✍️ AI vs. Freelance Writers: Models Training on Freelancers' Work

How freelancing platforms are trying to monetize creatives' processes.

Hey writers,

I’m not usually the one to sound alarm bells when it comes to AI and writing.

But in today’s newsletter, I’m highlighting a new use of AI in the freelance writing world that could either be exploitative or liberating — and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it in the comments.

In today’s newsletter, you’ll read about:

✨ AI vs. freelance writers: Fiverr’s new AI model trains on freelancers’ work

✍️ Writing jobs you may have missed last week

📚 How I approach my creative writing schedule and what’s next!

Plus: a big thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed The Ash Trials so far!

✍️ Missed This Past Week’s Writing Jobs?

Did you miss it? Here are the writing jobs on this past week’s job board:

• A freelance book ghostwriting job for a biography that pays $5,000/month

• A freelance article writing job that pays $5,000-$6,000/month

• Are you a late bloomer? Pitch your story for $250-$400 per accepted essay

If you missed the last issue of my writing job board, check it out at the link below:

📖 Bookish News & Links

…to give you more conversation starters with your writer friends!

• The Guardian published this great piece by Lucy Mangan about how reading romance novels helped her get over her grief of losing a loved one. I started writing in the romantasy genre in part because I think this form of escapism can be really healthy and healing for a lot of people. Sometimes, a love story and a happy ending are the best remedies for what ails you.

• Book sales are on the rise for the first time since 2021 and Barnes & Noble has been returned from the dead. This piece by Ted Gioia dives into some of the book biz behind-the-scenes on how the struggling book chain turned around. I think BookTok is also largely responsible for this (and doesn’t get enough props in this piece!) but I think there are some fascinating industry trends here.

• Who were the female writers that inspired Jane Austen’s work? One writer tries to unearth their legacies.

🫖 Sunday Tea: AI vs. Freelancers?

The freelance platform Fiverr just announced their AI-driven initiative “Fiverr Go.” Basically, freelance writers and designers can opt-in to allowing an AI model to train on their work.

The AI model then turns around and completes gigs for clients — replicating the freelancer’s process! — and then giving the freelancer a cut of the revenue.

On one hand, I understand how this could be lucrative for the freelancers who churn out a ton of deliverables like product descriptions. These high-volume freelance writers could earn money without having to personally do the work. In theory? Sounds great.

But in practice, what’s stopping a client from just telling ChatGPT or Claude to replicate the work they’re getting from a Fiverr Go model?

I’ve written on here before about writers vs. AI, and my stance is still the same. AI can be a fun research or brainstorming tool, but it’s merely that: a tool. AI can’t replace writers, because good writing is good thinking. This is especially true if you’re a long-form writer of things like blogs, Substacks, and books meant for human consumption.

What do we think of all this, writers and freelancers? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

📚 Author Corner: Planning My Creative Writing Schedule for My Next Book

Thank you to everyone who has continued to leave such kind reviews on Amazon and Goodreads for The Ash Trials! It means the world that you’ve shown up for the book, and it’s been so much fun to read your emails and messages about what you’ve enjoyed about the story.

Seriously — THANK YOU! I’m dropping a few reviews down below to shout out how grateful I am that y’all are truly reading and loving 🥰

Thank you Emma, Sabrina, Em, & everyone else who has taken the time to read and review. My partner Kyle can confirm that I squeal and do a happy dance whenever I see a new positive review come in or hear from a reader. Y’all make my day. ❤️

Now that I’ve had a few weeks off, it’s time to dive into the next book!

Here are 3 things I’m thinking about as I’m getting back into creative deep work:

1. Planning My Writing Time Out on Sundays. As my recent weeks of travel wind down, I’m going to return to having Sundays be my “reset” day. As part of that, I’ll also set aside my deep work writing blocks for both my creative writing as well as my freelance writing. Separate types of work require separate time blocks of at least 4 hours of interrupted deep work per time block!

2. Balancing Physical Exertion with Mental Exertion. I’ve been doing a lot of forest hikes lately, and that’s helped immensely when I’m balancing solving projects on the page or staring at screens. I find that I’m at my most creative when I’m keeping to a solid workout routine — that also includes daily walks in nature!

3. Sticking to a “Boring” Daily Routine. I’ve been able to be a successful digital nomad these past four years because I crave a “boring” daily routine. When I’m doing the same things every day (journaling, emails, working out, deep work blocks, hanging out with friends and fellow travelers) then I find that helps me create a solid foundation to build off of. These “boring” routines help me carve out plenty of time for deep work — and are also fun to subvert from time to time when I’m ready to spice things up and do something new. But if you start from boring, you’ll get the basics covered more often.

I can’t wait to start diving back into my next novel — looking forward to sharing that (and some upcoming book release dates) soon!

Enjoyed today’s post? Please give it a “heart” ❤️ and share or restack it.

Sending creativity and good writing vibes your way,

-Amy