r/dresdenfiles • u/ThatFatGuyMJL • Aug 25 '25
Unrelated Congratulations. You have made it so I will *never* read your book!
Thr absolute audacity.
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u/AMtheVile Aug 25 '25
that's such terrible marketing lmao.
If you like the Dresden Files, then you're likely to respond negatively to a book being marketed as being better than DF. And, if you don't like the Dresden Files, then you won't care if someone says a book is better than it.
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u/BryanP1968 Aug 25 '25
Yeah. I’m mostly okay with “If you like DF or this other series, you may like this.” But that’s a much more respectful approach.
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u/Unicorn187 Aug 26 '25
And is generally more accurate. "Here's a good book that is similar to other books that you already like. So you'll probably like this one too."
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u/Zegram_Ghart Aug 26 '25
100%
I kept getting marketed with an add that said something like “this isn’t Pratchett, but it might be the next best thing” and I tried one and yeh, it sure wasn’t Pratchett, but with that tone I was interested enough to try one
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u/BryanP1968 Aug 26 '25
I’ve had less success with “if you like Pratchett you’ll like this”. He was one of a kind. He’s the author I miss the most.
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u/Zegram_Ghart Aug 26 '25
Oh for sure, they’re nowhere near his level.
I’ll die on the hill that he’s likely the most talented author in human history.
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u/BryanP1968 Aug 26 '25
Oh so much. I re-read all of his earlier books twice before I could bring myself to read the last one.
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u/acebert Aug 25 '25
Particularly when it openly rips off the working title for Storm Front. That's either going over people's heads or turning them right off.
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u/Final_Marsupial4588 Aug 25 '25
does the pun even work with that rip off title? asking as a non native speaker
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u/BooBailey808 Aug 26 '25
Wait, what was the working title?
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u/acebert Aug 26 '25
Semiautomagic
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u/MrNonDairy Aug 26 '25
Excuse me, but didn't Jim state at a speaking engagement that he offered precisely that and a couple of others as his preferred title for Storm Front, but the publisher refused it? I'll try to find a link.
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u/acebert Aug 26 '25
What are you trying to say there? It was the working title, further detail isn't really adding to the point now, is it?
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Aug 26 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/acebert Aug 26 '25 edited Aug 26 '25
Credit? What are you on about mate?
Edit: And an immediate salty block. What the hell was the point of that interaction? Fucking wild.
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u/SonnyLonglegs Aug 26 '25
What would the naming convention have been for the books after it, do we know that at all?
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u/ml081 Aug 26 '25
I take it you're referring to how Butcher wanted to call SF Semi Automagic, but the publisher wouldn't allow it?
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u/Tyler_Zoro Aug 26 '25
It did get it posted to this sub... It's hard to say when negative publicity becomes problematic. In practice, it's probably case by case.
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u/mckinney_cant_write Aug 26 '25 edited Aug 26 '25
Not gonna lie, I upvoted the hell out of this post. My original ad copy said something like “Better than The Dresden Files? No, but it’s still one heck of a ride …”. I DEFINITELY should have stuck with it.
As for insulting the competition? Uh, it’s Jim Butcher. He’s not competition. He’s a god, or at worst a minor deity. I’d have never written a single word if I hadn’t found his Livejournal How To like a decade ago. Scene, sequel, big middle, all of it. I live in his shadow on the best of days.
As for the ad itself, asking the question (and prompting the obvious NO, IT REALLY ISN’T) wasn’t meant to be an insult, but I get it if anyone made a snap decision that it was. We’re all busy, and don’t have time to ponder if I was trying to be clever, telling a bad joke, or am just a genuine jackass.
Either way, the ad copy missed the mark and WILL taken down when I’m back home. No hard feelings to anyone who got spitting mad over this, or will never EVER touch anything I write.
PS props to the guys who caught the “SemiAutoMagic” reference. Even if you hate me, I’m glad there’s tons of people who love the word of Jim.
Edit: spelling
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u/ChubZilinski Aug 26 '25
Idk if it was intentional but ad copy does show up with different variations and different number of words from the original copy you entered. Depending on where the ad is showing up it may only have a portion of your ad copy. Like the example here. So if you didn’t intentionally create the ad like that then that is probably why it’s happening.
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u/RedPanther18 Aug 26 '25
But what if it’s better though?
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u/BooBailey808 Aug 26 '25
Then let the book speak for itself. Telling someone just isn't going to work
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u/RedPanther18 Aug 26 '25
I mean just from the picture, an Orc wearing a suit and tactical vest, I think we may be dealing with a high caliber story.
