Melle Melkumian: Hi, everybody! Good afternoon here from California. I'm super excited to talk to you today. I've got to confess I'm a little bit nervous for those of you who haven't watched yet. On our Youtube Channel I recorded a very revealing conversation about my 8 years of publishing and what I wanted to do with that was show you where I had had successes, where I had had flops. Why, I had flops and it you know, spoiler alert. It's not because I I mean, there are some times when I wasn't writing my best. There's times when my covers work to market. There were a few publishing nuances. But one of the big places where I absolutely had difficulties was in personal trauma.
Melle Melkumian: and I go deep into that. Into some of the tragedies that impacted my life around different times in the last 8 years. So the reason why we recorded that is because Jamie is going to be giving me feedback, and together, mo, she's gonna give me things to do, and I'm gonna do them to improve my publishing career and to improve the bottom line of what I make per month on that. But before and yes, I'm stalling here. Before we get to the critical feedback, and I mean, critical as in. It's very critical for me, as an author, to improve my business, to get feedback on where my business is right now, and how you know what steps I can take to enhance it and improve it, and and, you know, improve my bottom line.
Melle Melkumian: But last week we spent a lot of time talking about Chat 40. And in the meantime Gem and I also had a huge release in the marketplace, and Gemini is, of course, the tool that is being released by Google. And I really thought it was important for us to have a little bit bit of a mention of Gemini, its capabilities. And how in many ways I think it's gonna blow the lid off of some of the tools that we're currently using. But before before I kind of get into their release notes, Jamie, did you? Did you try, Jim and I out this week? Do you have any initial thoughts and and first ideas on how it worked for you.
Jamie Culican: So I did. I played around with it a little bit. I've also, as people know, I'm very loyal to chat. Gbt. I think that's just because that's where I started with AI. But I have to say with Gem, and I was impressed. It's a lot quicker than 4. Oh.
Jamie Culican: the Downside of Gemini was with the graphics. I felt like 40 still kills it with the graphics compared to Gemini.
Melle Melkumian: Well, in inside our Facebook group. I saw that you had dropped some amazing graphics with dragons, and that were very specific to your books. I thought. Those are really amazing, but those are 40, right.
Jamie Culican: Yeah. So they're from Chad. Gbt. And I tried similar prompts at the Gemini, and it's not even comparable.
Melle Melkumian: In terms of graphics.
Jamie Culican: Yes.
Melle Melkumian: And carry. Yeah. And I think that's something that I is really interesting. And I wanna you know, I I I'm in a lot of groups where people are trying out one prompt, and then they try one prompt with Chat. Gbt. They try the same. Prompt with Gemini. Then Claude, etc. What what I think is really interesting is, there are tools now like hunch, where you can actually build for separate boxes. Put the same quote in there. Select a different Llm. Per box, and run them all simultaneously on the same whiteboard. so you can easily see which Llm. You prefer for what.
Melle Melkumian: but in terms of gemini. And and I want I want to talk a little bit about the new release. So they've come out. So so what most people access is Gemini, 1.5. They also have an advanced gemini which can process quite a bit more information. And and I'm talking 1,500 pages.
Jamie Culican: Yeah.
Melle Melkumian: Like it's huge, so you can put your entire series into Gemini and have it tell you, maybe, what's the sister series that I could come out of here with. So I think that the longer context window really creates the opportunity to solve complex problems. And you know, anyone who's been working with AI even more re, I mean, we started in March of 23. So it's like we were able to put in like 400 words or 600 words, you know, and now I can put in 1,500 pages like it's insane. So Gem and I advanced allows that. And the other thing that gem and I advanced allows you to do is to and and this is where you know. I watch the industry closely, and I don't just watch what's going on with applications that are being developed for authors. I look at the applications that are being developed across the board for both corporate environments for small business environments and for publishers. This particular capability that Jim and I advanced has with the document upload. I'm super excited about because you can upload multiple Google Docs, Pdfs and word files from your Google drive and get summaries, feedback insights about, you know, whatever is in those documents, it could be academic. It could be personal, or it could be your series. So all of a sudden, you're just uploading your entire book, and now you can query out of it and get your book Bible, that so many people are searching for as the Holy Grail. You don't need a specialized tool. You can just use one of these chat bots. I don't know if you'd find that helpful in your career, Jamie.
Jamie Culican: I actually think Google AI or Gemini is going to be bigger than Openai. I think we're gonna see for opportunities through Google. And not just for authors. But across the board. You know, a lot of authors do use Google, and they use apple products. And I, just. I just feel like it's gonna be more. We're gonna get a lot more from them.
Melle Melkumian: Well, and and I think the you know. So so what happens behind closed doors in corporations is everybody's looking for the Holy Grail of how can I get a time? Stamped Llm. Which means that it's separate from. you know. They'll get a version of let's say Openai's Llm. They'll put it behind a closed door, and then they give it access via sharepoint, or via one onedrive. They'll give it access to all of their files now, all of a sudden their private files are integrating with an Llm. And releasing information. This tool from Gem and I advanced that gives you access to your Google Drive. That is where Jamie and I keep our corporate businesses. That's where my publishing company keeps all of its files. So now, even you know, we'll get to a point where, instead of uploading the documents, I will literally just point it to a folder in Google drive. Say, read all these and tell me what you would suggest, you know. Give me 10 suggestions for this next book in the series.
Jamie Culican: I think it's going to be even simpler. I think it's right in your Google drive. It's going to be like a right click option.
Melle Melkumian: Okay.
