AI and the Book Industry by Monica Chakraverty
The London Book Fair 2026 at Olympia this year was a terrific event, with plenty of industry contacts made, book deals publicised and foreign rights sold. Yet, what most agents and publishers were discussing between themselves was the role of AI within the industry. It’s such a tempting resource to have AI at our fingertips, both for agents and authors.
For the book industry, it feels like we’re at a crossroads right now, with major government decisions imminent. The creative industries feel the balance has tilted too far toward AI companies while the British government still feels it can protect both sides. In response, big gun Penguin Random House has begun a global initiative to include a statement on the copyright page of its books, stating that no part of the book may be used to train AI. Whether this will protect its original content from being scraped by AI remains to be seen.
Creatives claim the AI industry is built on stolen work that robs them of their livelihoods. There are many copyright cases against AI companies currently pending in U.S. federal courts as the US seems further ahead down this path. At the book fair, we also saw the result of a worldwide coalition, with 10,000 authors including Kazuo Ishiguro and Richard Osman, publishing an empty book to protest against AI firms using their work without permission. It’s called Don’t Steal This Book, and the only content within the book is a list of the undersigned author’s names. Copies of the work were distributed at the book fair, just before a government assessment on proposed changes in copyright law.
So what does this mean for the author who wants to break into the industry, who feels AI might give them the edge they need? And isn’t everyone else using it anyway? On the surface, there can be benefits to flushing through with AI, allowing it to tidy up creative writing and flag what the author might have missed. We’re all happy to have spelling and the odd bit of grammar tightened up on our emails or reports, so this might feel like the next step. As with many things, if you choose to take this route, be aware that you might also be surrendering your unique voice and viewpoint on things – both in the realms of fiction and the non-fiction world. Currently, non-fiction is benefitting more from books being produced with the help of AI, and we attended a talk at the book fair that showcased many titles that are already on the market after being flushed through an AI company’s system. Fiction books will follow soon: the technology is catching up fast.
Yet, the book industry is pushing back on AI-generated material and agents are beginning to take on systems that will spot its use before they do. To begin with, the upside for agents felt palpable; a system that could flush through submissions was able to save valuable time so they could focus on those books most likely to shine. Agents have now learnt, however, that AI assistance often results in more generic work with less likelihood of that unique voice that takes a book up to the next level.
Book agents are now writing into their submission criteria that they won’t consider AI-generated material. One agent told me how she can spot AI creation at fifty yards; a submission package that uses it can be identified straight away and she won’t even read page 1 of the manuscript if it’s on that basis.
To really shine as an author, some sense of being rough around the edges can actually be a bonus for an agent – anything too polished might feel like it’s too far down the line for any input the agent would like to have. Avoiding AI will also remove the possibility that your own manuscript might be scraped for material before it’s even reached the commission stage.
Authors often use AI because they feel insecure about their own material, or because the rigours of the submission package might feel easily fixable with a once-over from a bot. For a human, dynamic approach that will teach, question and challenge, I’d advise a level of input from beta readers or literary consultancies such as Cornerstones. Failing that, learn that you’re your own best judge of these hard-won pages; sometimes popping the manuscript in a drawer and reading it again after a few weeks can work wonders!
