8 - Realm Chef’s Impact on Book Marketing with Ruth Anne Nelson

[00:00:00] Welcome to Brave New Bookshelf, a podcast that explores the fascinating intersection of AI and authorship. Join hosts, Steph Pajonas and Danica Favorite, as they dive into thought provoking discussions, debunk myths, and highlight the transformative role of AI in the publishing industry.

**Steph Pajonas:** All right, welcome back to the Brave New Bookshelf. I'm Steph Pajonas, CTO and COO of Future Fiction Academy, and I'm also an author of over 40 books. That's mostly science fiction romance, space opera romance, and you know, I love just, I love writing. So we'll see what new genre I will conquer next. And once again, I have my wonderful co host with me today.

Hi, Danica, how are you doing?

**Danica Favorite:** I'm good. How are you? I'm Danica Favorite, and I am the Community Manager at PublishDrive. I'm also an author. So at PublishDrive, we help authors distribute their books to a worldwide global audience, which is super fun and [00:01:00] fantastic. And also as an author, I'm hybrid, so I'm both traditionally and indie published.

I've got, I think, 27 books. I say that, and then I think, I think of a different book. So it's somewhere in there. But yeah, so I'm like Steph. I love to write. I love writing and we're here just to talk about AI and bring some new perspectives into AI and publishing because we hear a lot of them from people who, oh, the sky is falling to, oh, this is the best thing ever.

We're here to unravel some of the mysteries and let people know a little bit more about it. Today we are excited to have Ruth Ann Nelson here from Realm Chef. And I met Ruth, gosh, several months ago, actually, as she put in the AI for Authors group. She was talking about Realm Chef and their product, which I will let her talk about and I was super excited about it because It is literally the dream product for me.

It's something I've been wanting for a very long time and a [00:02:00] sadness Every time like I get the little email of new developments. They have I haven't been able to use it fully yet just because my life is so crazy. But I'm really excited to hear from Ruth and hear a little bit about Realm Chef and I hope you guys will find her just as charming as we do.

So Ruth, why don't you introduce yourself to us?

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** Hello. Thank you so much for having me here. I am just delighted. I think you're both so cool. So getting to be here and talk to you is awesome. Like Danica said, I'm the content and special projects coordinator at Realm Chef, but I am also an author. So I just wanted to start by giving a little bit about my author journey.

I'm sure it's one many can relate to. I, I signed a contract. Like, oh, years and years ago with a small press for my first book. Yay. It wasn't published until three years later. That's the business. And they recommended turning it into a trilogy. And I said, yay. So a couple years later, the next one was published.

But stop me if you've heard this one. [00:03:00] By the time book three was ready, the small press had vanished off the face of the earth. So I managed to track down the former managing editor on Twitter to get written confirmation that I had my rights back and I launched as an indie author with the complete trilogy in 2017.

Along the way, I discovered a love for editing and coaching as well. Authors have hired me to deep edit, proofread their books, format their manuscripts, just sort of walk them through the self publishing process. And I've also done some querying. So I've coached a few authors through that process as well.

I just love stories. I love reading them and watching them and writing them and helping others tell them, regardless of my job title or whatever hat I'm currently wearing. My aspiration in life is to be a storyteller and to cultivate stories in the world around me. So it works out really well. I work for a company called Heroic Story.

I have found my people and our team's fundamental goal has always been [00:04:00] to help storytellers. And that is where Realm Chef came from. It is an AI tool that harnesses the power of AI to elevate book marketing, to help humans organize and market their books. That is the tagline. And yeah, I've got a lot to say about it, but I know we have some good questions that will lead into it as it were.

