AI in Publishing

In the wake of the news coming from Wired that publishers like Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Hachette are actively supporting gen-AI use in their publishing houses, I've been leaning more and more toward indie publishing.

It's tough. In dreaming about my future as an author, I've always wanted to be traditionally published. But now the dream has shifted into new territory that I never considered before. The new future is full of more unknowns. I imagine getting a literary agent. That literary agent then gets me a publishing deal. What if it's with one of these Big 3? What if they want to use gen-AI as part of my book promotions? Integrity is my highest value, and for my own sake, I'd have to turn down those offers. But then it would fuck over my agent. Because if I don't take a book deal, they don't get paid. And that's completely unfair to them. So is it worth getting an agent when there is a possibility I could turn down something that would get them paid? Again, that seems wildly unfair to them.

Can you have those conversations with your agent? Like, "Based on X's beliefs in AI use, I will not work with them"? When we have "the call," can we advocate for what publishers we want to work and which we absolutely do not? Do we, as authors, have that much power in the publishing space? I just don't know.

Again, I'm getting ahead of myself as I don't have an agent yet, but this conversation is something that I've been thinking about a lot lately.

If I go indie, I have full control over how my book is marketed, who it's marketed to, how my cover is created, how it's laid out, and on and on.

Even so, the dream of traditional publishing is still strong. I want a trad deal. I want a trad career. I want me books on shelves across the globe. But I will forgo that dream if it means keeping my integrity because that is far more important to me than how my books get into the world.