their work.

Gordon broke it into four different models: traditional, hybrid, vanity, and self-publishing, explaining the differences between each.

Traditional is the model with no upfront cost to the author, and limited marketing unless you are a notable author.

Hybrid is a cost-sharing model where production becomes a lot more personalized, and the workload is divided between author and publisher, with who pays what changing case-by-case.

Vanity is where the author pays the publisher upfront to publish the book, with the publisher holding little to no interest in the book’s success, as they earn money just from the author.

Self-publishing is where the author is in charge of all distribution of their own work, including all the costs involved.

She recommended different paths depending on what type of person you are in terms of handling rejection and changes to your story that are out of your control, with hybrid and self-publishing being the best if you want a lot of control over your work’s distribution.

Finally, there was Mason Winfield of Haunted History Ghost Walks Inc., who went in-depth into the novel writing process.

Winfield spoke about the importance of strong writing and the importance of building and maintaining that skillset.

“You’ve got to read what you write,” he said. “Listen to how it sounds. If it sounds awkward, slow, or not smooth to read, rewrite it.”

The afternoon session entailed more speakers, as well as a tabling session of authors to advertise their work and network with other authors and creatives. The Record asked a series of questions to six authors about the event, as well as their insight on being a writer.

Question 1: How does it feel being at an event representing indie authors?

Christian J. Fox: “It feels really fulfilling. I came to the first Indie Author Day last year, and I met my entire writer group here, so it feels like I’ve come full circle, and I’m helping support other people in the same way they supported me when I was getting into writing.”

Richard Robison Jr.: “I’ll answer truthfully instead of politically correct. I like that the library does this, I think it’s wonderful. I think the Indie Author movement is damaging to the publishing industry because anybody can write a book. People [write a book], and they take the file and send it to Amazon, and it’s a book. … I admire people’s interest and drive, but I have a graduate degree in this. The people here are lovely, I admire that they take the time to do this, and they spent money to publish their books, and that takes a commitment, but I think that it hurts the genuine writers. That’s my take.”

Shanoda Shay Williams: “This is amazing. It really is. Just to see all the different people from different cultures, different ethnicities, coming together for one purpose, and that’s to uplift people through reading, is great. To be a part of this is amazing. This is my first time, so I’m a novice to it.”

Mason Winfield: “It’s lovely. It’s a privilege. Nice to meet the other authors.”

Melissa Wild: “It honestly feels like this is the place where I belong. It’s great to have this opportunity.”

Anette Daniels Taylor: “It’s very inclusive, and it’s a great opportunity to build on community. I think a lot of writers feel that they’re alone, and to be an independent author, there’s more of that. So it’s really great to see what other people are writing, and to hear about the struggles that other people are having, as well as the successes, and it’s really great to meet each other to trade information. It’s a great networking event as well.”

Question 2: Do you see the seeming rise in anti-intellectualism in America as a hindrance to your work?

Fox: “I do a little bit. I think sometimes, people look things up with AI, and think that because they can use AI, they kind of ‘know stuff.’ And to the same vein, sometimes in school, people are scared to raise their hand and show they have the answer because they feel they might be picked on. I think anti-intellectualism is affecting us, but I think it can be overcome, hopefully.”

Robison Jr.: “No. There are so many books that are sold, more than ever, but there aren’t as many readers, which is kind of weird, like the percentage of readers has declined. I think there is still a huge market for it, it’s finding the person to market to. Getting entry into the world that gets your books in the hands of those people is the hardest part. But I think there is still a big population of serious readers.”

Williams: “Yes. I don’t think people are taking reading in general and being intellectual as seriously as they used to, and I think it’s the rise of social media, which has not allowed us to do this right here, it’s taking the face-to-face out of it, so I think we are not as intellectual as we could be.”

Winfield: “Well, yeah. I don’t know if anti-intellectualism is exactly the word I’d use. I do think there has been a lapse of literacy and a lapse of patience. And I’ve felt it myself. I can feel my mind changing due to technology and the internet, and of course, I fight it by reading real books, but you’re right, there is some force that is mitigating and challenging literature.”

