AI image generators can’t see my character. Sarai—a Central Asian woman with copper-bronze skin and freckles—doesn’t exist in their training data. After dozens of failed generations across thirteen different models, I documented exactly what goes wrong and built a workflow to fix it: using AI as compositional scaffolding while correcting ethnicity, skin tone, and features manually. This piece breaks down the specific failure modes (phenotype collapse, extreme skin tone overcorrection, Instagram-mom glamorization), shows the eight-step process I used to get accurate results (well, the best I could manage anyway), and explains why “just commission a human artist” produced the same erasure. For writers with characters from underrepresented populations, here’s what you’re up against—and how to fight it.
Picking the Best AI Video Model for Book Promo Videos and Trailers
I’ve been drowning in AI video model options while building promo videos and trailers for “Doors to the Stars.” Google Veo 3? Kling 2.5? Runway Gen-4? Sora 2? The marketing claims all sound identical—until you actually test them. Mixing the wrong model to the wrong shot wastes hours (and dollars) generating unusable footage. I’ve researched the major players included in Freepik’s umbrella subscription to figure out which models excel at what, and the differences matter more than you’d think. The lessons I learned about matching AI video tools to actual storytelling needs will save you time and money.
Why I Don’t Stress About Audiobook Deadlines (And You Don’t Have to Either)
My publisher expected weeks of work on Podium Entertainment’s audiobook production forms. Monday morning they’ll find complete submission materials in their inbox—detailed character breakdowns, comprehensive content warnings, and a 200+ entry pronunciation guide covering four distinct linguistic systems. Total time invested: one Friday evening. Here’s the exact process I used with Claude Sonnet 4 to compress what’s typically 2-3 weeks of tedious work into 5 focused hours. For a 136,000-word space opera with body-swapping operatives, multiple aliases, and invented languages, systematic beats casual every time. Use AI for data processing, not creative judgment. Keep your weekends free.
The Annex 