**Danica Favorite:** Yeah, so, why don't we just start because I really do, like I said, I, I love like the big overview of Realm of Chef, but I also, and I'm just going to put this out here to all the authors I have a million books out. Okay, not a million. We've already discussed this, but it feels like a million. And a lot, my indie books and this is why probably that 27 number isn't accurate. I know a lot of indie authors are in the same boat. You put your book in an anthology with a bunch of other authors and it's a multi author project and then you get your rights back. And I have all of those sitting on my hard drive. I never put them back out. And the reason I did that was [00:05:00] because I was lazy, but also, also because I wanted to put them out as a series. I realized like midway through doing these projects, Oh wait, these should all be in one story world because series sells better, particularly in my genre, which is romance. And I wanted to do them in a series. And then I hired a cover designer. Tell me if you've heard this one halfway through making the covers through the series, my cover designer ghosted me and took the thousands of dollars I'd already paid him. Yeah, none of you've heard that, right?

**Steph Pajonas:** Man, that's so, so frustrating. So frustrating. I'm with you.

**Danica Favorite:** So when Ruth started talking about this program, what she can do is make a Story Bible with Realm Chef. And that's the part I liked because again, I have all of these novellas that are sitting on my hard drive. I want them to be in one story world. They're not like, again, I didn't think ahead of time.

I didn't plan my writing life. 

Some of you who are pantsers can [00:06:00] relate to this because suddenly you have all these books and you're like, Oh my goodness, what the heck happened in all these other books that I can write on? So I wanted Story Bibles of all of these books so that I could then figure out how to piece them together. Where I could change each book and make them the same story world. 

That was my big goal. I've struggled with doing it. I've spent thousands of dollars hiring people to help me do it. None of them come up with what I need. And then comes Realm Chef. 

So, tell us about Realm Chef and that Story Bible capacity because I think that's what's going to excite our listeners.

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** Absolutely. It's what excites me. I remember when we did a workshop, a Rexy Realm Chef workshop with the FFA a few months ago and Elizabeth Ann West said, this is the AI application a lot of people who don't necessarily want AI to write for them have been waiting for, like, it is all about the series organization and the marketing. 

So the way it works is very simple. You upload your book to Realm [00:07:00] Chef and then you click generate Story Bible and literally 30 seconds later, you have a complete in depth Story Bible. It includes chapter summaries, a little paragraph blurb of what happens in every chapter. A very extensive, exhaustive list of timeline events, so you can go through the whole plot in chronological order.

A synopsis, more like high level overview of the plot. Character profiles, location profiles, including which chapter each of these locations appears in. A logline, a back cover blurb, and just recently one of the newest features we've added is a trope breakdown And it can be for multiple genres.

So yeah, you can get an idea of what tropes exist in your book. So all of that is just in, in minutes. Like you upload your book, which takes like, I think, two to three minutes for it to get fully ingested. And then you generate a Story Bible in about 30 seconds. 

And before this, I think my system for series organization was either a handwritten notebook with lots of arrows and like, [00:08:00] you know, see note from this date or spreadsheets, which were just chaotic and horrible to format and disastrously like excruciating to maintain. But this is just, it's there.

My current work in progress is a sequel to that original trilogy that I wrote, like, 20 years ago. So, I've been using that with the Story Bible, and it's just been so helpful to get my brain back in that world. 

And I've heard of a bunch of authors using it as use cases. We're doing a workshop actually this week with a romance author who wants to use Realm Chef, not just to help her keep her stuff organized, but also to help her then write the next book in the series, because giving Realm Chef that in depth knowledge into your book means you don't have to contain it all. And all the ideas it gives you are rooted and grounded in your story world, in your characters, in your voice, in your text. 

So you can also do instant ad generation for people who find people like me who find writing ad copy and anything to do with book marketing like an onerous task.

It can generate Facebook ads and [00:09:00] TikTok scripts. We've got a video ad generator. That's in beta with some customers right now, all tailored to the book, which is nice. You can also click marketing content strategy generator, and you put in your budget and the launch date of your book, and it will give you a detailed breakdown of like your timeline and how you should allocate that budget money. And some measurable metrics, you know, some key goals and helps you identify your target audience and, which platforms would be best for this and how best to use those platforms and use the money you have available. If any, it could just be a 0 budget. And then it would give you ideas about how to market on social media or other some other free options.

And then we also have the book consultation chat, which is just Like all chatbots, but it's it's so tailored to the book. It's like your personal expert companion. 

