5 Idiotic Things People Do That Piss Writers Off

Inspiration is often found while traveling like on this spot during a Helsinki winter.

In the middle of writing a travel blog, it struck me faster than the sound of the drums outside my apartment window that I’ve done a bunch of bone-headed things over the years on my publishing journey ― to the detriment of my ability to grow my author brand and get more eyes on books that I’m sure many would enjoy. While I have learned from my self-inflicted mistakes, I now find the independent publishing environment not only more competitive but also downright painful to navigate because of shortcuts that affect us all in the writing industry. 

To that end, the best I can do is share what you shouldn’t do, not only because it’s not ethical, but it demeans the writing process and the storyteller you can be with time and effort. Who cares how many eyes find your projects? Is it worth cutting corners even if it’s not your work? For many of us, writing is not only a fun hobby but a passion that can potentially be more than a simple side gig, but an actual career. If people keep doing these idiotic things, many of us who do it the right way will have to be content with our family and friends reading our published works, knowing that the masses will never find the works we have toiled on over the years.

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5 Idiotic Things You Can Do That Piss Other Writers Off

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A good writer will see this and immediately have a story.

1. Tell people you are writing a book, and even have a book cover, before you've started the project. Let’s go even further, putting this not-started book on a webpage for all to see. Now let’s dissect this one. I understand the joy of fleshing out a new story idea and even generating a few possible covers to inspire your writing journey, but come on, putting a cover on your professional work site, that might not be entirely for creative purposes, is a boneheaded thing. 

Thankfully, I can’t take credit for this doozy, but I’ve seen it done by more than one person over the years. As someone who has written several million words, it’s frustrating when people do this. Honestly, what are you trying to do exactly? What do you accomplish, and even offering pre-sales, what is that all about? If you don’t have a preexisting catalogue, this is a BIG no-no. It sends a mixed message. I believe it’s even worse when this project has been just an idea for years, but you are using it to market yourself as an expert in some field. 

2. Claim to be an author when you haven’t actually written or published anything. I know, this sounds a lot like the previous one, but there is a slight distinction. I can’t be the only person who has seen professional websites with people putting in their titles “author” only to do a quick web search and find that Dr. Glen Nobody is counting his senior history thesis (a mere twenty pages) as the gauntlet for his reasoning. Don’t get me started on the yahoos who use AI to craft the entire story and then take credit for it. You didn’t do anything. That doesn’t make you an author. I’m fine with “storyteller” because who am I to judge you telling stories to your three- and five-year-olds at night, but “author” is supposed to mean something. Or at least it did, years ago. 

We can also add to this list all the influencers who seem to think that publishing a brief post makes them an author. Nope, sorry. You’re an author or writer if you actually have something tangible, created by you, that’s more than a thousand words. Sure, we can debate word length, but honestly, let’s have some integrity in this process and not water down these titles any further.

3. Use AI as your sole means of writing your latest project. Now I get it: AI isn’t going anywhere; it's integrated into many aspects of our lives. Even this morning, I noticed Gemini has decided it’s now going to summarize my emails, like I’m a chimp who can’t remember the thread on my own. When did I ask for this again? 

Truthfully, when did I ask for AI to weave itself into everything that I’m doing online? Even in Double Cross, I would ask whether a certain weapon was realistic for the scenario I was brainstorming, only to end up arguing with the AI to prevent it from generating dialogue or crafting the scene. I only wanted to know whether a blunt object to this character’s head would cause this or that. 

So if I’m literally fighting and yelling at AI to only do what I’m asking, I already know the slippery slope the weekend hacks are doing, hoping to generate big sales with their latest books. What are they doing? They simply tell the generator they want to compose a book on a certain topic, with certain guidelines, and boom, there it is. Who knows if they even bother to read or review the thing before clicking publish on KDP? All I know is that, not only is this not authentic to real writing, but it takes away from those who are putting in the time, the real effort, to generate and compose literature that matters. 

But please, keep using AI to write your stories, to do dialogue and entire sequences and chapters, because you haven’t read enough books or practiced enough to develop the skill on your own. It’s one thing to look up information or to clarify a point you want to make, especially with non-fiction pieces, but don’t be part of that army of mules who have decided AI is a shortcut to authorhood.

While I’m on this rant, this goes for students everywhere. If you don’t actually write, how do you plan to develop that skill? It’s not just the act of crafting a story, but building those synapses in your brain to connect the dots and create something that goes from point A to point B.  

4. Publish books or articles you didn’t physically write. Yes, I know this sounds a lot like AI, but in this case, let’s pretend these hacks didn’t actually generate their stories; they simply found books and copied them. Yep, I had this happen to me once, several years ago. I’ve also seen it on author bulletin boards and in writing groups, where those who actually write reach out to others, saying, “Hey, your book ‘Tangier Living’ is out as ‘Moroccan Sunsets’ on this Indian book site.” Literally, aside from the cover, the author name and formatting, which were different, verbatim, everything else was the same. This wasn’t the case of an author like me changing a pen name to separate young adult fiction from older material, but of an actual person stealing someone else’s literary work and publishing it as their own. 

Please go ahead and join that line of work. Not only will you upset the author, but karma might come for you in the long run.

Speaking of publishing in general, the more AI and copied works that flood the marketplace, the harder it is for readers to find authentic pieces. How is that fair to those who actually put in the time for their stories, only to have them pushed farther down in this messed-up algorithm that, for a moment, appears to be rewarding any content that appears in the global internet ether? 

5. My favorite one has to be this. Find a tangible product or idea, and write one short book on the topic, then break it into five smaller “books” to increase sales. This is pure marketing genius that screws real literary works, because influencers say writing an ebook is a path to riches and success.

There was one “author” I recall who published a series of dating books, or was it travel or finance? I wish I remembered. Anyway, the first book was free, and the preceding books were $0.99. When you actually clicked on the work, it wasn't just ten pages long; it was a glorified sales pitch to get you to buy the new product. All told, the six books ran to fifty pages. While I commend the person for trying to push their system or whatever it was, again labeling themselves as an expert, author, whatever, combines all the no-nos I’ve already mentioned. 

The problem is with this person’s schtick, and others like him is they flood the ebook market, making it harder for real works to be seen and for genuine projects to gain traction in the independent publishing circles. Not to mention, most of these series are utter crap, not proofread, and now likely AI trash. 

Just don’t do it, please.

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Bonus Time - Because we all deserve a 6th reason 

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I love this street in Helsinki!

Finally, because a bonus is what many people look for. Here’s the doozy for me. This is my biggest pet peeve. Tell a published author you have a story idea or (even a blog) and want them to write it for you. I’m annoyed thinking about this one, as though I and others who have a list of projects to work on want to take on your latest whim when you simply jotted down a few characters on a napkin, or better yet, you want your life story to be told, and I’m the person to do it. What’s that, for free too, wow, what a deal?

I’m flattered, sure, but really, why can’t you write this story? If I don’t write this story, will you take the AI route? Or are you going to find someone else in your immediate circle to take on this amazing project?

Seriously now, the number of times people have proposed having their story told over the years is comical. I’m not trying to be mean, but I’m busy, and so are other authors. I know John Kennedy, with his Profiles in Courage, seems like a genuine influence for you, but I’m not a ghostwriter, either, certainly not for free. 

Should you find a way to compose your story, I’m more than willing to help you get that cover made and suggest ways to market the heck out of the story, but just don’t label yourself something you aren’t and be authentic. That’s all we can ask for in 2026 and beyond.

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