Jamie Culican: Yeah, I think we're gonna see a lot from Google.
Melle Melkumian: Alright, now you've got me interested. Now, now I'm opening Google drive. And I want to. Like right now, I feel like open AI is further ahead than Google. But I don't think it's gonna stay that way. I think Google will Miss surpass them?
Melle Melkumian: Okay. So right now, now, I do not have Gemini advanced. but I am in I'm in the blood of dragons. Folder blood of dragons is a series that Jamie and I wrote that we are going to probably take off the market and then re release using some AI capabilities and gem, and I is inviting me to enter a prompt. So I'm just gonna see a. And it's all in like it's exactly like you just said Jamie, it's all in the same window, so let's see what it does. Can. Let's do it simple. Can you tell me about the files in this folder?
Melle Melkumian: So, you know. And and again we are at this. It's not ready yet. it says. It'll be coming. I mean, that is, gonna be the future of Google. Yup. I agree it, because right now it's saying I can't help with that. Do you need help with anything else? I'm surprised. It doesn't say I can't help yet. But it's got. And it could be that I don't have Gemini advance, so by next week I'll get Gemini advance, and then we'll test it again.
Melle Melkumian: But the time has come. I've got my pen and paper ready. I well, actually, I don't need pen and paper. I am recording this conversation, and I will get a transcript. So I'm a little scared. Jamie, do you need me to say anything before you start giving me feedback on my publishing position and career?
Jamie Culican: I just want to start by saying the story that you gave on your Youtube video is very similar to a lot of stories that I hear from other authors. It's very similar. There's always authors are all going through a very similar. I don't even know how to say it. but we all have lives. That's what it is. We all have lives. We have outside forces that impact our writing in one way or another, and I just commend you for being willing to share that, and and your experiences because you're definitely not alone.
Melle Melkumian: Thank you, Jamie.
Melle Melkumian: Okay. So the overall goals for me. And and the other thing I want to do is I wanna set goals. I wanna rebuild my brand. I wanna make money from my back list, and I want to be writing a trilogy. So those are the 3 things I wanna do. I want I wanna start making money on the backlist while I am writing a new trilogy and, to be honest, I'm like, just, you know, personally, I'd like to write a book that changes the world. You know, like, how when Harry Potter came out, it just changed everything. I want to write a book like that. But right now I need to make money from my back list.
Jamie Culican: Okay. And those are fantastic goals. I think we start with your brand, and I think we need to focus. And I know a lot of authors don't like to do this, but we need to focus on who you are as a writer. And this is where you're gonna use your AI tools. And I think you can use the AI tools. To first off define your brand. And to create that brand for you.
Melle Melkumian: So
Melle Melkumian: my branding is that I write paranormal women's fiction. I focus on women in midlife, discovering their magic. What I've published is a little bit of an issue because I have 2 series of paranormal women's fiction and one series of fantasy romance. And, although they are completely different branding, and I should've branded them under 2 different names. I didn't. I branded them all under Melly Malik Mian and people loved all of them. So now I need to like stick in paranormal women's fiction, I think. But, you know, I I think I should be focusing on that brand. Paranormal women's fiction. Women in middle age discovering their magic.
Jamie Culican: So you wanna write paranormal women's fiction. We need to figure out who your comparables are. And I think your comparables are, we talked about this in one of the other episodes. Shannon Meyer and Kf Breen. So those are your comparables. So I want you to focus on one brand. I know you love your fantasy romance, and that's, you know, like your heart project. But we need to pick one and build it and then branch off. So we're gonna start with your paranormal women's fiction. You want to focus on that and you want to focus on women in midlife. And so let's start with first off. you need to. And I think it's a lot of fun, and you're gonna love it because you get to play around with your AI tools.
Jamie Culican: So your first homework is to build a mood board. And that mood board is going to be what you want your brand to be. And you can use Chatgpt and build out a mood board. And when I talk about mood board, it's gonna be what you want your website to look like. Who you are, what you want your brand to look like, and how you're gonna create it. And then you can move from there. And then we will use the AI tools to create your brand. And I think another great thing that you can do is analyze, Chatgpt and say, hey, analyze Shannon Meyers website analyze Kf Breen's website. And I think you're gonna be able to find a lot of valuable information just from doing that.
Melle Melkumian: So just just so I'm clear, you want me to use chatgpt and ask it to analyze Shannon Meyer and Kf Breen's websites.
Jamie Culican: Yes.
Melle Melkumian: And then you want me to use those to build a mood board.
Jamie Culican: Yes. So you can have chatgpt analyze Shannon Myers and Kf Breen's websites, and then build a mood board based on that. And that's gonna help you define your brand, who you are, and what your website should look like. And then you can create your website. And then we will go from there. So this week I want you to focus on getting your mood board and then create a website using the AI tools.
Melle Melkumian: Okay. So for those of you who don't know, mood boards can be done on Canva. I'll put some links into our AI publishing formula Facebook group of other free tools you can use to create a mood board. And and I'll I'll start sharing some of those. You want me to share those in our Facebook group, Jamie, or do you want me to do you want me to drop those directly into Kajabi?
Jamie Culican: Go ahead and share them in the Facebook group. And then as you make progress, you can share them in Kajabi.
Melle Melkumian: Okay, sounds good. So my goals this week are to take Shannon Meyer and Kf Breen websites, analyze them with Chatgpt, then build a mood board, then use that to build a website. Okay. That's awesome. I will. I will report back to you next week. Thank you so much, Jamie. Thank you, everybody, for watching and have a wonderful day.
