My book, ChatGPT and me

AI offered titles for my book. What could possibly go wrong?

I’m giving birth in the spring.

No, God no, not THAT kind of birth. At 67, I’m well past the morning-sickness stage, thank goodness. But I am still giving birth, sort of, and the gestation has lasted nearly five years.

Barely 10 days past the vernal equinox this year, on April 1, my book, “Saving Ellen: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery,” will be published. Ellen was my sister, and she would be rolling on the floor laughing at the publication date, April Fool’s Day.

Nothing happens quickly in publishing. I began writing the book a few weeks before the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, spurred on by reading diaries I began when I was 13. The book involves the impact on my big Irish family when my sister Ellen contracted kidney disease, then considered terminal.

We lived in Buffalo, New York. My father dissolved into alcoholism and a very public affair. His married girlfriend had nine kids. Our family had six. We kids knew each other. One was in my class in elementary school.

Awkward. And not at all helpful.

My mother, who was funny and smart, became determined to help us all hang on through the chaos and save Ellen no matter what. She managed to do that in the end, but the decisions she made had consequences that she kept secret. I had to write a book to figure out exactly what happened.

When I began the book, I anticipated few surprises or difficulties. After all, I had written for daily newspapers for more than three decades. But tackling a book project is different.

For one, changes in technology have resulted in a flood of self-published books, about 2.3 million of which hit the market every year in the United States. In addition, around a million traditionally published books are released.

In other words, every 10 seconds, a book is published. Talk about competition.

Just 20 years ago, in 2005, about 282,000 books were published annually, according to a report published in 2010. No more.

The typical rules of the publishing industry are also daunting, to say the least. Most publishing companies insist on having the final say over book covers and titles, which frankly scared the hell out of me. So when a conventional publisher finally offered a contract (after 47 rejections from other publishers) I insisted that the term “meaningful collaboration” be written in the agreement.

Fortunately for me, Skyhorse Publishing was willing to be a partner. There was a tug-of-war over titles, though. At first, my title was just “Saving Ellen: A Memoir.” Then for a brief period it became “Buffalo Diaries.” Then I switched it back to “Saving Ellen.” I was apprehensive that Skyhorse would, in the end, slap any old title on my book, so I kept trying to brainstorm alternatives lest the title become, “Ellen Does Buffalo.”

So one day I turned to ChatGPT, fed it the plot of the book, asked for title suggestions and sat back to see what would happen.

It was hilarious. Here’s a sample:

"Whispers from Elmwood Avenue: A Story of Family, Struggle, and Strength.”

"Buffalo Bound: A Journey Through Poverty, Illness, and Unyielding Love.”

"Tales from the Rust Belt: Swimming Against Adversity in the Queen City of the Lakes.”

And, my all-time favorite, which still makes me laugh:

“The Struggle Beneath the Snow: A Memoir of Resilience in Buffalo's Cold Embrace.”

The publisher and I eventually agreed on the current title, with no blood spilled in the process.

So, countdown to April Fool’s Day. Of course, it’s available already for pre-order on Amazon and even better, my local independent bookstore, Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut, where I will have a book launch April 16. It’s also available for pre-order at Talking Leaves Bookstore, another independent bookstore located on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo. Talking Leaves will provide the books for my Buffalo launch April 29 at the James L. Crane Library, my old neighborhood library where I spent hundreds of blissful afternoons growing up. What a homecoming that will be.

As I slouch towards publication, I hope you all won’t mind if if write about the process from time to time in the next several months. It’s interesting being a debut book author at my age, particularly after spending a career writing thousands of shorter pieces.

And, hey, it might give us all a break from the raving madness coming out of the White House. God only knows the titles that ChatGPT would give that mess.

If you deem this post worthy of hitting the “like” button, you will not only make me happy, but you will make it easier for others to find Casey’s Catch in the thicket that is Substack.