I uploaded this trilogy and asked it to define my author brand and then I cried because it was so encouraging and affirming, and I was [00:10:00] like, yes, This is who I want to be.

This is the message I want to put out in the world. I felt so seen. I've used it to identify my target audience, to build a character profile for my ideal reader, like a consumer persona to brainstorm detailed social media campaigns. It just, it knows my books, which is such a thrill. 

Like, it's so hard as an author I don't know if either of you have struggled with this, but to finally have the revelation sink in that no one wants to talk about my books as much as or for as long as I do.

Even the people who love me and love my books, just no limit to how much I want to talk about them. And with every human, there is a limit. But Chef is always ready. Chef never meets his limit, so I can always always talk to Chef about my books. 

One of our first customers Zoey Indiana, she's a paranormal romance author, and she said, just anybody who will willingly talk to me for hours about my books is already really fun and exciting.

So Chef is a good [00:11:00] companion. And it's just, it's cute. It's like this cute cat with a chef's hat made of clouds. So, how can I feel sad or discouraged when I am talking to a cute cat who also knows all about my books and is helping me keep them organized and is helping me expand the world and write sequels and further the series and so on?

**Steph Pajonas:** This is something I love about AI, that it's always there. If you are ready to brainstorm an idea at 3:00 AM you don't have to call and wake up a friend or a family member. You can just ask AI for some help on that. That's one of the beauties of it, and usually it's super enthusiastic and excited about your idea and you're always like, thank you! It's so nice that you love this idea as much as I do. Right, Danica? I'm sure you've had the same thing happen to you. 

**Danica Favorite:** Yeah, I can remember one time, and this was years, years ago, it was like 2 a. m. and I'm laying in bed again. [00:12:00] I'm sure we can all relate to this where I wake up in the middle of the night and like the thing for my book just comes to me and I'm laying in bed. I'm laughing. And pretty soon, my husband's kicking me.

He's like, could you please just go to your computer? And so, of course, you know, I've got my handy little phone here. I can easily like just go *makes phone noises* and yeah, my phone's always there for me. It's not going to kick me out of bed and say, go to your computer. 

But what I really loved about what you were saying too Ruth is that This idea of it being able to tell you about you as a writer and your books, because I think we are the worst judges of our own skill and our own talent and what do we really write?

Yes AI can often be effusive in its praise, but I think we need that. I think we need to hear. Wow, that's a great idea. And by the way, I have had the AI tell me I had a stupid idea. Not quite in that way, but yeah, it was like [00:13:00] no, you need to think about this. 

And 

**Steph Pajonas:** what? Bad AI. bad. 

**Danica Favorite:** AI, everything I do is brilliant.

But I think we need that encouragement. We need to hear yes, you're a good writer. And that is the thing I've said this often that working with AI has made me a better writer because of the things that AI tells us. But oftentimes when we're writing and we don't know what genre we write, I think that's actually super common.

I talk with Mel Cooper a lot, and she does a lot of Amazon ads and it's really interesting because she talks about how her clients oftentimes will think their book is one genre when it's really a different genre. And so to be able to get that unbiased feedback and having that unbiased idea of, okay, what are you actually writing?

What are the things that are important in your story? Because. I think we get attached to certain ideas or certain themes or certain things about our writing that we think is the selling point. 

But the AI is completely unattached and it can look [00:14:00] at it and say, no, actually here are the marketable points of your book. 

I love that non attachment that AI gives us. 

So, I was super excited about Realm Chef for that reason, because it really did pull out those things for me that I wouldn't have come up with on my own.

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** And it gives you, fresh insight into your work, like you were saying.

Just today, I was testing out a new update. It's the back cover blurb that it created in the Story Bible for book three in that original trilogy. It just floored me, like, I was reading through it and I forgot for a second that I wrote this book.

It's like, oh, this is a really great story. I was just, I was caught up in it and I thought, oh, I want to read that. And I thought, wait, but that's, that's the point of a back cover blurb. Right? It's to like, draw people in and make them want to read it. But it just, I think, again, I was talking to Zoey about this once, and she said, particularly when you're writing the sequel, or when you have to market the book, like, you just spend so much time with it, that you either get sick of it, or you just can't see the [00:15:00] forest for the trees, like you were saying.

