{"id":6257,"date":"2025-10-21T13:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/21\/write-of-passage-robot-vs-robot\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T13:10:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:10:00","slug":"write-of-passage-robot-vs-robot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/21\/write-of-passage-robot-vs-robot\/","title":{"rendered":"Write of Passage: Robot vs. Robot"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6257-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/176715404\/5bbc74081bb1dfc9401bb79125c1cfe2.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/176715404\/5bbc74081bb1dfc9401bb79125c1cfe2.mp3\">https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/176715404\/5bbc74081bb1dfc9401bb79125c1cfe2.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>It started innocently enough. I\u2019d been away for a weekend of trips. Monday morning, I thought, <em>Let me check my email. <\/em>That\u2019s when the onslaught began.<\/p><div id=\"vanes-1262652695\" class=\"vanes-content vanes-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 2px;margin-right: 2px;margin-bottom: 2px;margin-left: 2px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/fireswordandsea.htm\" aria-label=\"Fire Sword &amp; Sea\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?fit=1706%2C2560&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Fire Sword &amp; Sea\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?w=1706&ssl=1 1706w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1 683w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1152&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C1536&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=1365%2C2048&ssl=1 1365w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" width=\"569\" height=\"853\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>A note \u2014 a perfectly polite one \u2014 popped to the top:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHi Vanessa,Thank you for writing such a wonderful story. I\u2019d love to share my thoughts on Goodreads and help more people discover it.Warm regards,Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Rachel. I don\u2019t know what book you read that moved you to <em>writeright<\/em> me (yes, she wrote <em>right<\/em>), but thanks.<\/p>\n<p>I kept going through my emails, and Rachel wrote again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHi there,Are you around? If you\u2019re interested in getting the review, just reply with the word \u2018Review.\u2019 I\u2019ll take it from there!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, I already suspected Rachel was a bot. But Miss Rachel wasn\u2019t done. She sent another message \u2014 and this time, she <em>rudely implied that I\u2019d missed a deadline.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In the entirety of my writing career, I\u2019ve missed exactly one deadline. One. There have been times when I\u2019ve needed more time, but I\u2019ve always negotiated that weeks, sometimes months, in advance. The only time I ever truly missed a deadline \u2014 by two weeks \u2014 was during COVID, when everyone in my household (and extended family) caught it. It was stressful. I\u2019m a Type A engineer by training, and believe me, that editor <em>reminds<\/em> me of it to this day.<\/p>\n<p>But I digress.<\/p>\n<p>As writers, we already have enough pressure. The market is shifting. Publishing lines are tightening. The expectation that social media alone can move huge swaths of books is both ridiculous and still the fairy dust traditional publishing counts on. And beyond all that pressure \u2014 the bots are coming for us.<\/p>\n<p>So instead of holding a s\u00e9ance for spam or blocking every Gmail address with numbers in it, I decided to sic one robot on another. Thus began the latest episode in my ongoing saga: <strong>Robot vs. Robot: The War of the AI Cousins.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Now I\u2019ve had my run in with Chat \u2013 please listen to Season 1: Episode 42 &#8211; <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.substack.com\/pub\/vanessariley\/p\/ai-cant-fake-the-funk-or-the-fire?r=3jz1c&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=false\"><strong>AI Can\u2019t Fake the Funk or the Fire<\/strong><\/a><strong>. And you\u2019ll see AI it\u2019s everywhere.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So, I started by feeding these bot emails into ChatGPT. I wanted to see what <em>it<\/em> would say about its more mischievous relatives.<\/p>\n<p>Take \u201cLilia C. Oram,\u201d for example \u2014 a self-proclaimed <em>Book Marketing Specialist<\/em> who wrote me an essay-length love letter about my novel <em>Queen of Exiles.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Her message read like a Ph.D. dissertation in flattery:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour novel Queen of Exiles is an exquisite and triumphant reimagining of Haiti\u2019s Queen Marie-Louise Covidavid Christophe\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Can\u2019t you just <em>hear<\/em> the B.S. in that framing? She continued with alliteration worthy of a thesaurus marathon:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the right strategy, this extraordinary story can reach readers and institutions that celebrate narratives of resistance, identity, and freedom\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then, naturally, came the sales pitch \u2014 A+ Content Optimization, Goodreads Listopia placement, Amazon keyword targeting. In short, every SEO buzzword known to humankind.