When I published Aithorship, I included access to the preliminary chatlog that formed the foundation of the book. But what I didn’t fully explain was the journey from that initial conversation to the finished work you can read today. It’s a story of iteration, imperfection, and ultimately, the courage to ship something important into the world.
From Copyright Questions to First Draft
It all began with a simple conversation with ChatGPT about copyright guidelines related to AI. What started as a straightforward inquiry quickly evolved into something much larger—a deep exploration of authorship in the age of artificial intelligence. That initial chat became the backbone of what would become the first complete draft of Aithorship.
There’s something beautiful about how organic that process was. I wasn’t sitting down thinking, “Today I’m going to write a book about AI authorship.” Instead, I was just curious about a specific issue, and that curiosity led me down a rabbit hole that emerged as a full manuscript.
The Editing Marathon
Once I had that first draft, the real work began. I took the manuscript to Grammarly, not as a crutch, but as one tool in a larger editorial toolkit. The AI suggestions helped with some language issues, but I want to be clear—I didn’t blindly accept every recommendation. Good editing requires human judgment about what works and what doesn’t.
Beyond the algorithmic suggestions, I made edits based on my own instincts about the flow and clarity of the ideas. Some sections sang, others felt clunky. Some arguments felt tight, others meandered. This is where the craft of writing meets the art of knowing your own work.
I was fortunate to have another person read through the manuscript and offer suggestions. Fresh eyes are invaluable in the writing process, catching things you’ve become blind to after staring at the same paragraphs for months.
The Waiting Game
Then something interesting happened—the book sat. For a couple of months, I put it aside to work on other projects. This wasn’t procrastination; it was necessary distance. Sometimes you need to step away from a work to see it clearly when you return.
From Word Doc to Published Book
When I finally came back to the manuscript, I began the technical process of converting it from a Word document into an EPUB format. But this wasn’t just a formatting exercise—it became another round of editorial decision-making. As I worked through the conversion process, I found myself making cuts, removing redundancies, tightening arguments.
It was during this phase that I realized something was missing. The book needed a final chapter that served as its own critique—a meta-commentary that acknowledged the work’s limitations while defending its core premise. This wasn’t about perfection; it was about intellectual honesty.
The Reality of Independent Publishing
After a few more read-throughs, I reached a decision point that every independent author faces: Is this ready?
Here’s the truth—I don’t think the book is perfect. Could it have benefited from additional rounds of professional editorial feedback? Absolutely. Can I afford that level of professional editing support? No.
But here’s what I realized: Perfect shouldn’t be the enemy of important.
The message in Aithorship is clear and urgent: AI-assisted authorship is not just a novelty or a trend—it’s a legitimate form of creative work that deserves recognition and a place in our literary ecosystem. The world needs this conversation now, not after another year of polishing.
Embracing Imperfection in Service of Ideas Publishing
Aithorship taught me something crucial about the creative process in the digital age. We have unprecedented access to tools that can help us create, edit, and distribute our work. But we also have unprecedented ability to endlessly tinker, to chase an impossible standard of perfection that can keep important ideas locked away indefinitely.
Sometimes the most radical act is to say: This is good enough. This is ready. This needs to be in the world.
Aithorship isn’t perfect, but it’s real. It’s a genuine exploration of what it means to create in partnership with AI, written in partnership with AI, published by someone who believes that this new form of creativity deserves respect and recognition.
The process of creating the book became its own argument for aithorship—messy, iterative, collaborative, and ultimately, human in its decision to prioritize progress over perfection.
Interested in reading Aithorship? You can find it at https://a.co/d/2OXwmDb. The process was imperfect, but the ideas are worth your time.
Ronin Volf