UPDATED NOVEMBER 2025
Some authors are excited. Other’s heads are exploding. Why?
Find out common concerns and how you can adapt to an AI world. You can read this post below the video.
I did a post on AI tools for authors, but since then, AI has become such a powder keg of controversy. I’ve met people who’ve been kicked out of social media groups for mentioning AI.
On the one hand, I can understand the concerns anti-AI authors have. I have a few of my own.
But on the other hand, AI is here. There’s no stopping it any more than there was stopping the development of streaming entertainment that has video rental stores.
I want to cover some of the concerns and fears surrounding AI and provide tips, strategies, or coping skills in a changing world.
You may not agree with what I suggest here, which is fine. But what I don’t think can be disputed is that AI is here to stay. As authors, we need to adapt. I hope this information will help you with that.
Concern One: AI-generated content will replace human authors.
Will their be 100% AI generated books for sale. Yes. There already is.
Will AI-generated books replace human authors? No, unless humans stop writing.
Currently, most readers want to support human authors by reading them and avoiding AI-Generated books.
BUT…AI-generated content has vastly improved over the last year, and unless readers know AI-tells (and no, it’s not the use of an em-dash or phrases like “…let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding…”), they may not know they’re reading AI-generated books.
However, this doesn’t mean AI will replace writers. It just means human writers will be competing with AI-written books.
Solution: Write a great book and find readers for it is the answer, just like it’s always been.
Special note: If you’re a ghostwriter, like I am, then you may need to think ahead about your future as a ghostwriter. I have a great client, but she is an entrepreneur, and as AI improves, it’s possible she’ll decide it’s more cost effective to use AI. Or publisher entrepreneurs who use ghostwriters might hire you to revise AI-Generated content at a lower rate than they pay to have it ghostwritten.
Concern Two: Increased accessibility to AI writing tools will flood the market with low-quality content.
I want to tell you a story. Once upon a time, the only way to get your book into the world was either through traditional publishers or by paying thousands of dollars for vanity publishing and figure out a way to sell your books from your garage. Then one day, the Internet came, and not long after, came print-on-demand and ebooks. Publishing was faster and cheaper than ever.
And then, Amazon and Barnes and Noble and other online book retailers opened up their stores to would-be authors to publish their works directly, without a traditional publisher. Now anyone could write, publish, and sell their books. And so many did!
But there were some who didn’t like this. Many traditional authors scoffed at indie authors, saying they couldn’t write well enough to get a traditional publisher, so their books had to suck. They hated how indie books flooded the market. And while many of these books were poorly written and produced, so many weren’t, and now traditionally published authors are competing with successful indie authors.
I tell this story because some anti-AI authors sound like the traditional authors at the start of self-publishing. They’re getting upset at having to compete with low-quality books flooding the market.
Will there be sucky AI-written books. Yes. But AI continues to improve to the point that most readers won’t know the difference. The tells of an AI-generated book are subtle. I can usually spot AI-written fiction because I test it a lot to see what I’m up against. But most readers won’t know because AI is getting that good. As a result, you will be competing against AI-Generated books. You already are.
BUT…that doesn’t stop you from writing, publishing, and selling books.
What a lot of authors seem to be forgetting is that success as an author comes from the reader. The key factor in making a living writing is YOU finding your readers.
It’s important to realize what has been learned in the last ten to fifteen years as self-publishing has flourished. At first, readers avoided indie published books thinking they were all bad. But over time, readers have stopped paying attention to the publisher. If a book is good, they don’t care if it’s traditionally or indie published.
Right now, many readers care if a book is human versus AI-written, but we’re at a point at which they’re having a harder time knowing the difference. And because of this, they’ll likely end up buying books they love that were AI-generated without knowing it.
The good news is that the romance genre has avid readers, who buy a lot of books.
Solution: Write a great book and find readers for it.
Concern Three: AI might lead to an oversaturation of content, making it harder for authors to gain visibility.
In some ways, the answer to this concern is the same as above regarding low-quality content. Back when self-publishing started to take off, many traditional authors fussed about self-publishers saturating the market. And guess what? They did.
What we’ve learned there is room for both indie and traditionally published authors because, again, readers don’t care about that. They just want a good story.
Is the market flooded? Yes. There are many indie authors making money hand over fist. Many more are making enough to live on. Most make a few bucks. But guess what? That’s true of traditionally published authors as well. From that, we can extrapolate that AI-authors will experience the same.
Will there be more noise with AI-created content? Yes. But self-publishing already produces a lot of noise. The noise has been there for over a decade. The reality is that the difference between authors making a living and those who don’t has little to do with the number of books in the marketplace. It has to do with how well they can find and engage readers. And in fact, AI tools can help you do this!
Solution: Write a great book and find readers for it.
Concern Four: AI algorithms may prioritize popular trends over originality and diversity.
I’ll be honest, I don’t understand this concern considering the number of self-published romance authors who write to market (writing to trends). Even traditional publishers are always looking for same, but different.
Again, this worry forgets the most important element in an author’s career…the reader. So what if AI prioritized trends over diversity? All that matters is what your reader wants to read, and it’s clear by the success of indie authors that readers like originality and diversity.
Solution: Write a great book and find readers for it.
Concern Five: Plagiarism and copyright infringement may become more prevalent with AI-generated content.
Someone, somewhere is going to steal and try to sell your book. Often they won’t even plagiarized. They’ll just take your book and sell it themselves. It happens. It’s like playing whack-a-mole to stop it.
This AI concern is a little different from that, but just like authors have to deal with stolen works, you’ll have to concern yourself with plagiarized content in AI.