<\/p>\n<p>ChatGPT barked and said:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Red Flags:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>* Overly formal \u201cpraise-bomb\u201d introduction.<\/p>\n<p>* Immediate pivot to services.<\/p>\n<p>* Fake \u201cstrategy\u201d jargon \u2014 terms like \u201cvisual storytelling campaigns,\u201d \u201cGoodreads Listopia placement,\u201d and \u201cAmazon A+ content optimization\u201d are standard scam-bait phrases. None of those services require outside contractors, and many are impossible or against Goodreads\/Amazon policy.<\/p>\n<p>* Generic Gmail addresses \u2014 a real agency would email from a company domain.<\/p>\n<p>* Unrealistic promises \u2014 \u201cglobal recognition,\u201d \u201creach institutions,\u201d \u201cconnect with readers of <em>The House of Eve<\/em>.\u201d All empty marketing fluff.<\/p>\n<p>My goodness, ChatGPT. I like your style. You\u2019re kind of blatant.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Booker Prize Blunder<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Then came <em>Imran<\/em>. According to his email, he ran \u201cThe Booker Prize Longlist Book Club.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, the real Booker Prize is one of literature\u2019s jewels. So when \u201cImran\u201d wrote to say his club was \u201ccaptivated by <em>The Bone Thief<\/em>\u201d and wanted to feature me in an upcoming author session, I nearly spat out my tea.<\/p>\n<p>There were several problems. First, I didn\u2019t write <em>The Bone Thief.<\/em> That\u2019s Vanessa <em>Lillie.<\/em> And second, <em>The Bone Thief<\/em> did not win the Booker Prize \u2014 that was <em>The Bone People<\/em> by Keri Hulme in 1985. Well, I\u2019ll be. I guess the bot thought all the Vanessas and people with bone books were the same.<\/p>\n<p>ChatGPT wasn\u2019t having it:<\/p>\n<p>* You didn\u2019t write <em>The Bone Thief.<\/em>A real literary book club \u2014 especially one invoking the Booker Prize \u2014 would never confuse your work with another author\u2019s. This was a mass email sent to hundreds of writers using scraped names and random book titles.<\/p>\n<p>* \u201cThe Booker Prize Longlist Book Club\u201d doesn\u2019t exist.The real Booker organization has an official site and verified socials. They don\u2019t cold-email authors, and they never host \u201copen author sessions\u201d via random Gmail accounts.<\/p>\n<p>* No institutional email address.If it\u2019s not from <em>@thebookerprizes.com<\/em> or <em>@bookerprizefoundation.org<\/em>, it\u2019s not real.<\/p>\n<p>* The tone is suspiciously perfect.Words like <em>captivated, haunting, moral complexity,<\/em> and <em>honored to host you<\/em> \u2014 pure AI-generated flattery.<\/p>\n<p>* The setup leads to a hook.If you reply, you\u2019ll probably get a follow-up asking for a \u201cbooking fee,\u201d \u201cZoom production support donation,\u201d or \u201cpress kit submission cost.\u201d That\u2019s the classic second-step scam.<\/p>\n<p>ChatGPT\u2019s advice was simple:<\/p>\n<p>* Don\u2019t reply. Any engagement confirms your email is active.<\/p>\n<p>* Mark as spam or phishing \u2014 it helps your provider learn.<\/p>\n<p>* Report impersonations to the real organizations being mimicked.<\/p>\n<p><strong>When the Bots Come Marching In<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re an author, chances are you\u2019ve met a bot like Imran, Lilia, or Rachel. They\u2019re part of a growing spam ecosystem aimed squarely at creatives \u2014 the AI-powered, copy-paste, faux-professional outreach bot.<\/p>\n<p>They know how to flatter. They know how to mimic sincerity. They even sprinkle in the occasional Oxford comma to seem literate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So I asked Chat, what are we going to <\/strong>do about your cousins?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And to its credit, ChatGPT turned into a snitch:<\/p>\n<p>Chat said the following are tells:<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>Vague praise.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>* <strong>Immediate offer.<\/strong> They pivot fast to \u201cservices,\u201d \u201cplacements,\u201d or \u201cfeatures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>Gmail or Outlook addresses.<\/strong> No legitimate organization uses <a href=\"mailto:liliacoram64@gmail.com\">liliacoram64@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>Unrealistic promises.<\/strong> \u201cGlobal recognition\u201d is not a measurable Key Peformance Indicator.<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>Keyword spells.<\/strong> \u201cJust reply with the word REVIEW.\u201d (Only bots or IG marketers talk like this.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>This is the new reality. I <\/strong>used to fear that robots would take my jobs.Now, I see they are being employed to spam my inboxes. Oh how the mighty have fallen.<\/p>\n<p>But in a strange way, these exchanges remind me that technology, for all its intelligence, still lacks <em>instinct.<\/em> The bots can simulate empathy, but they can\u2019t feel the exhaustion of 3 a.m. revisions, the fear of missing deadlines, or the desperation of wanting sincere recognition for our hard work.<\/p>\n<p>They don\u2019t know what it means to live a life of creative \u2014 only how to <em>market<\/em> badly to a creator.