So to be able to share it with somebody else, who can then come back and. present it to you in a fresh way that gets you excited about it again. And that gets you fueled and you realize this is a good book, I am a good writer. This is a good story and here's how to best get it into the hands of the people who will appreciate it the most.

Who is it meant for? And where is my community and how can I reach them? And Chef can help break down those blinders that we just sort of unconsciously develop to see through to book marketing happily ever after, as it were.

**Danica Favorite:** I like that bookmarking happily ever after. I think that's a thing. That should be a thing.

**Steph Pajonas:** I need that. I need that. Absolutely.

**Danica Favorite:** Let's go ahead and dive into the actual questions. Cause I really want to get into this. Cause I actually don't know the first one to be very honest, other than you work with Realm Chef. So how are you approaching AI and publishing? Like, how did you kind of come into this AI space and what formulated that approach to your AI usage?

Because I think that's really fascinating to me to see [00:16:00] how each author approaches that.

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** It was really through my team through Heroic Story. Like I said, the fundamental goal has always been to help storytellers. I think when I first started working with them, we were building like an online writing community where you know, like an online virtual space, like a virtual coffee shop where people could come in and be accountable and make writing a little less lonely.

That was years ago. 

So when ChatGPT broke forth upon the world immediately, we started thinking about it through the lens of how can this help authors? How can AI help make writer's lives better. So that's the only way I've been thinking about A I honestly is. How can it help authors? And that's how Rome chef was born.

And that's when we found the AI Writing for Authors community. I was just trying to find, like, Who needs this? Who would use this? Because AI was such a sensitive topic. It's like, where are the people who are like us, trying to find out how this can help empower authors. 

And I was just blown away, particularly by this idea of accessibility like meeting [00:17:00] people who have struggled with, with brain fog or muscle pain or any host of things that could make writing difficult and hearing story after story of how AI has given writing back to these people, like it brings me so much joy.

So I see. AI when used ethically, you've talked about on this podcast, like the importance of using it responsibly, it can be such a powerful help.

I was talking to Jay, the co founder of Realm Chef recently about my publishing journey. And how, I've really kind of approached publishing from just about every angle. And I was just expressing to him, my frustration. The dream of self publishing was to bypass the gatekeepers. Right? And I feel like after years of trying to make it as an indie author that I just kept encountering another set of gatekeepers. Like, only those who have the time, knowledge, or money to market are the ones who can make it and it just felt like hitting another glass ceiling and it has felt very lonely and very discouraging.

So I [00:18:00] feel like I can help authors shatter that glass ceiling. And provide community and a sense of companionship. That's what we designed Realm Chef to be. The ultimate indie author ally, to give time back to writers. Time to go grocery shopping and take care of your kids. And sleep. And write the next book. Like taking care of the mundane tasks. So that creative people have time to do that which fuels them and gives them life. Create to write. is the power of AI in publishing for me. 

I think in one of your first episodes, you were talking about how AI means like two cherries on top. Just more of the good stuff. It has been kind of both challenging and inspiring to me as an author to operate from an abundance mindset versus scarcity. 

I feel like so many of the arguments and the tirades from the anti AI crowd is so fueled by fear and by this idea of scarcity of standing at the gate [00:19:00] with the pitchforks and the torches, because if we let too many people in, then there won't be enough for me.

And I think AI challenges us to release that and to operate out of this place of abundance and generosity. That this idea of the rising tide raises all boats. There is room enough and there is story enough for all of us.

So why not make the best use possible of a tool that makes it the most accessible to everybody.

**Danica Favorite:** I just want to have a standing ovation for you right now, because I think what you said about the glass ceiling that was such a perfect metaphor. I think we've all felt that, right? We all feel like, oh yeah, we've made it, oh. Wait, we made it, but there's another ceiling.

