This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post for October 2026.
Alex's awesome co-hosts this month are:
Please stop by their blogs and say thank you.
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(Thanks, Alex, for outing me. 😅)
Short answer: If authors are going to be forced to publicize AI use, then authors who utilize ghost writers should have to publicize that, too.
Novels are published all the time that bear the name of only the author and not their ghostwriter. The author takes all the credit, even though he or she didn't do all the writing. Yet you don't see ghostwriter witch hunts like those that are happening in regard to AI.
At least not anymore. A decade or so ago, there was a similar backlash against them.
I don't think any author should be forced to publicize the details of his or her writing process. What matters is whether the finished product is of good quality.
If the author publishes unedited AI output, it won't be.
If they edit it enough to give it their voice and turn it into quality fiction, then it's AI assisted, not AI written.
There's not much difference between raw AI prose and a first draft written by a ghostwriter. Both manuscripts are a rough framed house awaiting the finish work.
Are you surprised by my opinion?
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Before you assume I've gone over to the dark side, know that I have mixed feelings about AI. It's use has affected publishing in a lot of negative ways. The market has been flooded with AI slop, and bots have been swarming KU, stealing royalties via fake page reads.
Amazon is fighting back, though. They're catching the bots, and last month, KDP changed it's publishing guidelines to limit how many books an account could upload. The limit became 2 titles per book format (e-book, paperback, hard cover) per week.
This does not affect updating previously published titles. Also, KDP has increased the time for e-book pre-orders from 12 to 18 months, and you can postpone the release date up to two times without penalty. For details, see KDP's help topics.
Authors who publish more than that per week (short serials, etc.) or who prefer to batch their book creation in long sessions of multiple books are understandably frustrated by the new limit.
Still, I think this is a good thing. Pondering this change made me realize how much work has to be done behind the scenes at Amazon. Every time someone uploads a new book, each version must go through the review process, and a retail page must be created. Can you imagine what the surge of new accounts publishing AI books was like for KDP?
Oy. I don't blame them for setting limits.
I hope Amazon can stem the flood of AI. My royalties have taken a noticeable hit despite ads, a new series, and a brisker publishing schedule.
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IWSG is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. It's a monthly bloghop that offers a safe haven for writers to express their feelings and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. It's also a venue for offering support, both in the form of comments and positive posts. Writers of all kinds are welcome.
We 'meet' the first Wednesday of every month. If you're interested in learning more, click on the link above. And don't be intimidated by the size of the group. We're not expected to visit everyone on the list.
If someone is able to write, polish, and publish more than two stories a week, then I am impressed. But I think that is a fair limitation.
ReplyDeleteFor most authors, it is. Authors can request an exception for special circumstances.
DeleteI'm sorry that your royalties are taking a hit. I agree that at least celebrity authors should disclose their ghostwriters.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteI think it should be all or nothing on revealing ghostwriter use, but don't out the ghostwriter's name without their permission. Unlike co-authors, ghostwriters likely don't have control over the finished product. They might not WANT their name attached to it. It would depend on the contract.
Amazon probably did it more to help them with the overload of work. That's terrible those AI books have affected your page reads.
ReplyDeleteYes! I can't image how there load increased with the onslaught of quickly made books.
DeleteIt is, especially considering I make 75-80% of my royalties from KU.
DeleteA good quality product is probably all readers really care about. Though I have seen them branding authors as having used AI if they don't like the story instead of just saying they don't like the story (the latest one I saw was of a book published in 2013... the AI witch hunts are scary!).
ReplyDeleteRonel the Mythmaker
That's awful.
DeleteThe witch hunts need to stop.
DeleteMy only issue with AI assist is that the people who fueled the AI conglomeration do not get compensated. (You know, all of us whose books were pirated.) Yes, yes, there are lawsuits, but still... Okay, getting off that high horse.
ReplyDeleteTwo of mine were pirated, too. But that is like two grains of sand on the beach as far as what AI is trained on. Not saying it was right. It wasn't. Just putting it into perspective. And settlement checks will begin going out soon.
DeleteGood points. This is a very interesting topic and I'm really interesting in taking in everyone's thoughts on this.
ReplyDeleteIt only happens very occasionally, but sometimes I get inspired. LOL
DeleteKidding. Me, too.
Two titles per week! Yikes. I think they should be more restrictive than that.
ReplyDeleteGreat question. It definitely got people thinking. But I can promise you, as a developmental editor who has received an AI-crafted book, there's a huge difference between an AI draft and a ghostwriter's first draft...if the ghostwriter is any good.
Point taken. But it depends on the AI program. I know of some computer code savvy authors who have perfected their prompts and trained their AI to write in their author voice by feeding it samples of their writing. They've honed it to the point that the output needs very little editing.
DeleteIt almost makes me hope I never get popular enough to be accused of using AI. That way I can say my failure is all my own.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get popular. You're a good writer.
DeleteI agree with your post. Moderation is always the way to go, in everything.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that. I see AI like I do most other things. It's a tool that can be used for good or evil, and it has tons of uses short of actually writing a book.
DeleteKDP and Draft2Digital have both had to make changes that impact everyone because of the AI writing. It's significantly impacted short story markets, as they're being flooded with AI and those are usually one or two volunteers that work through the slush.
ReplyDeleteI heard about D2D, too. Ugh. Hopefully they'll get it worked out. I'm going to give it more time, but once I have a larger backlist, if things don't improve, I'm going wide.
Delete