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Final Advice to Fellow Authors from a thug\u2019s cousin, ChatGpt:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>* Never click.<\/p>\n<p>* Never reply.<\/p>\n<p>* Always verify before you believe.<\/p>\n<p>* And if the flattery is too good, assume it\u2019s fake. No one writes that flowery for free.<\/p>\n<p>And this is from Vanessa &#8211; remember your work is worthy of praise and real emails. Don\u2019t give up or give space to the bots.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Books to help on our writing journey are:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1521\/9781544781211\"><strong>5\u2011Minute\u202fBook\u202fMarketing\u202ffor\u202fAuthors:<\/strong><\/a><strong> Great for if you\u2019re short on time but still want consistent effort.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1521\/9781608082452\">Book\u202fMarketing\u202ffor\u202fAuthors:\u202fGet\u202fReady,\u202fGet\u202fSet,\u202fSucceed!<\/a><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1521\/9781608082452\"><strong>:<\/strong><\/a><strong> A solid all-round guide for authors transitioning from writing to marketing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And of course the books mentioned by the bots:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1521\/9780593550144\"><strong>The Bone Thief<\/strong><\/a><strong> by Vanessa Lillie When a Native teenager vanishes from her small town\u2014a place with dark ties to an elite historical society\u2014archaeologist Syd Walker is called to investigate&#8230;from bestselling author Vanessa Lillie.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1521\/780140089226\">The Bone People<\/a>, A Booker Prize Winner by Keri Hulme is a novel about the complicated relationships between three outcasts of mixed European and Maori heritage<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1521\/9781982197377\">The House of Eve<\/a> by Sadeqa Johnson explores what it means to be a woman and a mother in the 1950s, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This week, I\u2019m highlighting <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thebookwormonline.com\/\"><strong>The Book Worm Bookstore<\/strong><\/a><strong> through their website and <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/shop\/shopthebookworm\"><strong>Bookshop.org<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>We are three months away from <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/fireswordandsea.htm\"><strong>Fire Sword and Sea<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u2014Help me build the momentum for this historical fiction. Please spread the word and preorder this disruptive narrative about lady pirates in the 1600s. They are women, many our Black and Indigenous. All want a better way of life. Piracy is legal. It\u2019s their answer. It\u2019s their prayer. This saga releases January 13, 2026. The link on my website shows retailers large and small who have set up preorders for this title. Get the collector cards. Who is on your crew?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Show notes include a list of the books mentioned in this broadcast.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanessariley.com\/\"><strong>VanessaRiley.com<\/strong><\/a><strong> under the podcast link in the About tab.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re ready to move with purpose and power, hit that like button and subscribe and share  <\/strong><strong><em>Write of Passage. Never miss a moment. We have work to do. And I need You on my team.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Thank you for listening. Hopefully, you\u2019ll come again. This is Vanessa Riley.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is a public episode. If you&#8217;d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.substack.com\/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2\">vanessariley.substack.com\/subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"vanes-2015716692\" class=\"vanes-after-content vanes-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 3px;margin-right: 3px;margin-bottom: 3px;margin-left: 3px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?fit=1080%2C1350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Listen to the Write of Passage Weekly Podcast\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?w=1080&ssl=1 1080w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=240%2C300&ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=819%2C1024&ssl=1 819w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=768%2C960&ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" width=\"540\" height=\"675\"   \/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It started innocently enough. I\u2019d been away for a weekend of trips. Monday morning, I thought, Let me check my email. That\u2019s when the onslaught began. A note \u2014 a perfectly polite one \u2014 popped to the top: \u201cHi Vanessa,Thank you for writing such a wonderful story. I\u2019d love to share my thoughts on Goodreads [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,793,9,620,756,694],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-stories","category-politics","category-recommended-reading","category-syndication","category-technology","category-tv-and-film"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/58ce3bb3631b404e26e3b60a190070e6.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}