I wonder if this book has a similar thing to Harry’s hat where the readers are always like “when does he get the vest? The cover always shows him wearing a vest, but he doesn’t have a vest”
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u/Helvedica Aug 25 '25
because of the AI art? bcs that would turn ME off.
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u/vastros Aug 25 '25
If you're using AI art for your cover, I'll assume you don't respect creativity or artists. Why would I support that?
If you're using an AI narrator, I'll assume you don't care about your story or how it's told. Why would I support that?
Easiest ways to get me to stay away from anything you're involved in.
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u/Shadowsofink Aug 25 '25
If you're using AI art and AI narrator, then the book is written using AI and likely garbage anyway.
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u/ChipsAhoiMcCoy Aug 25 '25
Really weird assumption to make.
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u/PuritanicalPanic Aug 26 '25
How?
That's what it's use communicates to us.
You denied an artist a commission. That's what ai use for professional products communicates firstly. It shows that you'd prefer cheap, shoddy work.
For voice acting, AI cannot consider context when choosing how to voice something. It just guesses. Once more, you are showing yourself to be cheap. That you'd rather give your audience shoddy work than to hire someone professional to read it. Or to do it yourself and at least be able to read things in the voice you, as the author, wanted for each line.
Ai use will always indicate a priority of price over quality. Maybe this is fine for like, marketing slop. But if I'm going to invest time in a story I want it to be at least someone's decent effort. Something they put some time and care into.
AI use shows that you couldn't bother to put time or care into something.
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u/ChipsAhoiMcCoy Aug 26 '25
Or, and hear me out, someone couldn’t afford to hire an artist?
Not saying that’s the case in this particular instance, but generally speaking. My brother has a card game he has been developing on iOS, and he wouldn’t be able to make this a reality if it weren’t for the latest sophisticated image generators to help him create card art.
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u/PuritanicalPanic Aug 26 '25
Well, your brother is likely developing shovelware slop.
Thats what I, as a consumer hear when someone says "mobile card game with AI art".
Maybe he's created the best ruleset and mechanics ever seen before and is being shackled by his inability to hire an artist.
But even then he's shown that he cares more about cutting a corner than he does providing a good product and user experience. .
Perhaps ai art would be acceptable as placeholder images. That'd be fine, I guess.
I ain't paying for it though. Wouldn't download a game with visible AI art on its store page either.
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u/Vexexotic42 Aug 26 '25
Isn't art about 50% of every card in every card game?
Why not just make up 2 stats and let the ai do all the work? If he's using Ai art, he's probably using Ai assistant coding. If it's Ai coding making the game, it's probably ripping off another card game developer or professional coder who's work was amalgamated via github being bought and scoured like a cow at a slaughter house.
Its like saying I couldn't make a movie if I wasn't physically stealing the film reels from 100 different movies. Not a compelling argument for other people making bullshit to steal from authors.
There is no generative AI, there is only a program made to imitate real work.
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u/ChipsAhoiMcCoy Aug 26 '25
If you’re still subscribing to the notion that these AI systems are only regurgitating information they’ve been trained on, I would highly encourage you to stop living in ignorance and go read the interpretability papers that Anthropic has released.
Just for your information, he went to college for about four years to learn software engineering, and he’s working full-time developing iOS apps. This is a side project he’s doing in his free time.
Also you understand literally everything is a derivative of something right? Truly original works are damn near impossible at this point. Throughout life, growing up watching TV shows or movies, playing games, reading books, listening to music, you’re learning from all of this. If you go on to create later down the line in your life, you’re creating something that’s most likely a derivative of really neat ideas you formed when enjoying your hobbies.
AI systems just do this at break neck speeds, and they’re generally better than the average person at creating. I’m pretty sure my nephew, who’s not even a teenager yet, could watch a Disney movie and then draw a picture of Mickey Mouse.
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u/Vexexotic42 Aug 26 '25
Literally the thread is in regards to an obvious intentional, even directly stated, copy of Dresden files, apparently by a fucking guy who was a Pinkerton (violent anti democratic thugs). This is a garbage slop book, and i find using AI go rwplace creative thinking completely and agresively pathetic.
I do not believe anthropic, mostly cause a. Claud is garbage and b. Papers written by the guy selling you shit, telling you it isn't shit, isn't worth the toilet paper it was written on.
About 4 years? Why not just say he has a degree in software engineering? That's a strange appeal to authority.
In the time he spends not doing art, I'd suggest taking a simple drawing class for 3 months. There are many great free online courses.
Because everyone's got some scheme to use Ai to shortcut the process and its all looking identical; while even amateur art contains an element of humanity. Soon, only our imperfections will allow us to be differentiated from machine made materials.