Wild: “I tend not to. I know that right now, with the state of AI, anybody can just make anything, and personally, it’s a matter of integrity. But I truly believe that if you’re a real author or intellectual, you’re going to see the difference.”

Daniels Taylor: “I think the rise of anti-intellectualism is interfering with many authors, whether fiction, nonfiction, whether they’re writing books, or they’re writing essays or articles in the newspaper. The average citizen is not as interested in spending more than thirty seconds reading something, so it definitely does limit what information we are sharing and the information that they’re receiving. And there are still a lot of readers out here, which is great. There is still a big interest in fiction, it’s just moving in a different direction, and it’s important to us to figure out what that direction is and get on that ship as independent authors. It is very akin to the indie music industry. We can learn a lot from that industry.

Question 3 (asked to female authors): Do you find this area and the industry itself to be supportive or limiting as a female author in Western New York?

Williams: “I think one, being an African American female author, I think it opens up a little more doors, because I’m not seen out there, so I think maybe in that aspect, it is supportive in that way.”

Wild: “I find it to be very supportive. In addition to this library, The Bookworm in East Aurora, they’ve welcomed me to do author events, and the Barnes and Noble in the Galleria Mall has been welcoming as well.”

Daniels Taylor: “I think it depends a lot on the personal marketing, because to be an indie author means that you are doing a lot of your own marketing, sales, and promotion. And I feel that especially today, the challenges are as difficult or as easy as the amount of marketing you are putting into it, because that in and of itself is the most difficult part. I think that writing the book is one side, and that’s done, “woof, great”, release moment, and now it’s about selling and sharing the book with other people, and how to do that. I think that a lot of women have had different challenges, a lack of certain resources that maybe a lot of men have had, as well as experience. Many of us are learning how to navigate, you know, if we have children, or if we don’t have a backer. So it’s a whole new learning experience for a lot of us.”

Question 4: Do you have any advice for up-and-coming writers about the writing business in Western New York?

Christian J. Fox: “I do! The hardest part for me was, one, writing takes time, and sometimes you’re not confident in it, and the other part is, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Expect rejection, find some solace in it, because the more rejection you get, the closer you’re gonna get to what you’re looking for. Rejection isn’t a failure, it’s just a step closer to your goal.”

Robison Jr.: “Learn how to write first. I don’t mean to sound elitist, but I went to school for seven years, and I honed a craft. Refine the skills. Take a class. Take classes. Find careful readers and ask them to read your book and be honest with you.”

Williams: “I am so new to this, [my book] just came out in June, so I would say, stick with it, network–this is a great networking event right here–and get your name out there, and be visible.”

Winfield: “There is a lot of opportunity out there to get published, to get your word out, to make a difference, but be prepared to do most of the work–of every kind–yourself. It is not the same world we had even 25 years ago. You should be prepared to perhaps self-publish, to co-promote everything you do with a website, and use all the technology, and stay up with it.”

Wild: “I would say, just write, and keep writing. Get your whole story done. Don’t critique yourself, and don’t seek the critique of others, save that for the end.”

Daniels Taylor: “Keep going to events like this, keep looking for events, and like I said, the writing of the book was really difficult, but this is the other part of that job: marketing, promotion, and sharing that work. So, you’re going to have to spend more money in order to get that return on your investment, and that also involves a lot of time that has nothing to do with thinking about a new writing project. It’s all about the business of selling, now that you’re wearing so many different hats. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and if your first book didn’t do well, don’t take that as the reason you need to stop. It might be something you need to learn about selling or editing books.”

After the event, Jaqueline Hovey, the host of the juncture, sent an email to all who signed up to attend, thanking them as well as hinting at a call for submissions and tabling opportunities in the near future.

Indie Author Day is typically held on a Saturday in November. To get more information about this event, as well as the myriad of others happening at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, check out their website.