by Jules Older
Oh, it’s a crisis, all right. When your kid’s book will be delayed a full year because the cover illustrator is suddenly unavailable, that pretty much defines crisis. What to do?
Though I write kid’s books, this one’s actually my wife’s crisis. The book is Effin Older’s HELP! Santa is in Trouble!.
Yes, it’s a Christmas book, and if she can't get a cover going right now, it won't come out till next Christmas. What to do?
Neither of us knew what to do. I felt frustrated; she wasn't far from despair. So I did what I always do when faced with a crisis — I went to bed. And sometime between wakefulness and sleep, the answer came to me: Ah-ha — artificial intelligence! Artificial intelligence, better known as AI, just might save the day.
Before I go on, here's what I feel about AI in 12 words:
It’s powerful and useful
It’s dangerous and harmful
It’s here to stay.
OK, problem. I know so little about AI, I wasn't at all sure it even dealt with images. If not, then my ah-ha moment might be nah-nah.
To find out, I went to the one AI program I knew about, ChatGPT. I typed in “Long-eared Basset Hound, seven-year-old girl, four-year-old boy.” In three seconds, here's what came up on my screen:
I was amazed. Astounded. I also knew that this image, impressive though it is, wasn't right for the cover.
So, I searched for ‘AI Image Generators’ and came up with a most helpful article, https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-ai-image-generator/#google_vignette
Using it as a guide, I typed the same prompt into Microsoft’s Designer Image Creator. In an instant I got:
Wow. That’s much more what I had in mind. I thought our problems were over.
They weren't. When I expanded my search on Image Creator, I kept getting messages telling me that “Nothing can be found.” So, I went to the next service on the list, ImageFX. This time the prompt produced three cartoon figures:
I liked that. So I asked FX for a troll dressed in a Santa suit. In ten seconds, here's what appeared on my screen:
I went through a few other iterations before it occurred to me that I could prompt for everything I needed all at once. I’ll spare you my many, many, many attempts and adjustments. My final prompt to FX was this:
CARTOON A troll dressed in a Christmas-red suit with a fake curly-white hair and beard, wears a red cowboy hat, orange belt over his fat tummy, black boots, and a red cherry that covers his nose. He looks grumpy at a seven-year-old girl who looks determined, four-year-old boy with thumb in mouth and finger in nose, both dressed for winter, and a long-eared basset hound. Troll and girl are the same height. A snowy backdrop with a striped pole with sign that says “North Pole. ”
I got as many responses as the several times I tried. Here's the one we liked best:
Was it perfect? No. In the book, the troll’s belt was orange, not black. The boy should have his thumb in mouth, finger in nose. But if the editor liked it enough to turn it into an instant cover, Effin could easily re-write the belt color and adjust for any other discrepancies.
The big question: Would the editor like it? The big answer: He did. He immediately got to work turning the Jules-driven AI image into a book cover. This is how it came out:
Was the book out by Christmas? Indeed, it was. Are the Olders happy with the result? Indeed, we are. More than happy — a better word is thrilled.
And, can you buy Effin Older’s HELP! Santa is in Trouble!? Click here to make that happen.
Jules Older also writes kid’s books. His latest is Special Ed and the White Force. For that, click here.
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