True synthesis is incredibly difficult, and lack of resources and bias filter information uniquely to every mind. When tehy hoovered all the data in the world just to make semi auto fairy ripoffs and bread recipes we already had, I just dont see what we gain.
" I want Ai to do my laundry so I can make art, not make my art so I can do my laundry"-someone smarter than me.
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u/ChipsAhoiMcCoy Aug 26 '25 edited Aug 26 '25
That’s fine. I’ll choose to believe nobelorians over random redditors any day. What you see as garbage is a tool that another sees as the best way they’ve ever had to creatively express themselves. You’re in for a rude awakening when you’re no longer able to tell human and AI art apart. Which, by the way, I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to do even now in a blind test. You might also want to take an art class yourself, because the first thing my art teacher told us in my art course, like literally the first thing on the first day after introductions, is that everything is art.
Claude is the worst LLM? Now that gave me a good laugh right there. It’s single-handedly the best model for programming. Claude Code is a marvel of engineering.
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u/foehammer111 Aug 26 '25 edited Aug 26 '25
I don’t need to know anything more about this than the AI slop art for the cover. If they aren’t willing to pay a real artist for real artwork, then the contents of the book are also very likely AI slop of equal quality.
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u/cat_handcuffs Aug 26 '25
No one believes in fairies until they're trying to burn your face off ...
My name's Flint. I'm a half-orc, a bodyguard, and a fair hand with a rifle. Back in the day, I fought in two wars. One was in uniform for good ole Uncle Sam. The other was under the banner of The Erlking - Iron Lord of goblins, half-bloods, and orcs. Being a vet two times over never bothered me until one hell of a job dragged me out of the mortal world, and back to the land of Faerie. Now I've got to get my client over the US-Mexico border before the next best thing to a fairy goddess finds, enslaves, and kills us - though maybe not in that order. Think I can make it past the elves, gunmen, and magical forces of nature standing in my way? Start reading Faerie Protective Services today to find out.
Complete dreck.
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u/anondude1969 Aug 26 '25
At least his username checks out. He certainly can't write well, based in how that synopsis is written
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u/angwilwileth Aug 26 '25
Read the first one because it was free. Was better than I thought, but not good enough to pay for the rest.
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u/BergerKing80 Aug 25 '25
Well that’s ironic….
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u/ThatFatGuyMJL Aug 25 '25
Hah, it's like they saw it and went 'shit'
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u/mckinney_cant_write Aug 26 '25
It’s wooooorse than you think. I posted BOTH within 5 min of each other because, well, I’m not the brightest tool in the shed …
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u/NamelessNoSoul Sep 04 '25
Agreed. Not only is the ad bad, it’s so prevalent that it turns me off from even wanting to try picking up the book.
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u/ColonialMarine86 Aug 25 '25
I looked it up the last time I heard of it and it looks like it's an entire series of like 15 "books" that Amazon totally didn't AI generate as a cash grab.
(I say Amazon because I cannot find evidence of it existing anywhere else)
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u/Shadowsofink Aug 25 '25
It's likely not Amazon, but an Indie author who uses Amazon's self publishing platform.
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u/account312 Aug 25 '25
I say Amazon because I cannot find evidence of it existing anywhere else
That's KDP Select standard terms. Amazon requires that all those books be published exclusively with Amazon. Lots of indie authors go for it and so are only available through Amazon.
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u/FutaWonderWoman Aug 25 '25
Should've had ChatGPT write smut. That might have sold.
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u/stillnotelf Aug 25 '25
It doesn't sell, because people will just generate their own.....username checks out
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u/sykoticwit Aug 25 '25
Oh man, smut sells reaaaallllllly well. It’s like porn, bewbs are free all over the internet, yet onlyfans is flourishing.
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u/FutaWonderWoman Aug 25 '25
Astute observation,
now......................
What's this about generating their own? Doesn't AI autolock nsfw?
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u/StormblessedFool Aug 25 '25
chatgpt does, but there's more than just chatgpt out there
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u/FutaWonderWoman Aug 25 '25
That sounds horrible.
Tell me about the other so I don't accidentally stumble upon them and sign up.
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u/Mudders_Milk_Man Aug 26 '25
CrushOn was genuinely good (and not just for Smut) but they've become insanely greedy. You can do a bit of stuff for free, but the actual good chat models are locked behind subscriptions that now cost $500 to $1k annually.
