AxellePB š¹
Bio
Participation3
I'm a science journalist, based in France, most interested in covering effective animal advocacy issues like chicken and fish farming, invertebrate sentience, wild animal welfare, alt-proteins. I sometimes write articles about effective giving and AI safety.
Posts 2
Comments16
Congrats on publishing your book in Spanish! Itās a big step for spreading EA ideas to new audiences š Iām working on a book myself, about the broiler chicken industry, due out in French in the first half of 2026. I spend a lot of time thinking and asking for advice about how to make the book successful. Two high-level principles stand out to me:
- Publishing feels like putting two things out into the world: the book of course, but also the author. Investing in personal branding and embodying the subject (through expertise, personal trajectory, or lived commitment) makes it more engaging for readers and more interesting for journalists.
- It's crucial not to rely on the publisherās press officer. In most cases, they will cover the basics (press kits and some communication), but unless youāre a household name and they are willing to put serious weight behind the book, working on a dedicated personal strategy is just as important. Personally, in terms of working hours, I roughly estimate a 50/50 split between actual writing and promotion strategy (though Iād need to check my Clockify to see if thatās actually how it breaks down!).
Iād love to hear how youāre approaching these two aspects in practice, and whether there are any other guidelines you think could be useful for me as I plan my own book promotion. I'm also curious to know:
- Do you have a dedicated budget for promoting your book? If so, how much are you planning to spend?
- Are you planning to collaborate with NGOs or influencers to help spread the key messages of your book?
- Are you investing in any media training to prepare for potential TV or radio appearances?
- Will you be doing a bookstore tour or organizing a launch event to present the book?
Thanks!
My main goal for this EAG is to find great material to include in my essay about broiler chickens and the Better Chicken Commitment campaign (to be published early 2026 in French). I'm looking for embodied characters, epic campaigning stories and powerful anecdotes.
As writing a book is half writing and half developing your public image as an author, I'd also love to connect with folks who have experience as: public figures, opinion leaders, social media influencers, or best-selling authors.
Here's my Swapcard :)
Thanks for sharing! Another great tool for group scheduling is https://schej.it/. Best user interface imo :)
I'd love to see an 'Animal Welfare vs. AI Safety/Governance Debate Week' happening on the Forum. The risks from AI cause has grown massively in importance in recent years, and has become a priority career choice for many in the community. At the same time, the Animal Welfare vs Global Health Debate Week demonstrated just how important and neglected the cause of animal welfare remains. I know several people (including myself) who are uncertain/torn about whether to pursue careers focused on reducing animal suffering or mitigating existential risks related to AI. It would help to have rich discussions comparing both causes's current priorities and bottlenecks, and a debate week would hopefully expose some useful crucial considerations.
The urgency factor reminds me of a Charity Entrepreneurship blog post from a few years ago (which I can't locate now) that emphasized the importance of considering windows of opportunity when prioritizing causes. For example, preventing the development of a new industry, like octopus farming, is particularly pressing now, because the industry is still nascent. Acting now could be far easier than trying to challenge a well-established industry 5 to 10 years down the line. By having the opportunity to intervene early, we may prevent more suffering, something that may be less accessible for mature industries. So I think I would place this "opportunity/urgency factor" within "tractability", as it influences our ability to address the issue effectively at a given point in time.
Super interesting to read this list. I didn't know half of the tools you mention. I work as a journalist, and although I sense the potential of using AI in my work, so far I've limited myself to some minor uses of ChatGPT. I think applying gwern's advice, and reflecting carefully on the valuable tasks an hypothetical outsourced human could perform for me, will help me in this area. So thanks for sharing!
I love the dashboard metaphor!
Do you also offer support to individuals? I'm thinking here of profiles like journalists, authors, podcasters... working to help farmed/wild animals.