Metadata

Yesterday I approved the metadata proofs for First. That involved the book’s short description, long description, author bio, and keywords people would use in an online search.

What was interesting about this exercise is that I was offered the choice of my original text, which I’d input into the publisher’s web forms; an optimized version; or a blank box where I could put something new. The optimized versions were jazzier than my originals, which kind of makes me a little sad as a writer. But then, I write stories, not marketing copy. That’s one of the reasons I’m using this publisher. In most cases I chose the optimized version, although for the bio I took the optimized text and changed a few words to clarify I ‘hail’ from New Mexico and now live in Texas.

It also made me wonder if AI optimization was involved. Not that a person couldn’t have done it, but it seems like the type of task where an AI could do the first pass and a person review it. I find that amusing since one of the major characters in First is an AI. When I started writing the book a couple of years ago, AI was still a concept. Now it’s everywhere. The times they are a-changin’.