Stop me if this sounds familiar: You’re a brilliant expert, but when you open the blank document for your book, the writing muscle just fails. You’re stuck.
What should you do? “Hire” an AI writing team.
I broke down the 10 specific AI roles to help you draft your book.
So… which AI role do you need to hire TODAY? (My money is on the Devil’s Advocate).
All you need are the prompts below + access to an LLM like Claude or Gemini.
Remember, YOU are the leader of the AI team. The team exists to help you extract gems from your unique brain and organize them in a way that will resonate!
Once you have a draft, you definitely want a human to revise. Need help? Let’s talk.
Meet Your New Editorial Team
If you’ve ever checked out the “acknowledgments” section of a book, you know authors often thank a million people for their help. That’s because, despite the author being out front, publishing a book is actually a team sport. If you self-publish, you need to hire the various helpers. If you go with a traditional publisher, then. you get a lot of support through the publishing house. But now, you have another option: building your own AI editorial team.
Below are 10 types of support you can easily generate with AI, along with the prompts to input in your favorite chatbot like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude:
1. The Competitive Analyst
Role: This AI will find the market gaps and ensure your book has a built-in audience by knowing your competition inside and out.
Prompt: I am writing a book about [insert topic]. Search Amazon for 10 other books in my genre that consistently rank top 10 in the genre.
2. The Marketing Expert
Role: This AI will build a target reader persona that ensures every paragraph you write resonates with a paying customer.
Prompt: You are an expert marketer with 25 years experience working at Penguin Random House. I am writing a book for [insert audience segment]. Ask me questions to help me create a target reader persona.
3. The Book Strategist
Role: This AI will transform raw ideas or notes into a coherent, publishable structure, whether a chronologically-ordered memoir or a topical guide.
Prompt: I am working on a book about [insert topic]. I will paste in (or upload) what I have so far. Help me create an [outline or chronology]. Do not make up any missing information. Ask questions for clarification.
4. The Devil’s Advocate
Role: This AI will subject your analysis to brutal scrutiny, identifying weak arguments, missing data, and logical fallacies before a critic does.
Prompt: You are a global expert in [insert the specific subject of your book]. Read the chapter I have uploaded. Rate it 1-10 for subject matter expertise. Poke holes in my analysis and make recommendations for improvement.
5. The Interviewer
Role: This AI will extract deep, emotional, and specific details from your memories to enrich your nonfiction or memoir writing.
Prompt: You are a biographer and author of several best sellers. I am writing my memoir. I have uploaded a chronology of events I would like to include. Your job is to interview me about my life and then create a detailed outline for that chapter. Let’s work one [day, year, decade] at a time.
6. The Ghostwriter
Role: This AI will draft copy in your unique tone, ensuring consistency across the manuscript. (It must be trained on your writing samples.)
Prompt: You are an expert ghostwriter. I have hired you to write my book about [topic]. It needs to be written in my exact tone of voice. I have uploaded writing samples. Ask me any questions you have and then create a detailed tone of voice guide with examples.
7. The Copywriter
Role: This AI will draft your book chapter-by-chapter, making sure every paragraph is targeted toward one of your defined reader personas.
Prompt: (Upload Tone of Voice Guide, Chronology/Outline, Target Reader Persona). You are my copywriter with 25 years experience. Draft my book one chapter at a time. Make sure every paragraph will resonate with one of my target readers.
8. The Researcher
Role: Synthesize complex subjects into simple, accurate, and easily understandable facts, all verified against highly-credible sources.
Prompt: You are an expert in [book topic]. Answer this question in 100 words that a 5th grader could understand. [Insert question]. Only consult highly credible sources.
9. The Editor
Role: Provide high-level developmental and structural feedback, suggesting revisions that match the quality of industry bestsellers.
Prompt: (Upload or paste in one chapter at a time.) You are an editor with Penguin Random House [or insert another publisher specific to your book genre]\. Review my chapter, rate it 1-10, then make suggestions for the copywriter to revise.
10. The Proofreader
Role: Ensure you final manuscript is immaculate, catching every typo and enforcing your chosen style guide (e.g. Chicago, MLA).
Prompt: (Upload one chapter,) You are an expert proofreader with 10 years experience working for a major business publisher. You use [insert name of style guide, e.g. Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, or APA]. Proofread my text. Do not make the changes, but tell me what changes you would suggest that I make.
Your AI Editorial Team Is Waiting
Don’t be intimidated. Simply choose one of the roles above that you feel could help you with your book project. Choose your chatbot. Then enter the prompt and let the magic begin. Once you have your draft, you’ll need human help to review and polish. Get in touch here.