And for me, because I do some mindset coaching with authors, and I like to work with authors on their mindset, that idea of scarcity versus abundance is so important. And I think I'm so glad you brought that out because you know, It really is true. And that's something that I say all the time to people is that every story [00:20:00] matters and what you said about the abundance versus scarcity and that glass ceiling. I think that really just points to that and that idea that everyone out there. If you are listening and you have a story to tell, you deserve to have that story told. And I love that AI is giving us that power. So I know Steph had some stuff to say, so I'll let Steph

**Steph Pajonas:** Yeah. I just want to say that a lot of people think that the success that we can find in publishing is pie, right? There's only a slice. There's only a limited amount of slices, right? And we can only get so much out of it. But as my co founder, Elizabeth Ann West, often says, it's not pie, people.

It's not pie. 

All right. Everybody can find success here. Everybody can find their niche. They can find their audience and find their readers. It doesn't have to be his or hers or theirs or mine. It's Everybody's and that is definitely a part of the abundance mindset. We have to start thinking [00:21:00] about the fact that there's room for everyone, even if they come in and they're using these tools to tell their stories for the first time.

So let's open the door and let everybody in because there's room for everybody.

**Danica Favorite:** Yes, absolutely. That's my passion because I really feel that so many people have a valuable story in them. And I want to hear it. I'm so excited about where writing is going because I think that you can always look at it as, Oh no, the sky is falling. Or you can say, wow, there's a tremendous opportunity. I love that we all are on that same page. 

So the next thing Ruth is What does your workflow with AI look like? You talked a little bit about some of the ways you're using Realm Chef that I hadn't even thought of.

So I'd love to hear more about not just Realm Chef, but what does your particular AI workflow look like? How do you use it in your day to day writing?

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** I've really appreciated this podcast. And in every episode you take care to emphasize the fact that everyone's process is [00:22:00] different. Like, don't feel like you have to follow anyone else's process and don't put down anyone else's process. That's been a big, as I've been coaching various authors, getting all bound up in knots about, well, I need to, you know, follow, like, this method or this writer gets up at this time and I have to do this many minutes.

I'm like, no, just, you do you, boo boo. Like, find, find what works for you and do it. So I, I am like I think I'm like you, Danica. I really like the writing part of writing except where you prefer dictation, I do my first drafts with a notebook and a pen. Somebody gifted me a fountain pen a couple of years ago, and it is a source of constant inspiration and joy.

I just, I feel so cool. 

I'm also a closed door drafting person. The whole writing and editing process is very special and very private to me. Like, I'll talk about my story, but no one sees it until it is very polished. Not even AI. I'm very like, very, very protective of it. Like, just me and the story and it's This is [00:23:00] very private time, but everything after that, the marketing and the promotion, that's what makes me want to like crawl up under a rock and wait until it's all over.

I recently did an an indie author newbie recap blog for Realm Chef, like three things I really wish I had known as starting out as an indie author. And as I was reflecting on my own experience, I realized that I was really operating under the, if you build it, they will come delusion. 

So I've been using AI to streamline that process. Help me get out of that delusion and see how to like, actually build the road to the people and invite them to my field of dreams. So like, generating blurbs, like we were talking about marketing campaign strategies, keeping things organized, like I said, the story that I'm currently working on is a sequel to that original trilogy. It's the daughter of the original girl. 

And so, even though I haven't been using AI in the drafting process, I've been working so much with that original trilogy in Realm Chef [00:24:00] that it has fueled the drafting. Spending time with my Story Bible and going through it and talking to chef about well, if I were to, let's go back in time. If I were to market this, or if I want to do a relaunch, you know, as I'm getting ready to launch this new book, like, how could I go about doing that? So who is my target reader, which has helped inform the writing of what's going on right now. Cause it's probably going to be a very similar audience. 

How do I reach them? What is my brand? To make sure that I'm staying consistent. 

So, it helps me get in the mindset of the story universe, so what I'm writing can be a continuation. It's inspiring, really, when I need a bit of encouragement. Getting to work with something that understands what I've written so far reminds me how far I've come, which then empowers me to keep going. It gives me a, almost like a North star. Like, this is what I want to be. 

I think it was Melle in her recent episode with Brave New Bookshelf she was talking about, what message do you want to put out into the world when your reader [00:25:00] thinks of you?