First, as of this writing, there is NO lawsuit that has proven that AI plagiarizes. There is a lawsuit from Author’s Guild and others against ChatGPT for this, but as of yet, nothing is resovled.
Anthropic has settled a lawsuit, but that isn’t about plagiarism, it’s about using pirated books to train its models. In an interesting determination, the court said that using authors’ books to train their AI is considered “Fair Use” as long as the books were legally obtained. At first glance, this might seem crazy, except remember in On Writing, Stephan King is adamant that writers must read in order to learn to write. In other words, authors train by reading other works. The difference is that AI is faster at reading and learning.
Solution: To protect yourself and become a part of any lawsuit against AI for copyright infringement, you need to register your book with the Copyright Office.
Concern Six: AI tools may devalue the role of editors and human feedback in the writing process.
It’s interesting that many authors didn’t bat an eye when AI tools like Prowriting Aid started providing robust editing feedback. Many were happy to have an affordable AI editor. Especially now that these tools go beyond checking grammar and spelling. They identify overused words, weak phrases, passive voice sentences, and more.
Successful self-published authors I know still hire editors because despite how good these tools are, they’re not perfect. But even they usually run their work through Autocrit or Prowriting Aid first, as a way to save money on human-editors (the less editing your manuscript needs, the lower the cost of editing).
Could that change? Yes. Just as I’m anticipating a day in which AI replaces me as a ghostwriter, AI could significantly impact editors as well. But I don’t see AI replacing editors altogether. Humans are the consumers of these books, and therefore having a human involved in editing is important.
Solution: If you’re an editor, you may need to make changes to your income model. See Adapt or Die below.
Concern Seven: AI may disrupt traditional publishing models, making it harder for authors to get published.
This is another topic some traditionally published authors fussed about when self-publishing became available. But like AI, a changing publishing model is already here. Readers who’ve grown up using devices (smartphones) are already moving the publishing industry in new directions. Serialized content and subscription models are two examples.
But changing reader habits isn’t AI’s doing. Digital serialization has been around for a long time. In fact, serialization has its roots in the 19th century. Many authors moved to a subscription model (using platforms like Patreon) years ago. Publishing is changing, with or without AI.
Currently, most publishers don’t accept AI-generated content, although how they screen for it, I’m not sure. I often have my suspicious when I come across writing, but today, it’s harder to be sure, and the AI-detectors are often wrong.
But here’s another interesting factoid…traditional publishers are using AI. They’re using it for first-round editing and language translation. This could be a good thing because editing takes a long, long time. If editors can have a first round AI edit, and then go through with the human touch after, it saves time, time that could be used to work with more authors.
Solution: Write a great book and find readers for it.
Adapt or Die
Okay, so that’s ominous, but the point is, AI is here. No amount of fussing is going to change it. The answer is to figure out what that means for you as a writer or someone in the publishing world. AI is a fantastic tool for authors. It can help with research, editing, and marketing. Yes, it will change the marketplace, so you need to adapt. But I would argue that the need for authors to adapt is already in play with the changing of reader habits.
Tips for authors to adapt to a new AI world:
1. Embrace AI as a tool:
Chances are you’re already using AI. If you use predictive text in search, you’re using AI. If you have the grammar/spelling checker on in your document, or use Autocrit or Prowriting Aid, you’re using AI. If you dictate your writing, you’re using AI.
Rather than viewing AI as a threat, explore AI-powered writing tools and platforms to enhance your writing process. These tools can assist with tasks like fleshing out plot ideas, improve writing, editing, and marketing.
2. Leverage AI for writing and marketing research:
AI can assist you in conducting research more efficiently. You can use AI-powered search engines, text analysis tools, and data mining techniques to gather information, explore new ideas, and gain insights into reader preferences. This can help you create content that resonates with your readers and target-reader market.
3. Utilize AI for marketing and promotion:
AI can help you optimize your marketing and improve book discoverability. Authors can leverage AI tools to analyze market trends, identify target readers, and tailor their promotional efforts accordingly.
Here’s an example: You can ask AI to give you 52 short video ideas that would be interesting and engaging to your target reader. Next, you can ask it to write a 15-second script on each of the 52 ideas. In a matter of minutes, you have 52 TikTok/Shorts/Reels ideas and scrips. Tweak as needed, video, and post.
Here’s another idea: Take a short snippet from your book, use AI text to video to create a short marketing video. Add text to speech to make your characters talk. AI can even go through your book to find the best hooks for video or quotes for social graphics.
4. Adapt to evolving reader preferences:
For longevity in an author’s career, stay attuned to changing reader preferences and consumption patterns. For instance, shorter-form content, interactive storytelling, or multimedia elements can cater to the demand for bite-sized, engaging experiences. By adapting your writing style and format, you can meet the evolving needs of readers. AI-tools can help you do this.
5. Stop worrying about other people and things you can’t control:
Change can be scary. And I know it’s annoying to think some non-writer is going to use AI to write a romance novel and publish it, thereby competing with you. But you know what, that’s what traditional authors thought about self-published authors. And what did all their fussing get them? Nothing.
In this world there are opportunists, scammers, schemers, and cheaters. Some will use AI, just like they use all technology to make a buck. It is what is is. Don’t waste time on what has been a part of human nature since the beginning of time.
So, focus on the reality of AI’s existence and how you’ll adapt. Yes, it may mean more work to compete in a crowded market. Or it might mean changing how you deliver your stories or market them.
AI is a tool. That’s it. Like all other tools, it requires your unique perspective and creativity. By embracing AI as a complementary tool and harnessing its capabilities, you can thrive as an author.
And remember, AI doesn’t change what’s required to be a success as an author, which is writing a great book and finding your readers.
