How to Write a Book in One Day with ChatGPT

Amazon has just announced a new restriction that limits self publishing authors to publishing three books a day on its Kindle direct platform. 

In a normal world an author would struggle to publish one book in a year!

But we are now in the middle of a revolution where AI has broken the old world norms. 

And why has Amazon added this new bizarre requirement? 

It is worried about being flooded with books created by generative AI. 

Most of these new books are nonfiction and with the right prompt engineering you can create a new book in a matter of hours.  

Welcome to the new world.

What is prompt engineering?

McKinsey and Company says “Prompt engineering is the practice of designing inputs for generative AI tools that will produce optimal outputs”.

So… in essence; “Ask better questions and you will get better answers” 

Or better outputs…a better book. 

Well, a quick book. 

Why it matters 

Using the right prompts (questions) can deliver a much better result. But each area of expertise needs years of experience that can be called upon in order to ask the right questions.

For example:

• A product designer with expertise and experience will know the right questions to ask of AI to create a great product concept. 
• A fashion designer will know the steps to take an idea from good to great for a new shoe or fashion item.
• An architect will understand the intricacies for producing a new building that meets design and structural requirements. 

Each niche has its tips and tricks that you need to know to ask the right questions. Or in the world of AI “Create the right prompts”. 

Let’s take a closer look.

Going deeper

Human creativity can sometimes be constrained by the limitations imposed by both our innate and nurtured imaginations, putting blinkers on our ability to broaden our horizons.

And when you can take different concepts and re-combinations from an initial real world creation such as architecture and add an AI amplified and reimagined twist then some magic happens.

AI enhanced architecture

Here are some concepts of AI enhancements and augmentation applied to the Sydney Opera House that include the famous architects, Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry.

See more of this in a compilation on Instagram from imaginedarchitecture 

Any genius architect would struggle to imagine this and using AI to stretch our fixed thinking into a new combination is both exciting and disturbing. 

AI books

As well as the limit of 3 books a day Amazon has provided some “Content Guidelines” about AI generated or AI assisted books to reduce the flooding of books by robots.

“We require you to inform us of AI-generated content (text, images, or translations) when you publish a new book or make edits to and republish an existing book through KDP. AI-generated images include cover and interior images and artwork. You are not required to disclose AI-assisted content. We distinguish between AI-generated and AI-assisted content…”

Examples of books on Amazon written using ChatGPT 

There are now hundreds of books created with AI on Amazon and here are a few for a bit of inspiration. They vary from illustrated “how to” books to cookbooks and everything in-between.

Book Example 1. The Wise Little Squirrel: A Tale of Saving and Investing 

Brett Schler is credited with writing the first book written by ChatGPT on Amazon on January 24, 2023.

Description:

“The Wise Little Squirrel: A Tale of Saving and Investing” is a charming and engaging children’s book that teaches the importance of saving and investing in a fun and easy-to-understand way.

The story follows a clever and resourceful squirrel named Sammy, who discovers a shiny gold coin while out gathering acorns. With the help of his friends Benny the Bear and Lily the Chipmunk, Sammy learns about the importance of saving and investing and how it can help him achieve his goals.

Book Example 2. Classic Yogurt Caesar Salad (Reimagining the Timeless Favorite with a Healthy Twist) 

It is listed as written by Chat GPT (Author) and Afaq Hameed (Author).

Description 

“Classic Yogurt Caesar Salad: Reimagining the Timeless Favorite with a Healthy Twist” is a culinary journey that brings a fresh and nutritious perspective to the beloved Caesar Salad. Discover the perfect harmony of flavors as we replace the traditional ingredients with a creamy yogurt-based dressing that adds a tangy richness without compromising on taste.

This book offers a collection of tantalizing recipes that will satisfy your cravings while promoting a healthier lifestyle.

Book Example 3. ChatGPT for Digital Marketers

The author is ChatGPT and Holly Picano and it comes at 51 pages and was published on April 10,2023.

Description

ChatGPT for Digital Marketers is a comprehensive guide to using AI-powered language models in digital marketing.

Written by Holly Picano, a digital marketing expert and professor, this book covers everything from the basics of ChatGPT technology to advanced strategies for integrating it into your marketing efforts.

Book Example 4. 5 Secrets: How To Build Wealth

The author is “ChatGPT” and is 38 pages and published on September 12, 2023.

Description

The Wealth Builder’s Blueprint” is a practical and insightful guide that provides readers with a comprehensive roadmap to building wealth and achieving financial success. This book distills years of knowledge and experience into actionable steps that anyone can follow to secure their financial future.

7 Steps to write a book in one day with ChatGPT 

What are the prompts you need for ChatGPT to write a well structured and engaging book?

The easiest place to start is with a short non-fiction ebook. One general book category that works well are “How To” books. 

Here is a simple seven-step prompting process for writing a book with ChatGPT.

Step 1: Input the topic such as “Create a 10 chapter outline for a book on “How to Be Happy” 

Step 2:  Write 10 different headlines including a subtopic for a book on the topic of  “How to be Happy”

Step 3: Write an introduction for the book that is humorous in tone (or serious) or whatever type of voice you want it to be.

Step 4: Take each chapter headline and ask ChatGPT to write 1,000 words for each chapter.

Step 5: Provide real examples or stories for each chapter topic. 

Step 6: Rinse and repeat for every chapter.

Step 7: Ask ChatGPT to write a conclusion.

This is just a simple overview of using ChatGPT to produce a book in one day. 

So this is not a prescriptive system but just a suggestion that you can play with and you can add your own nuances to this approach. 

Trial and experiment and have some fun and find out what works for you. 

Check out this tool you can use for AI-assisted book writing

Since the explosion of AI generators at the end of 2022 there have been a lot of tools created to help with all sorts of tasks.

Here is one AI tool worth checking out:

Book-In-A-Click

ChatGPT can often be repetitive and sometimes requires a lot of editing but Book-In-A-Click says that you can write a book in minutes.  It is powered by Generait.net technology.

Here is the overview of how it works (from their website), the benefits and the pricing.

How does it work?

Book-in-a-Click is powered by ChatGPT, but with an incredible twist. It embraces the power of Book in a Click’s™ function which has been tweaked to perfection to write a consistently flowing book without any repetition (unlike other software). 

The app is incredibly easy to use – simply choose from either Fiction Novels or Non Fiction and enter the book name and select the number of chapters you want.

Once you’ve given the app all the necessary details, click the generate button and you’ll have a complete book ready to read or edit in seconds!

What are the benefits?

Time is precious, and writing a book can take months or even years. With Book-in-a-Click, you can save time and effort by generating a complete book in minutes. No more staring at a blank page, wondering where to start – the app does all the hard work for you.

Harnessing ChatGPT’s AI technology ensures that the content generated is of the highest quality, with proper grammar, formatting, and structure. You won’t have to worry about typos or incorrect sentences as the app has been built keeping this in mind.

Pricing

The wrap

The world of AI and ChatGPT is pushing the boundaries of human creativity and productivity. A book in one day instead of one year is stretching our conception of “normal”. We need to make sure we can do more with less but don’t have an existential crisis along the way. 

How can we wrap our brains and paradigms of the status quo to augmentation rather than replacement? AI and ChatGPT are tools to amplify our intelligence and humanity. We need to make sure that we don’t become its servant. And hand over everything to the tech. 

So write with the robot as your assistant and wrap it with human touch and stories.

The lines of machine versus human are becoming blurred. Enjoy the paradox of being human in a world of artificial intelligence.