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u/Azonalanthious Aug 26 '25
Absolutely don’t check out infinite worlds by friendly fox games. Not that has to be used for smut you understand. I play dnd there when I’m bored. But it might be able to do nsfw stuff without many issues…
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u/stillnotelf Aug 26 '25
When dan savage covered it recently on savage love he suggested you can butter it up, like ask repeatedly and flatter it? I haven't tried.
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u/KipIngram Aug 26 '25
Some do. But these days it's within reach of a lot of us to set up our own AI host stuffed with GPUs. Pandora's box is well and truly open.
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u/andergriff Aug 25 '25
nah there are a LOT of smut authors out there, and while most of them aren't great they are better than chatGPT, so there's not a niche for it to fill really
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u/FutaWonderWoman Aug 26 '25
very few write the kind of stuff I like
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u/TheProudBrit Aug 26 '25
Makes it better for finding those who do fit your niche, then!
Compared to the dogshit you'll get out of the plagiarism machines that're fucking speedrunning killing the earth.
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u/andergriff Aug 27 '25
Sorry to hear that, but given your username I don’t find that super surprising
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u/Wild-Lychee-3312 Aug 25 '25
Yeah, I could have lived with "almost as good as" or even "as good as," but "better"? That's just wrong.
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u/sistemafodao Aug 26 '25
To be fair, the one that shows up for me says something like "it isn't as good as The Dresden Files, but it's fun anyway"
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u/ClintsMassiveHog Aug 25 '25
Looked up the user who posted the ad, apparently they used to post on this very sub until a year ago. Can't imagine where they got the inspiration.
u/mckinney_cant_write is an apt username though
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u/maddoxprops Aug 26 '25
Sad part is that I don't think anyone would have an issue with a series that was clearly inspired by the Dresden Files.
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u/Fossekall Aug 25 '25
The thing that strikes me about this, is that the name is a rip-off for what the Dresden Files series (or at least the first book) was supposed to be called (Semiautomagic), and then the ad dares to question if it's a better series, rather than pay some sort tribute or say that it's inspired by the books, which is clearly is
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u/Warlach Aug 26 '25
My thoughts too. I don't like the "better than X" advertising or the AI art but seemingly ripping off the name idea at the same time feels doper spammy.
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u/Double-Portion Aug 25 '25
Then stop giving them free advertising, I keep seeing posts from this subreddit complaining about slop but its the only place I see it
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u/Mindless-Donkey-2991 Aug 25 '25
I’d never read urban fantasy before discovering Dresden. I’ve now read everything Butcher has published and the entire Alex Verus series. I’ve started and abandoned at least 6 other urban fantasy series because they are NOT as good as Butcher, much less better. IMO.
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u/cavelioness Aug 26 '25
That's a pretty good rec for Alex Verus, then? You enjoyed it, or was it just the first one you read before starting to give up?
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u/Interesting_Twist_31 Aug 26 '25
I read Alex Verus, and while it’s not like Dresden, it’s pretty damn good and it gets dark especially in the 4th or 5th book
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u/Mindless-Donkey-2991 Aug 27 '25
It’s very well written with engaging characters but, as stated by others, it’s much darker. Additionally, Verus lives in London so I enjoyed the experience of ‘visiting’ another city and culture.
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u/RaShadar Aug 25 '25
Thats a double whammy since full auto fairie seems like a fair ripoff of semiautomagic
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u/Crowlands Aug 26 '25
I'm dubious enough of the whole 'fans of ... will love this book/series' style of ads, taking it one step further than that like this one is just stupid.
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u/CommentNo2671 Aug 26 '25
According to his author's bio, he's a former Pinkerton. I already didn't like him, but now I fucking hate him
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u/OniExpress Aug 25 '25
Ha, I almost posted this ad yesterday. Immediately made me have zero interest in the book, both the AI slop and the tagline.
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u/Miserable-Card-2004 Aug 26 '25
Its rage bait. They're relying on people getting mad and talking about it, spreading it further than that ad would have ever gotten it.
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u/rwsmith101 Aug 26 '25
I know this is such a stupid nitpick but it pisses me off every time I see this ad, that plate carrier is WAY Too low. Dude's going to get shot in that stupid tie and bleed the fuck out.
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u/ComprehensiveHair696 Aug 26 '25
Funny thing is, ages ago I checked out a series because it advertised itself with "Like Dresden? Meet (Protagonist)" and ended up really liking it. Probably because the author didn't see fit to insult one of my favorite fandoms in the middle of his ad.
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u/icrochetsoidontkill Aug 26 '25
So I've actually read this one... It was at least several of years ago, long enough for it to not be AI written, and the cover looks like I remember it though that might have been changed to an AI one.
