Balancing Artistic Innovation, Structures, and Tech: A Discussion with Elana Johnson (Episode 32)

In this installment of "Brave New Bookshelf", hosts Steph Pajonas and Danica Favorite discussed with Elana Johnson, a successful author and teacher, about her seamless integration of AI into her writing process. Known for her extensive career under multiple pen names and her ability to produce over 180 books, Elana's transformation from skeptic to AI master showcases the powerful potential of these tools in enhancing an author's workflow.

Listeners can access the episode through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio, or an RSS Feed.

Elana Johnson: Achieving Success with AI

Elana Johnson is a prominent figure in the publishing industry. Her work under three active pen names-Elana Johnson (Clean and Wholesome Beach Romance), Liz Isaacson (Christian Cowboy Romance and Family Saga), and Jessie Newton (Sweet Women's Fiction)-demonstrates her prolific output. With an annual release schedule of 14-15 books, she strategically balances direct website launches and retailer releases.

Despite her impressive success, Elana attributes her achievements to well-organized systems tailored to her lifestyle. As an empty nester and former typing teacher, she excels in writing efficiently in short bursts through meticulous planning.

Her journey into AI started as a means to streamline time-consuming tasks like outlining, blurb writing, and social media content creation. initially dismissive of Sudowrite's outputs, Elana's early experiments with it for non-passionate projects helped her later recognize AI's ability to foster creativity while preserving her voice.

When ChatGPT launched in late 2022, Elana embraced it as a more efficient research tool, offering concise results without the distractions of traditional search engines. She expanded its use to tasks such as translation, formatting dictated text, and even training personalized chatbots for social media copywriting.

By mid-2024, joining Future Fiction Academy (FFA), Elana delved deeper into fine-tuning models like ChatGPT and Gemini to better fit her unique writing style, marking the transition of AI from helpful tool to essential collaborator in her workflow. She gamified her interactions with AI, viewing it as a friendly competitor ("Who's going to be better today-me or the AI?") that rekindled her joy in writing after years of intense output.

Embracing the AI Revolution in Writing

Elana's journey underscores the transformative impact of AI on an author's workflow, from outlining to marketing. Here's a closer look at her AI-infused process:

Precision Outlining

For genres like women's fiction or mystery-heavy plots, Elana uses tools like Plotdrive or Raptor Write alongside frameworks like Jason Hamilton's 24 Chapter Outline. She inputs detailed prompts describing genre conventions, tropes, and character arcs to guide the AI in generating structured outlines. These outlines evolve daily based on her writing progress.

Character Development

Elana extracts character details from previous series installments using tools like Notebook LM or custom Plotdrive buttons. This consistent information stream ensures coherence across expansive family sagas while saving valuable hours spent on manual searching through old files.

Efficient Blurb Writing

Elana follows a three-step prompt system for blurb writing: inputting characters/tropes, providing examples from similar works, and refining AI-generated drafts. By feeding in series-specific examples, she maintains a consistent tone across marketing materials.

Notebook LM helps pull teaser-worthy excerpts from completed books, allowing Elana to generate evergreen content-e.g., teasers formatted in Canva-during production phases. This approach avoids last-minute panic for new posts while her assistant uses Notebook LM to streamline social media scheduling.

Dictation and Formatting

Elana dictates chapters via phone apps and formats them using OpenAI Playground, enabling her to produce up to 15,000 words per day during intensive writing sessions.

Adapting AI to Tasks: Elana's Top Recommendations

Elana has extensively explored various AI tools, tailoring each for specific tasks:

Notebook LM: Excellent for extracting information from large documents or generating social media content swiftly.
Plotdrive / Raptor Write: Essential for organizing projects via custom buttons containing frequently used prompts for outlining and character development.
OpenAI Playground: Perfect for translations, dictation formatting, and research-heavy projects.
Google Gemini: Ideal for creating witty dialogue for rom-coms due to its extensive training on platforms like YouTube.

By skillfully matching each tool's strengths-whether for outlining or dialogue generation-Elana maximizes efficiency without forcing a single model to perform all tasks.

Key Takeaways from Elana's Process

Elana Johnson's journey underscores the immense potential of AI in aiding authors while preserving their unique voices. Whether starting or refining an AI-assisted workflow, following these principles can lead to remarkable results:

Identify Pain Points: Address the most tedious or overwhelming aspects of your workflow first when experimenting with AI solutions.
Save and Reuse Prompts: Store effective prompts-e.g., for blurb writing-in tools like Notion to minimize repetition.
Customize Systems: Adopt workflow elements that resonate while abandoning methods that don't align with your process.
Gamify Your Workflow: Treat AI interactions as enjoyable challenges rather than laborious tasks to add excitement to mundane tasks.
Embrace Evergreen Content: Use tools like Notebook LM during production phases to continuously build reusable marketing assets alongside book drafts.

For more insights from this episode, visit the podcast website.

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Technology and entertainment merged seamlessly in Elana Johnson's writing process, as she utilized AI tools to help with outlining, blurb writing, and social media content creation.
Elana Johnson's extensive library of books, totaling over 180 titles, demonstrates the influence of technology in enhancing productivity and efficiency in book production.