Last week, I received an email from KDP that read: We are terminating your account effective immediately because we found that you have published titles with misleading content that have the potential to mislead or defraud our customers.
I was working on a revision of my book A Love Alchemist’s Notebook: Magical Secrets for Drawing Your True Love Into Your Life, first published by Llewellyn in 2010. Then, it had earned an acclaimed starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. Since the rights reverted to me, I decided to re-release it. So I had to redesign the exterior (cover and back) and the interior- no small feat.
I didn’t believe the email from KDP was real; I was shocked!
When I appealed, their cryptic response read that I violated their policies, and that they also didn’t have to tell me what policies exactly I violated. Wow. KDP had always been very helpful to me; their excellent customer service is well-known in self-publishing. This new approach was… different.
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What I *think* happened? I didn’t answer affirmatively to “I used AI” in the pre-publication survey. It turned out to *not be a survey.
I did use AI on my book cover.
Similar to the way one creates a digital collage from clip art, fonts, photos, I used those, and some AI, too. I also modified the AI image.
When KDP asked “Did you use AI in your cover?” thinking this question was a survey, I thought about how to answer this. Knowing that when you check a box, that information can be used against you, and I didn’t want to be unfairly penalized by getting anywhere remotely near the same category as those creating entire books with AI, I decided to not offer them this information.
Let’s talk about AI, Artificial Intelligence, for a hot minute.
People are divided. There are those who are eager for AI to solve all kinds of world problems. There are those who don’t want to be replaced by robots, and are very afraid of this. Equally, many share a mix of both: We want the positive advancement of AI but without the changes it will require all of us to make in order to adapt. Meaning: Jobs will change. How we have been doing things will need to change because future technology will change those, too.
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I do feel I was caught in the crossfire of our shifting times. Most of you know that Pluto, the “evolve or die” planet entered the sign of Aquarius on January 20, where it will remain until 2043 (minus a brief retrograde back into Capricorn from 9/3-11/19/24). Aquarius rules technology, and futuristic, far-reaching shifts. Pluto brings renewing and transformative power to all things Aquarius, so asks us to adapt to changes – to evolve, or die.
AI is here.
Machine learning is happening in so many ways that it will blow your mind. You cannot stop the changing tide. Some people like that this is happening, many don’t. Remember, we’re all going to have to figure out how to use it so it works for us and not against us.
Change is chaotic.
And, according to my husband who is a physicist, really fast change is really chaotic, and if change happens too quickly, before people are able to adapt to it, things can crumble, fall apart. Things stop making sense.
I feel this is what is happening here: It’s a little bit of chaos, right now, in the publishing world. Now I’m tied into this particular collective unfolding.
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Why did I use AI on my cover? Because I enjoy using it! Because I can!
Why did I think this? Because: AI is here, it’s already being used in a variety of ways, and on KDP there’s no policy against using it. Unlike Ingram Sparks publishing, who explicitly states that “no AI can be used in published works”, KDP/Amazon does not have a defined stance against AI. Asking authors to honestly answer: “Do you use AI?” is their policy. A policy requiring us to answer a question about AI is not the same as taking a clear position on it.
There is a lack of clarity, right now, around AI. Things are rapidly changing, and therefore in self-publishing and design, many are too afraid to use AI in any capacity. Yet even big publishing houses and names are starting to use it in their cover art, as are companies that sell stock photography and images.
My graphic designer won’t use AI unless someone asks her. She doesn’t want to be held liable for any fallout. Because she has also seen authors shut down by KDP for using clip art purchased off the web, this has led her to believe that what KDP/Amazon doesn’t like is that they can’t hold a copyright on AI created works. Since you cannot copyright anything that a machine creates, you will not own any images you use, and they can’t either. This doesn’t bother me. I know I don’t own it. If my book cover is re-copied, to me that’s no different from iStock or Getty Images being reused. If someone uses my words along with that cover, however, they are violating my copyright.
As an artist, I have no issue with machine learning in regards to making art. But unlike me, there are many artists who feel AI is simply unfair. They feel that when a machine learns from their artwork they are being stolen from. Some fear being replaced entirely by machine learning.
In the coming years, all of us will reach a choice point:
You can choose either to go against the changing tide, or you will find a way to flow with it by deciding to learn how to use the changes to your advantage.
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Back to my book.
Have you ever been so shocked by a thing that everything temporarily suspends and Soul-Knowing pours forth? Things become crystal clear?
That’s also Aquarius, the water bearer: When water/inspiration pours, it happens quickly. In that moment, that’s what happened for me (natal Uranus, Aquarius’ ruler, is on my ASC). Instantly, while staring at that account terminated email, I KNEW the following (I “heard” this):
- I AM more powerful than Amazon. No one can take away my author-ity, or author-ship. This is another opportunity to allow my Divinity to take the lead, and to invite all the inner work I’ve been doing to integrate my Divinity into everything in my life… into my life.
- What is happening is meant to be happening. Big YESSSSS! I heard this as well. I am getting so much better at trusting that what is happening is meant to be happening. I may not know why; I often have limited understanding from my current vantage point. But I do trust that I can be in a YES with life. It’s a lot easier to align with your YES than to resist it.
- Further, I was TOLD this: Don’t forget that YOU are the Creator, and they are just the tool. So, the hammer (Amazon) is a popular tool for hitting nails on the head. Aren’t there other ways to hit a nail on the head? Yes, there are other ways to ‘nail it’. If this isn’t right for you, there are many possibilities. The same rules apply, here, as with everything else in your life: What feels good to you is always Right for you. What creates stress, is not.
That was my Guidance, speaking. I “got” all of this pretty quickly. I still had to back my Ego out of the fighting corner several times, because I’m a human who thought her entire identity as an author had been totally eliminated.
6 days passed…
Every day, I kept re-anchoring back into my Divinity.
Every day, I did energy practices.
Every day, I reminded myself of the most important things in my life: To be in ease and peace. To work on my mind-body connection. To relax, and to enjoy.
Every day, I wrote to Amazon. Only after researching their policies, and fine-tooth combing everything that could’ve gone wrong on my part, I coolly made a case for myself, via email to their customer support (my great KDP phone support had been taken away with termination) and also to jeff@amazon.com.
…And on day 6, my account was magically reinstated. I’m baaaaack!!! I wasn’t offered an explanation, or nothing further than: Follow our policies.
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I did feel victimized for a minute, that I’d been treated unfairly, poorly.
But I’m not a victim.
I didn’t act like one. I’ve cracked too many secrets of the Universe to believe that anything can truly hurt me anymore. This is why I never stepped into the energy of injustice and unfairness. That’s not who I AM. I KNOW: I’m the Creator of my own experience. I’m onto ME – if you know what I mean?!
I know too much about how it ALL really works.
I’m too far gone!!! LOL
I’ve been through enough changes in my life to know that things aren’t how they first appear. Eventually, you realize that the only thing standing between you and what you most want is a shift of perception. Into the Truth.
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This was a weird (Aquarius) experiment, for sure.
But, my Divinity? She’s smiling. Happy. I feel this. I AM at ease with all of this…amidst all of this. I am at ease with change. I am at ease with the future, AI, and all that Pluto in Aquarius will bring. I trust that what is happening is meant to be happening. I know SHE/my Divinity relishes this opportunity to remember: Who’s in charge, HER power, and what’s True, important and real.