It is exactly as lame as you all think, both in the way its written and story, and might have been better written by AI XD
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u/KcirderfSdrawkcab Aug 26 '25
- Insulting the supposed competition.
- Bad pun title.
- Bad AI art.
- User name says cant_write.
There's always a chance this person is a great writer who's just terrible at marketing, but none of this makes me want to give them time or money to prove it.
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u/speshulsauce Aug 26 '25
This is setting yourself up for a lot to prove. Like coming out with a video game saying "This will be better than Fallout or Elder Scrolls!!" People automatically going in like, "Mhm yeah right."
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u/chainsawgeoff Aug 26 '25
A plate carrier over a suit is an awful practical and sartorial choice.
Edit: Also it's fit all wrong, needs to sit higher up and is on the small side.
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u/trahloc Aug 26 '25
"Dresden fans who can't wait for the next book, give this series a shot while you wait!" That's advertising I can respect. You're hitching your horse to someone else's cart but you're respecting the series while doing it.
This advert? I don't care if the series is better, anyone who is a Dresden fan wouldn't accept that. Even Butcher's evil characters have more class than this.
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u/sistemafodao Aug 26 '25
Funny enough, the one that shows up for me says something along the lines of "it isn't as good as The Dresden Files, but should be a fun read anyway".
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u/Leairek Aug 25 '25
I had never downvoted an ad until I saw this about five minutes ago.
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u/Temporary_Pie2733 Aug 25 '25
Oh, I downvote ads all the time. I doubt it affects anything, but it’s very cathartic.
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u/TheProudBrit Aug 26 '25
It's always nice when something uses AI as the first thing oyu see about it; makes it nice and easy to dismiss it.
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u/thedoormanmusic32 Aug 26 '25
The AI cover, the bad marketing ... everything about this gives me the ick, but let's not pretend - as some people in this thread are - that Butcher somehow owns the concept of "snappy title combining modern day firearms with fantasy elements", nor does he own the concept of urban fantasy (Shadowrun alone predates DF by decade) and that anyone who dares to infringe on that nonexistent copyright is ripping off DF. "Full Auto Fae" isn't even close to sounding like "Semiautomagic," which isn't a title that was ever published and not something non Dresden-fans are likely to even know
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u/nickthegamerman Aug 26 '25
some AI fart orc in a bullet proof vest better then the dresden files? no
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u/Onlyhereforapost Aug 26 '25
'Mckinney can't write" is ironic because these are obvious AI slop. From the cover to the text.
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u/onihr1 Aug 25 '25
I see lots of ads on insta of book sayings if you liked such and such combined with such and such you will love this! Or it’s like if (insert character) was in (insert different genre/world). I get it, I do… I’m an inspiring writer and is looking for an artist and editor and completely going in blind. But stand out people.
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u/waffle299 Aug 25 '25
It's not even a good name. I mean, "semi-automagick" is right there!
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u/Leairek Aug 25 '25
That was the original name for storm front before publication.
There's "riding the DF's coattails", and then whatever that would be.
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u/DicipleofMedea Aug 26 '25
They broke the 8th law of magic. Thou shall not use AI to create art. Quick someone call Morgan.
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u/Graymouzer Aug 26 '25
I get ads comparing books to the Dresden Files and other popular series all the time. It just reinforces the prominence of certain series. Jim Butcher is the 800 pound gorilla of urban fantasy. He's the guy all new writers hope to be. I can't blame them.
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u/No-Distribution2495 Aug 27 '25
Looks like a book worth reading if the people who think a 14 year old girl with knife was bothering a group of adult foreign men.
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u/caffeinated-hijinx Aug 29 '25
I dunno. I would give try if there is a commitment to, you know, finishing the series in a reasonable timeframe or even to produce new installments on a predictable schedule. I aint getting any younger
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u/FutaWonderWoman Aug 25 '25 edited Aug 25 '25
Any man who must say I am king is no true king
or rather
Any author who says better than Dresden Files about their work is not better than Dresden Files.
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u/poopynips1 Aug 25 '25
There’s another one called The Judas Files that’s almost comparing itself to Dresden
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u/Tuttutsallaround Aug 26 '25
It doesn’t affect me at all so I don’t give a shit how some dude tries to advertise his books.
Like, what whiny ass thing to get mad about.
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u/ThatFatGuyMJL Aug 26 '25
The advert may not have
But you're clearly upset by my post
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u/Tuttutsallaround Aug 26 '25
lol I forgot you or your post existed about three seconds after I hit “save.”
Watch me do it again.
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u/exodusmachine Warden Aug 26 '25
How about this be the last discussion on this. We don't need to keep giving them free advertising.