In May of 2008, Patrick Flanagan learned a hard lesson about computer music: no one cares about your algorithms. After months of research, coding, and practice, Patrick debuted his implementation of a music learning and generation algorithm called Factor Oracle. This algorithm allowed his computer to extrude new music based on statistical patterns in bebop solos, Stevie Wonder songs, and Slayer guitar riffs. The audience was curious, maybe even impressed, but mostly confused. The connection between the knob-twiddling on stage and the barrage of notes issuing from the speakers was opaque; more than that, the logic behind the whole performance was too complex. Patrick decided that better algorithms alone wouldn’t save live performances of music driven by artificially intelligent musical agents; the agents needed to be embodied.
And that difference is bigegr the farther you get away from the big publishers. At a big publishing house it’s the marketing department that decides the size of the advance, not the editor. So proposals from the get go are pitched to marketing departments. Writers who survive on advances structure the content of their book accordingly.