feature story Archives - Author JD Lasica

When AI becomes the deceiver in the room

Steve Rosenbaum’s new book on the precariousness of truth in the AI Age I use AI nearly every day. I use it to research, to synthesize, to brainstorm. And if you’re reading this, chances are you do, too. So when I sat down on a Zoom call Friday with old friend Steve Rosenbaum to talk about his new book, The Future of Truth: How AI Reshapes Reality, I wasn’t sure whether Rosenbaum falls into the anti-AI camp like so many others online. Not quite. Rosenbaum uses AI daily – but with a journalist’s skeptical eye. Rosenbaum, an Emmy-winning filmmaker and co-founder of the Sustainable Media Center in New York, has spent the past four years on a deep dive into the

An AI recommends book comps for ‘Firefall’

Themes of AI, tech billionaires, space weapons, sex trafficking & more What’s in a comp? Most non-authors will scratch their chin at the question, but writers know that comps are a big deal. The kind of books you write determines where you wind up on the physical or virtual bookstore shelves. Your comps tell you who writes stories similar to yours. They’re one of the key things agents will consider before taking you on. I bring this up because my company, Authors A.I., is working on a comps product for our customers. Authors have told us they like the expert feedback from our fiction-loving AI, Marlowe. But they also like to hear how their story compares to best-selling authors in

Who is J.D. Lasica?

With more people turning to A.I. models for search results, it’s interesting to note that the A.I. engines often do a better job than Wikipedia. That’s certainly the case when it comes to my bio. I asked a veteran Wikipedia editor to update my Wikipedia bio to account for updates in my professional career, and she was hamstrung by Wikipedia’s overly stringent requirements. Here, then, is a more accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive biography: Joseph Daniel “J.D.” Lasica Born: July 27, 1965, Passaic, New JerseyEducation: Elmwood Park High School; B.A. in Communication, Rutgers University Occupation: Entrepreneur, author, journalist, public speaker, AI expert, photographerSpouse: Mary Louise Lasica (m. June 22, 1996)Children: Robert James Lasica (b. April 21, 1999)Residence: Dorado, Puerto Rico Early

20 years ago, a new era of media was born

Ourmedia.org helped usher in an age of grassroots media … and all that followed Where were you 20 years ago? For some of us techies, we were just at the doorstep of Web 2.0. And, in fact, it was 20 years ago today that a major milestone was achieved – one that you likely won’t read about anywhere else. On March 21, 2005, my partner Marc Canter and I launched Ourmedia.org. The site billed itself as an open media platform for grassroots creators, ranging from video producers to musicians to citizen journalists. Its most lasting legacy, however, is that it was the world’s first free video hosting service. It wasn’t until May 2005 that YouTube launched its private beta. (Yes, kids,

Should you ditch X for Bluesky?

Is it time to ditch X for Bluesky? It’s a question I’ve been asking a lot over the past year … and maybe you have, too. I’m usually a fairly early adopter of social technologies, and I’m reluctant to let go once I’ve made a commitment. For instance, I was user #1,498 to join LinkedIn, which now boasts more than a billion users in over 200 countries. Same with Facebook (where I joined in 2005, I think) and Twitter, where I joined in April 2007 — about two years before Elon Musk. But social media moves fast, and this seems like a good time to take stock of our options. After all, time and attention are the coins of the

BingeBooks sheds a light on book discovery.

BingeBooks launches a promising book discovery site

A new platform for book discovery called BingeBooks (tagline: “Find your next great read”) just launched fills a gap in the book marketplace.

6 things indie authors should know about audiobooks

If you’re an indie author, you may be deliberating whether to take the plunge into publishing an audiobook. The reasons to forge ahead are many. Audiobooks are the fastest growing segment in the publishing industry, showing a 37.1% increase in sales last year, while ebook sales have largely plateaued the past couple of years. INDIE AUTHORS Tips on the self-publishing journey But there are drawbacks — chiefly, the amount of time, effort and sometimes money it takes to produce a solid recording. The last time I checked, only about one in 10 indie authors bothers to go through the trouble of producing an audiobook to accompany a new book release. That’s bound to change. More than 67 million Americans now listen

Virtual reality events usher in a new era

Here’s a recap of my participation in a virtual reality speaker series put on by High Fidelity, including a discussion of VR, AR and predictions for the future.

‘Biohack’ book release: Talking about indie publishing

At last week’s book release party for my new thriller “Biohack,” about 30 people — including several notable figures from the tech, marketing and media worlds — turned out for an event that doubled as a book party and a media salon discussion about self-publishing. Over the next several weeks, I’ll be writing a series of articles about my return to book publishing. It’s a completely different world today than in 2005, when I published “Darknet” and needed an agent (Deirdre Mullane), a publishing house (John Wiley & Sons) and had to wait a full year to see it published. INDIE AUTHORS One author’s self-publishing journey As I said at the outset of the Facebook Live circle-in-the-round conversation, it reminded me of

10 top TV show opening credits of all time

Game of Thrones, Mad Men, True Detectives top the list We’re living in perhaps the greatest era of creativity on the small screen* — and that extends not just to TV dramas and comedies but to TV shows’ title sequences, or opening credits, as well. (* TV news? Not so much.) The top TV opening credits match the mood of the series — perhaps atmospheric, perhaps brooding or avant-garde. They convey a bit of Eye of God context or backstory. Sometimes they impart sly insider bonus that only regular viewers will catch. The best ones not only are visually arresting but connect on a visceral level. They make you feel — awe, dread, wonder, compassion, moral judgment. I’ve put together this personal list of