The Manifesto | 8 October 2024

I really wanted to let this go and move on, but since it keeps getting dragged up, let’s do this.

History is full of people who ruin lives with nothing more than wild speculation and zero evidence. Someone makes an accusation, no proof, no facts, and boom, it’s all over. Whole careers trashed. Reputations destroyed. How many times do we need to see this before it clicks? Think Spanish Inquisition. Think McCarthyism. Hell, think of your average internet mob. One person “just knows” something and everyone piles on, no questions asked.

Months ago, I got raked over the coals because some genius decided my work might be AI-generated. They had no evidence, no nothing, just a gut feeling. Meanwhile, I’m over here jumping through hoops, trying to protect my reputation and livelihood. You’d think the fact that some of my books predate the very existence of commercial AI would matter. Or that I’ve written around 2 million words a year since 2016 because, get this, I’m a hack writer and I know how to use words. But no. Apparently, all it takes is one clown who “just knows,” and suddenly I’m facing potential platform bans, the kind that wreck your ability to pay the bills.

I wanted to move past this. I really did. But it keeps coming up, like some irritating little fly that won’t buzz off. Recently certain platform decided to mark my content as “most likely human-made.” Oh, great! Most likely human, huh? So I joked that maybe I should start listing my race and ethnicity as “most likely human” too. Because why not? We had a laugh, and I wanted to get back to my life.

But guess what? They’ve now "upgraded" my work to "handcrafted." Because when I think of handcrafted, I obviously think of digital books that I never physically touch. My wife is an artist who works with actual physical media, her work is handcrafted. My work is digital. It exists in cyberspace and gets printed on demand. Handcrafted is better than “probably not a robot,” but we’re clearly struggling with how to handle the issue here.

I’m not against putting real protections in place to stop AI-generated crap from pushing out actual creators. That’s something we need to be doing. But do I feel like that’s what’s happening here? No. It feels like these platforms are more interested in checking a box to appease the loudmouth conspiracy theorists out there than they are in actually protecting writers and artists. It’s like we’re dealing with AI hunters who are basically the equivalent of the “transvestigators.” You know, those whack jobs who look at someone’s collarbone and just “know” that male celebrity was assigned female at birth? Same energy, equal level of delusion, different flavor of ridiculousness.

And here we are, when there are still places that are over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in October, actual Nazis are roaming social media unchecked, eggs cost a small fortune, and women and the LGBTQ+ community are watching their rights disappear. But sure, let’s hyperfocus on making sure no AI-generated words sneak into anyone’s little elfgame. Yeah, that’s the real emergency here.

And while they’re wasting time trying to placate these nutjobs, it’s the real creators who get steamrolled. Not only do I need to worry about AI flooding the market, I need to prove my basic humanity and show receipts that I really wrote the things I wrote. Meanwhile, AI-generated junk keeps flowing, and no one’s really addressing that. Because it’s cheaper and easier to look like you’re solving the problem than to actually solve the problem.

1. For those of you still wondering how I can be this prolific, let me make it simple: this is my full-time job. I don’t have time to waste on video games, social media, or lurking on forums gossiping like old ladies after church. I write. I spend time with people I care about. I read. That’s the big secret. No conspiracy. Just work. So yeah, you can call me “most likely human,” but that’s my handcrafted truth.

2. No, I did not just compare myself to a victim of the Spanish Inquisition and/or HUAC. Reading comprehension and acting in good faith are on their way out of fashion, I know, but come on. But am I still spicy that I could have lost my business because one dude on a forum had a “feeling.” Damned right I am.

Discount Code: HANDMADE

Use this to get 20% off your order in the Lightspress shop.

New

Nothing. I’m working on DoubleZero: Gold Edition and Ghostlight. Don’t press me. If you kids don’t behave I will turn this car around, so help me.

Soon

More legacy horror titles, refreshed and in line with The Simple Approach.

Thank You

I hope you’re doing well today.