What do you want them to think of? So working with the AI on a more macro level to help me stay focused on what my author brand is, what I want my storytelling legacy to be, and then letting that inform every stage of the drafting and editing process and then letting it super on a micro level inform the marketing process.

**Danica Favorite:** I think that is fantastic. I was listening to you talk about that using the AI to help keep you focused on brand. That's so brilliant to me. And also I will say part of my process is handwriting as well. In fact, you guys can't see this but behind me, I've got all of my bookcases and the lower shelves are actually all notebooks that are filled with my writing. Because the very start of my process is actually writing it down in a notebook. And I have not gone down the road of the fountain pen because I fear that like with AI, it's going to be so fun for me. I'm never going to get serious work [00:26:00] done. 

But what I also love about all the notebooks, and this is one of my goals as well, is To take the notebooks, you can now with AI, thank you Kevin McLaughlin you can put your phone right above it, and it will take your handwriting and transcribe it. Like,

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** way.

**Danica Favorite:** write,

**Steph Pajonas:** way.

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** Oh merciful heavens. 

**Steph Pajonas:** Look it up in the AI Writing for Authors group. Kevin McLaughlin posted about it. It was, it blew minds left and right. It was amaing. 

**Danica Favorite:** And Kevin will tell you he's got terrible handwriting, so he was skeptic. I also have terrible handwriting, and I would say it's got a 90 percent accuracy rate. I am just blown away because again, that makes my process faster because again, all these notebooks behind me that you all can't see someone saw them once and said, I had a sickness and they're not my friend anymore, but like looking at those, there's so many stories in those notebooks that I just haven't even [00:27:00] brought to life yet because I can't, there's too many because I just write them all down.

And now I have my phone, I can take a picture of the page and boom, I have the text. So yes, one more thing for all of us to geek out together because again, there's no one right process. Any of these little things you can take and use in your process and make it easier.

And I love that. 

So my last question we've obviously gushed about Realm Chef, but do you have a favorite AI tool? Can you tell us about your favorite AI tool? If it's Realm Chef, we can say Realm Chef, but I'm hoping you've got some other cool tools to tell our listeners about.

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** I'm so sorry to disappoint you. It is Realm Chef. I have used ChatGPT. I used it a lot, particularly at the beginning. I went pretty deep into prompt engineering when we were first beginning our experimentation. And actually, I A few months ago, I created when they released, you know, the ability to create your own GPTs.

I made one to be my assistant in my role as content and special projects coordinator. [00:28:00] So I called it Realm Sous Chef which caused Jay no end of delight. and it has been very helpful. I've used it to help me kind of brainstorm collab ideas to when I would write a blog and paste it in and say, what's a good metadata description of this.

I'm going to use MidJourney to create a cover image. What are some cool prompt ideas for MidJourney? And it's been very helpful in that way. Because it understands, because I've trained it to know what Realm Chef is and what we're trying to do for authors. It's been very helpful, generating some event ideas, workshop outlines and agendas some email copy.

So it's been a very handy assistant, but I keep coming back to Realm Chef because it is built for authors I see in various spaces, people talking about how they've figured out a way to work with some of these bigger models to get it to give them part of a Story Bible, figuring out the right sequence of prompts. And that can be really fun in and of itself, to work with the AI in that way and to master that level of communication. But I just really [00:29:00] like that all of that is built into the back end of Realm Chef, so I can just click generate or just ask in a normal human way, like, who's my ideal reader?

I don't have to explain what that means or give a lot of background info on my book or wonder if the context window, like big enough? Is it going through my whole manuscript? Is it going to miss some things? Am I going to have to cut some stuff? That it's all just ready to use.

I was thinking about this. I really like baking and it's a two part fun, making something for someone else that you know they're going to love is part of the fun. But the other part is like just getting to taste test and eat the dough as you go along. So working on the Realm Chef team feels like that for me.

We're making something I know is going to be a big help to authors. I know they're going to love it. I know it's going to be great and that's awesome, but I get to eat the cookie dough. Along the way, and, and it's been such a big help to me. And I respect and appreciate the other AIs.

