AI Accusations and Book Publishing

TGIF, and thank you for all the kind words about my book deal. I’m jumping right into today’s newsletter.

The big story in book publishing circles right now is about a $2.5M 2-book deal that was acquired by Minotaur (Macmillan) in a 14-way auction, then pulled by the author’s agents due to concerns about AI use in writing the first book in the deal. From The Bookseller:

(Marc) Gerald added that three weeks ago, midway through the submissions process, an editor raised concerns that the book “had signs that AI might have been used. We went through the manuscript [with the author] in extreme detail, discussed the responsibilities of an author, and ultimately continued with the submission”.

Gerald said Europa did not run the manuscript through any AI-recognition software: “The author was clear and credible. And the technology isn’t at a place where we have determined it’s reliable anyway.”

However, the process of trying to authenticate the book continued, and following a meeting on 29th July “aspects of [the author’s] story changed”, Gerald said, and the agency decided to “sever ties, as we need to have total faith”

According to Deadline, foreign and movie/TV rights began to heat up as well.

Here is where things get complicated. According to Publishers Lunch, “rumors surfaced quickly from people who had read the manuscript that the book contained many of the hallmarks of AI, including negative parallelism, off-kilter metaphors, and a flat prose style.” PL also ran the manuscript through Pangram, which stated the book was 97% AI.

Jeff Sneider, who writes the entertainment newsletter The InSneider, was able to speak to the author (who shall remain nameless) on the record:

“The accusations are wrong, and I am completely innocent,” Michael told me by phone on Wednesday night.

“I was on the verge of success, and then all of a sudden, there were rumors, but no one asked me anything. I don’t know why my agency did not have my back,” said Michael, who noted that the book’s publisher is still willing to listen to his side of the story.

“When something like this happens, everyone tries to protect themselves and their own reputations. If it was really AI, would the top publishers in the world have participated in the auction? I have a feeling this is a disgruntled agent or someone who started this rumor in a bid to save themselves,” said Michael, who declined to identify the agent or comment on either financial figures or which Hollywood luminaries he has interacted with in recent weeks.

“My book deals… everything was literally gone within a matter of hours, and no one cared about my side of the story. I have evidence, for crying out loud. You can check the metadata,” Michael insisted.

“There are times I’ve checked manuscripts I’ve written in the past, as far back as 2017, and it’ll say it was generated by AI, when AI wasn’t even available to the public like it is now,” he added.

“Just because I say I’m not guilty doesn’t mean people will believe it. Think about it. A Black man from [redacted] signed a life-changing contract, and then what happened? Someone started spreading rumors, and boom. All of these things happened within the past six hours. How is this not a coordinated thing? I mean, come on…

“I’ve lost so much already. I have no one to call… no friends in this industry. I don’t know anything. I simply wrote my manuscript, and it sparked crazy bidding wars across multiple countries.

“I don’t care what other reporters write; I care about what you, Jeff, actually think about me. I could’ve told you ‘No Comment,’ or not said anything without a lawyer, but I have no one to help me prove my innocence.”

My heart broke for the author as I read his comments. I hope he is being truthful.

Like many of you, I have questions about how this happened and what recourse the author has in the situation. Earlier this week, the author H.M. Smith was accused of using AI to write her new book, Daggermouth. In that case, Pangram returned the book as 60% AI. It is currently ranked at 73 on Amazon. Before that, Hachette canceled the book Shy Girl because Pangram returned it as 78% AI. What’s notable is that in each case, it was an individual from a media outlet feeding book files to Pangram without the authors' permission. Welcome to the new world of “Gotcha!”

The agents for the Minotaur book said they got caught up in the concept and excitement about the book. They were “dazzled” by it. This made me raise an eyebrow because if, as Publishers Lunch stated, the book contained hallmarks of AI, why were 14 editors chomping at the bit to acquire it, and why did Minotaur offer a whopping $2.5M (or more) for it and another book by the author? Granted, when a book has a great concept and is considered highly marketable, people tend to lose their heads a bit, but how did this manuscript get so far if, in fact, it was written with AI assistance? How can anyone prove that the author used AI to write it?

Pangram is not infallible. I’ve used it to run some of my newsletters through it, and they came back as 80% AI when I wrote every word myself. This is one of many reasons why I disagree with Substack’s decision to partner with Pangram. Another reason is that once a tool like Pangram is available to the masses, false accusations start flying around, and careers can be ruined. Whether you admit it or not, there is A LOT of jealousy in the publishing world, so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone who disliked author X decided to use Pangram on their work and made the results public. This is not the publishing world I want to live in.

I don’t blame the author in the case of the Minotaur book; I blame publishers. We are at an inflection point in the industry, and something must be done to stop the madness. A 14-way auction artificially increases the acquisition price of a book, and it becomes so competitive that editors just want to win. If they win, and the book sells well, it’s great for their career. In this situation, I would love to know what drove each editor to bid on the book. I read a lot of debut novels, and they can be clunky. Does that mean we automatically assume AI must have been used? I don’t think so. Should we all rush to upload manuscripts to Pangram? No, we shouldn’t.

With every accusation of AI-assisted writing, trust further erodes in the industry. Writers who are querying agents wonder why their manuscripts aren’t being chosen over those that are allegedly written with AI. This, from Publishers Lunch, is concerning:

Sources tell PL that more deals are being canceled behind the scenes following the discovery or suspicion of AI — one publisher noted that multiple imprints have had to cancel a book over this — including books that originate in the self-publishing sphere and are then picked up by Big Five publishers. This usually happens quietly and under the public radar, and is only brought to light by fans online.

Things can’t go on like this. One possible solution is to have authors sign an agreement to have their manuscripts fed to Pangram, but is that really fair? Isn’t that just feeding the beast? Another solution is to make Pangram less accessible to the general public, but I fear it is too late for that.

What people in the industry must realize is that while yes, there are those who will use AI to write an entire book, there are also writers who may use it to assist them in some way, and to accuse those authors is to put a substantial dent in their mental health. I am in no way saying that I think AI-written books should exist. I think Amazon has a major problem on its hands with so many AI-written books. It’s unfair to authors who spend time on their craft and do things the “right” way. It’s also becoming more unrealistic to expect zero use of AI—not necessarily for writing, but for research, grammar/spelling, and administrative tasks.

Publishers must slow down and better assess projects they receive with hype surrounding them. It’s too easy to get blinded by dollar signs. They must also take a beat before being too reactive if a manuscript seems to have the hallmarks of AI-written material. If they don’t, there are some lawyers who will gladly represent accused authors.

Writers must realize that this is where the publishing industry stands right now and act accordingly. I don’t blame them for their distrust. I also hope that the people who think they can get away with AI-written books take a step back and realize how much their actions are hurting others (I’m not talking about the books I mentioned above).

This all comes down to human nature and the desire to be known for something. People who don’t understand the inner workings of publishing tend to romanticize being an author, and that is one of the reasons we are where we are with AI. As for the book that was pulled from Minotaur, my hope is that the author and publisher have a long conversation, and something good comes of it.

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