For me, Murphy's Law is "as soon as I'm able to do something, it's no longer worth doing." My novel career went full-time in Spring 2025. At the same time, use of AI to generate and publish novels became more mainstream. Author Media posted about AI's prevalence, which I summarize (with AI) below.
AI-assisted books now make up a large share of Amazon’s self-published catalog. A study showed that 17.1% of books used a little AI, while 20% used a lot. None of these books admitted to using AI. Fully human-written books still sell better, making up 62.9% of the catalog and 71.7% of sales. However, human authors are earning less per book because the catalog is growing twice as fast as total sales money. AI allows some authors to publish much faster and take top sales spots. Because of this, traditional publishers now care deeply about proof. They want authors to keep notes and prove they wrote their own books without heavy AI help.
Authors are losing discoverabilty, and they are losing income. The day was coming and is here now. Craig Martelle recently complained about discoverability. With over 200 books, if he's noticing, then we're feeling it.
Almost on cue, Anthropic announced that all Claude models launched on or after August 2, 2026, embed invisible, model-level watermarks into output text. The global feature survives copy-pasting, preserving text quality while enabling machine detection. This is to fulfill transparency obligations under Article 50 of the European Union AI Act.
I would expect that publishing houses and the likes of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) could get their hands on the watermark reader. This would help them to gate-keep and screen out AI, if they wanted to. I expect major publishers gate-keep as that is their business model. One could argue KDP has less of an incentive as they benefit off each sale. But at the end of the day, if humans want to read a novel written by a human, KDP will serve their customers.
For authors who worry that a major company will start publishing novels that pass the Turing test, the EU's act should be celebrated. But not those who rely on AI to write cheap knock-offs of novels. Wouldn't it be great if screen readers could detect the watermark and inform the reader?
I woke up today wondering if we could have an alternative to KDP that would help squelch out the AI knock-offs. Someone who charged per-uploaded book and per download. It turns out, there are some who do.
Several respected print-on-demand and distribution partners use modest upload and curation fees as a valuable tool to maintain higher catalog standards and provide enhanced publishing services. Ideally, the on-boarding fee would be their only revenue source (and modest charges per download to network fees).
Almost on cue, Anthropic announced that all Claude models launched on or after August 2, 2026, embed invisible, model-level watermarks into output text. The global feature survives copy-pasting, preserving text quality while enabling machine detection. This is to fulfill transparency obligations under Article 50 of the European Union AI Act.
I would expect that publishing houses and the likes of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) could get their hands on the watermark reader. This would help them to gate-keep and screen out AI, if they wanted to. I expect major publishers gate-keep as that is their business model. One could argue KDP has less of an incentive as they benefit off each sale. But at the end of the day, if humans want to read a novel written by a human, KDP will serve their customers.
For authors who worry that a major company will start publishing novels that pass the Turing test, the EU's act should be celebrated. But not those who rely on AI to write cheap knock-offs of novels. Wouldn't it be great if screen readers could detect the watermark and inform the reader?
I woke up today wondering if we could have an alternative to KDP that would help squelch out the AI knock-offs. Someone who charged per-uploaded book and per download. It turns out, there are some who do.
Several respected print-on-demand and distribution partners use modest upload and curation fees as a valuable tool to maintain higher catalog standards and provide enhanced publishing services. Ideally, the on-boarding fee would be their only revenue source (and modest charges per download to network fees).
- Bookvault charges a modest setup fee (around $25 per title) to cover high-spec, customized printing options and dedicated integration with direct-to-consumer storefronts, ensuring that indie authors can offer premium physical products without compromising on quality.
- Lulu utilizes a small one-time $4.99 distribution review fee when enrolling eBooks into their Global Distribution network, which funds a manual review process to ensure files meet strict formatting guidelines, reducing distribution errors and ensuring a polished, professional launch across worldwide retail channels.
- IngramSpark once charged a $49 title setup fee per print book/eBook combo plus $25 per file revision, IngramSpark eliminated title setup and upload fees, making basic title setup free. While a decent move to build their author customer base, I think it will lead to AI books.
I won't go to bed tonight thinking my future career as a novelist is secure. But I think the market may shift in a way that doesn't kill my dream.
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Ben
iu, kiun vi fidas, estas unu el ni
Ben
iu, kiun vi fidas, estas unu el ni