Mid journey has been a lot of fun as well. And chat GPT. But I'll always just come back to Realm Chef.

**Danica Favorite:** I think that's a perfectly valid way to put it. [00:30:00] And honestly, I have tasted the realm chef cookie dough as you were developing it. I remember I was on one of the very early calls as you were developing it with Jay. And I remember that first output. I was like, Oh, this is terrible. It totally hallucinated. And it was bad, and I can remember saying even just a few months ago, AI can't do this yet. 

And now here we are and Realm Chef can do it. I haven't put something through Realm Chef in about a month again, just super busy. But I'm really curious now because the last time I put something through Realm Chef, I'm like, wait. It didn't hallucinate. It was actually really good. 

For people who say, Oh, I can do this with Chat GPT. I can do this with Claude. I can do this with these other models. Yes, you can. However, as someone who has tried them and done them, like you were saying about all the programming and all the stuff you have to explain and all the things you have to get Chat GPT to understand first that's a lot of work. 

[00:31:00] And so I do appreciate that. Again, we've ascertained I'm a little on the lazy side. I would like to just put it in, push one button and get what I need without having to explain it all. Can I? Yes. I think that's a valuable tool. It's taught me so much about writing to be able to explain to the GPT or whatever model I'm using. This is what I need. This is what it means. Et cetera, et cetera. But there is something to be said for putting in pushing a button. 

I know a lot of authors get frustrated because they'll put it into a program, push the button, and it doesn't give them what they want. But again, like you were saying, it takes all that time to train it.

I think a lot of people will appreciate that, yes, there is something in the market. You don't have to train. You can just stick it in. So for someone who doesn't want to do that work, you can. And then for people who like our dear friend, Elizabeth Ann West, who wants all of the control and wants it to do all of the specific things, you can do that too.

Because we're going back to that idea. There's no one right process and you have to figure out that process for [00:32:00] you.

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** I've been really impressed too, like working on a team. The name heroic story is very fitting because we're all about stories and helping storytellers in a heroic fashion and helping everybody discover their own heroic story, but that comes with a real growth mindset. We were talking about the abundance mindset, but with that kind of the opposite of fear, like, Is well if it messes up, then we're going to fix it and it's going to be better next time.

So, just really thriving on feedback. Realm Chef is where it is and it's going to be even better next week and next month and next year because of the authors in the community who are giving us feedback from the very beginning, like all of the early people who braved it in those first janky days, were like every bit of feedback, either not just this works, this doesn't, but Ooh, could you, could you build this and could you add this feature? And I would really like it if it could do this? That all went into the pot. And I've just been so impressed by my [00:33:00] fellow heroes on the team, they're very responsive and very eager to grow and to make it the best tool possible for authors. Even if it's so much better now and it's even not yet as good as it's going to be. Which is exciting.

**Steph Pajonas:** Yeah, Realm Chef has come a long way in the last, year or so. I feel like, I may have met you about a year ago and started playing with this when it was mostly just in Discord and now it's grown from there to other places. 

So, just quickly before we sign off on this podcast, do you want to tell us about anything that maybe coming up for Realm Chef.

I know that you mentioned the fact that you do workshops. Because of the timeliness of podcasts, you never know when somebody is going to be listening to this. So tell us about some of the workshops that you do and what might be next for Realm Chef.

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** We are doing a workshop tomorrow. So, whenever you're listening to this you could probably find it on YouTube at the, it'll be with Danica Bloom of the Author Ever After Community. We like partnering with [00:34:00] real life authors and real life author communities to get the word out and demonstrate the benefits of Realm Chef in real time.

So we did one of those with the FFA, like I was saying, a few months ago, we're doing one this week. So if you're interested in such things you can reach out to me or even just go to realmchef. com and that'll take you to not just the app itself and information about the app, but our blog is also there. The opportunity to sign up for our newsletter, which helps you stay informed on all the exciting upcoming happenings.

