The Novelist's Stack

The Novelist’s Stack — AI writing tools, tested by a fellow author.

I’m Jerrod Montemayor, a fiction writer who got tired of AI tool reviews written by people who’d clearly never finished a manuscript.

I’m an indie author — I write and self-publish my own fiction rather than wait for a gatekeeper’s permission. That means I live with every part of the process: drafting, revising, formatting, cover decisions, launches, and the long, quiet work of finding readers. It’s humbling, and it’s taught me more about the craft than any shortcut ever could.

Six years of writing have taught me that the work is equal parts inspiration and stubbornness. Along the way I’ve leaned on the writing community as much as the page — trading feedback in author groups, learning from people further down the road, and pitching in on collaborative projects, this site among them. I’m not here to perform expertise I don’t have. I’d rather test things in the open and tell you honestly what worked and what didn’t.

This site exists for one reason: to tell other novelists and indie authors the truth about AI writing tools — which ones actually help, which ones get in the way, and who each one is wrong for. I test these tools on real manuscripts, not demo text, and I write about them the way I’d explain them to a writer friend over coffee.

A word on where I stand, because this matters: I believe AI is a collaborator, not a ghostwriter. None of these tools writes a good novel for you, and I’d never pretend otherwise. I’ve come to believe these tools are the future of writing — not because they replace the author, but because they build a bridge between the story in your head and the one on the page. Used well, AI closes the gap between a raw idea and your full potential, handling the friction so you can spend your energy on the parts only you can do: voice, meaning, and the choices that make a book yours. That’s the lens for everything I review here.

How I keep this honest. Some links on this site are affiliate links, which means if you subscribe to a tool through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That never changes my verdict. I only recommend tools I’ve actually used, I always tell you who a tool is wrong for, and I flag anything I haven’t been able to verify. You can read the full Affiliate Disclosure here.

Got a question, a correction, or a tool you want me to test? Reach me at jerrodmontemayor@gmail.com.

— Jerrod Montemayor, The Novelist’s Stack