ChatGPT Has Authored or Coauthored Over 200 Books on Amazon!!

Interesting news tidbit. In case you haven't heard about ChatGPT, it's "an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022." (Wikipedia) 

According to a Reuter's article, ChatGPT launches boom in AI-written e-books on Amazon by Greg Bensinger written on February 21, 2023:

There were over 200 e-books in Amazon’s Kindle store as of mid-February listing ChatGPT as an author or co-author, including "How to Write and Create Content Using ChatGPT," "The Power of Homework" and poetry collection "Echoes of the Universe." And the number is rising daily. There is even a new sub-genre on Amazon: Books about using ChatGPT, written entirely by ChatGPT.

It's kind of amazing that AI has come along way in that AI can now write or cowrite books. It makes me wonder how well written these books actually are. Not that I'll be rushing out to purchase and read a book written/cowritten by ChatGPT.

How do you feel about the plethora of eBooks flooding Amazon's website that are being written or cowritten and published by ChatGPT?

Lastly, the above YouTube video discusses the topic of ChatGPT and the eBooks it has written/cowritten that are now available on Amazon. 

Amazon Books Storefront in Walnut Creek, California

My Hubby Outside Amazon Books!!

I've been hearing that Amazon has planned to open several bookstores around the USA for a long time now. So, I was excited to learn that one opened in Walnut Creek, California and another one in San Jose, California. Both locations are close to where I live, but the Walnut Creek Amazon storefront is closer to my home.

This past weekend, my husband and I visited the newly opened Amazon brick and mortar bookstore in Walnut Creek, California. We visited Amazon Books out of sheer curiosity to see what an Amazon bookstore would look like in person. Boy, was this bookstore packed with people, their children, and quite a few pet dogs too the day we made our visit!

We enjoyed our experience visiting Amazon Books in Walnut Creek. There was a greeter at the entrance as well as a Peet's Coffee onsite selling beverages and treats to eat and drink during one's visit. 

Plenty of books from nearly every genre are for sale with all the covers facing outward for readers to view easily. There are even tags below each book telling potential buyers how well the book is liked by Amazon readers/reviewers. 

Additionally, other Amazon products like the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Kindle are also for sale at their retail location. 

I enjoyed the size and layout of Amazon Books in Walnut Creek... It's a large bookstore without being overwhelmingly HUGE.

The staff members we encountered during our visit were friendly and helpful.

We weren't initially planning on making a purchase during our visit to the Amazon Books storefront as I already have way too many books that need to be read before buying more of them and my husband isn't an avid reader like me. I seem to acquire books much faster than I can read them... I'm sure other readers have the same problem I do with acquiring books and not being able to read them quickly enough to keep up with purchases. 

At any rate, my plans quickly fell by the wayside when I noticed upon entering Amazon Books that they had autographed copies of John Green's new novel, Turtles All The Way Down, for sale. I want to read this novel, so I decided to purchase John Green's new novel. 

Checkout was fast and easy at the Amazon Books cash wrap... Plus, we were able to purchase the latest John Green novel for the discounted price as seen on Amazon's website (40% off the cover price), which was awesome!

As cool as it was to visit a brick and mortar Amazon Books storefront, I think I'll be skipping on a return visit to their physical bookstore in the future. 

My husband and I already have an Amazon Prime Membership and we find it much more convenient to shop on Amazon's website day or night in the comfort of our own home. And with our Amazon Prime Membership, we receive free 2 day shipping regardless of the dollar amount spent... Because of these factors, it is less appealing to shop Amazon's physical storefront in my opinion, especially when we purchase more than books from Amazon. In fact, I tend to purchase/acquire books from many sources aside from Amazon (Indie Bookstores, Used Bookstores, FOL Used Bookstores, Little Free Libraries and Bookcrossers, Netgalley, InKitt, Goodreads Giveaways, etc.)

So, have you had the opportunity to visit an Amazon Books storefront? What was your experience like during your visit?

FREE Audiobooks Included With Amazon Prime!!

I love listening to audiobooks and I also happen to be an Amazon Prime member. So, I was excited to learn this morning that FREE audiobooks are now included with Amazon Prime!! I look forward to seeing which audiobooks will be available through Amazon Prime.

To learn more information, read the following article I discovered through Bustle's website titled, Free Audiobooks Are Now Included With Amazon Prime, But Which Books Will Be Available? by Kristian Wilson.

Amazon Opens It's Very First Brick & Mortar Bookstore in Seattle, Washington

Last night, I came across an article on the Huffington Post titled 
'Amazon Books' Debuts In Seattle, The Company's First Actual Bookstore and learned that Amazon will be opening its first brick and mortar bookstore today in Seattle, Washington. In the article, I read the following:

"Amazon Books is a physical extension of Amazon.com," company vice president Jennifer Cast wrote in a statement published Monday. "We’ve applied 20 years of online bookselling experience to build a store that integrates the benefits of offline and online book shopping. The books in our store are selected based on Amazon.com customer ratings, pre-orders, sales, popularity on Goodreads, and our curators’ assessments."

I remember reading a few years ago that Amazon had intended to open a brick and mortar store at some point. I'd be interested in visiting Amazon's new brick and mortar bookstore in Seattle, just for the experience alone.

Until my next post, happy reading!!