We've got new features happening on a weekly or biweekly basis, new updates and fixes. There's some really exciting stuff coming down the pipe, but I don't think I'm at liberty to disclose it. Just know that the goal , is to be the best possible tool for authors to help organize and market their books. 

**Steph Pajonas:** Excellent. I can't wait to see what's coming next. What about you, Danica? You're probably going to be pumping books into it soon, [00:35:00] aren't you?

**Danica Favorite:** Yeah, I am so geeked out about this because like I said, I have seen because I've been part of this process from the very beginning. And just seeing the growth so far. I'm like, wow, this is amazing. I can't wait to put it in and see.

So fingers crossed. I said, be able to just sit down and, Get some of this knocked out because I'm really, really excited. And this for me is a project I've been trying to do for years and years and years. And unfortunately you are taking away my excuses, but I'm so excited and so glad that you came here because I think a lot of authors are looking for a tool like this. And as we keep talking about the different processes and the different ways of thinking, everyone needs to hear the variety of processes and things people are doing with their writing and how AI works in their writing process, because there is no one true process. I don't think, Steph, have we had anyone come on with the same process so far? [00:36:00] Nothing's even really close.

**Steph Pajonas:** Nope. Nope. Everybody's been very different. Everybody's been very different. I love that too. Cause we're getting to see a whole range, a whole spectrum of people that are just doing their thing. So it's great. I love it. I'm happy.

**Danica Favorite:** Me too. Me too. Because I think when Steph and I started talking about doing this podcast and what we really wanted to see, it is about giving authors hope and it's about helping authors. And I think the more we talk to all of these wonderful guests, we're realizing that there really is a place for everyone.

I'm very hopeful that everyone is going to get something out of this whether or not it's even okay. That's not for me, but I got this little tidbit. That's enough.

**Ruth Anne Nelson:** Can I just say very quickly, I was thinking earlier when we were talking about how everybody has a story inside of them that needs to be told. And I think as, as authors, we write it's partly for us. I know I need my stories. They have changed my life, but [00:37:00] I also keep thinking about the books that have affected me.

Like, who would I be without my favorite stories and where would I be if that author hadn't. struggled through what I'm struggling through to get to put their story in my hands. So I try to think about it like from the reader's point of view too. There's a reader out there who needs your story.

So for their sake, as much as for your own, it's worth it to get it out there.

**Steph Pajonas:** It's definitely worth it. During the pandemic, I got a message from one reader who told me that reading one of my entire series was helpful to her because, you know, she was shut in and couldn't go anywhere. And, Stories are important. They're important for handing down history, for relating to other people, for teaching about humanity and humans in general. 

So I'm very excited about the world that AI is opening up to new people to tell their stories and to bring stories from the people who love this and are skilled at this [00:38:00] and just want to write more. You've got tons of notebooks full of ideas and you want to make them happen.

And these tools are going to be able to bring you up to that next level. And that's what we're here for.

**Danica Favorite:** Absolutely, and I think that's the perfect place to end because we talk a lot about empowering people to tell their stories. But that reminder of the fact that someone out there needs to hear your story. And the impact that's going to have on someone is so profound, you don't even know it yet. And you don't know what that thing you're going to write is going to be. But it's going to be something really great for someone. 

So Ruth, thank you so much for coming today and sharing your story. And thank you for giving us so many great reminders of why we're here as authors. Because I think that is just as important and should always be underpinning everything we do as writers.

**Steph Pajonas:** Yes. Thank you so much for coming. 

I really appreciate you being here. 

And I'm going to [00:39:00] remind people that they can find you guys at realmchef. com. We will put the links as always in the show notes on the website. You can come to bravenewbookshelf. com, find all the information there. We always produce a little blog post.

I get some links in there and then we have the full transcript for you. If you want to come and find something that we may have said that we didn't pick up on in the blog post, and then you'll be able to find it in the full transcript. 

We will see everybody else again on the next Brave New Bookshelf. Thanks guys for coming. Bye. 

Thanks for joining us on the Brave New Bookshelf. Be sure to like and subscribe to us on YouTube and your favorite podcast app. You can also visit us at BraveNewBookshelf. com, sign up for our newsletter, and get all the show notes.