draft 3 of ??? (why most aspiring authors struggle)

Got the following question from a reader about the 12-week Tiny Visual Book cohort I floated yesterday...

She wrote:

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"As someone halfway through the 3rd draft of my book I'm curious about this. Would you be using AI to co-write the book and also to edit?"

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Short answer: yes.

For most people, AI is the only way they're going to finish a book at all... let alone in 12 weeks.

What's more:

Tiny Visual Books aren't meant to be your magnum opus.

They're not meant to contain everything you've ever thought, learned, or have to say about your topic.

They're meant to be a doorway into your world.

A compelling first impression that initiates a deeper conversation.

And this is exactly where most people get stuck.

They can't leave anything out.

So the project keeps expanding... draft after draft after draft... until it becomes this unwieldy monster they eventually abandon altogether.

(I've seen this play out more times than I can count.)

That's exactly why the format is deliberately small... 100-150 pages with 10-20 visuals.

You commit to a compressed timeline, a tight container, and getting the thing DONE.

AI is what makes that realistic for most people.

Now, does that mean you just hand the whole thing off to ChatGPT and hit publish?

HELL NO!

Everyone has to calibrate where they fall on the spectrum of AI contributing to their work.

And honestly, it varies by medium.

With emails, for example, I'm often happy to send out the first draft I get back from AI... or with a few minor edits.

Daily emails don't need to be perfect.

But I spent a LOT of time editing my own book manuscript...

Going through it line by line…

Punching up the imagery…

And making sure it sounded like me and said what I actually wanted to say.

Because I care deeply about how it reads.

So in a live cohort setting, my approach would be to calibrate for those who want to use AI as much as possible...

While encouraging those who want to play a more hands-on role in the writing to do so.

There's no single right answer here.

The only wrong answer is the book that never gets published.

If you've been stuck on draft 3 for longer than you care to admit, then you already know what I'm talking about.

The gap between "almost done" and "published" can stretch on forever if you let it.

A structured 12-week container with deadlines, accountability, and a clear step-by-step process is designed to close that gap for good.

Anyhow:

If this kind of thing interests you and you missed yesterday's email...

Reply with the word "COHORT" to let me know.

Jim Hamilton

P.S:

If you caught yesterday's email and already replied, you're all set. No need to reply again :)