The AI revolution is eating book publishers alive

Crowdfunding book publisher Unbound collapsed into administration this month, leaving authors in limbo. The company launched in 2011 as a place where writers could pitch book ideas to readers. They’d get paid to write their books in advance and split some of the proceeds with Unbound, kind of like Kickstarter.

Boundless Publishing Group acquired Unbound along with its intellectual property. Now, they’re saying authors will get paid via a “payment plan”. I wonder if these authors can spout the same line to a bank manager about their mortgages.

I wrote and self-published nearly a dozen books over the past decade. I outlined and wrote my books and hired an editor and proofreader before self-publishing. I never used a crowdfunding service, though. Perhaps I missed a payday during the Kindle gold rush (or a publisher going into administration).

I prefer handling the creative and the marketing. And I own the IP. I still earn residual royalties on my books today, even though I don’t promote them much.

For a few years, writing and marketing a book was straightforward. Write a two or three-part series. Give away the first book. Spin up some Facebook or Amazon ads and track your sales each week.

Note: I said straightforward, not easy.

Selling a book is a slog unless you know what you’re doing. Most publishers use Amazon ads to promote their books, so ad costs are up. The indie authors I follow mainly earn a living by selling directly to their readers over email lists.

Information is cheaper, too. Using AI, anyone can churn out a low-grade non-fiction book for a few dollars. The “writers” behind some of these low-grade books don’t give a flying hoot about the craft or creative work. Amazon and other bookstores are fighting against a glut of low-grade AI-produced drivel. I’d wager AI ate into Unbound’s bottom line, too.

If I were writing a non-fiction book today, I’d come up with the idea and write anything personal, experiential, or fun. The trick is to create what AI can’t. For example, AI can’t replace several types of writing, such as biography, memoir, and experiential stories.

I’d enlist ChatGPT or Claude to help me with the outline and identify gaps in anything informational. AI can also handle research compilation, freeing you to focus on the creative aspects of your projects.

It can liberate creators from acting like word-wranglers. With the right prompt technique, you can quickly turn an idea into a product. No more bashing your head against the keyboard trying to overcome a bout of writer’s block.

These days, I don’t write books. But I enjoy creating angles for this newsletter, workshops, and digital products. I also like working with clients. Sometimes, I use AI to refine my ideas. Sometimes, I bash them out if I’m fired up about the idea. Other times, I use AI to get myself into a state of creative flow.

To pretend AI doesn’t exist is to ignore the 800lb gorilla beating its chest after dining out on all that mass-produced generic how-to content. Smart creators are partnering with this powerful force rather than becoming its victim. They create what AI can’t…. and leave the bots to the rest.

If you need help refining a technique for creating with AI, my private newsletter course PromptWritingStudio is currently open. Inside, I reveal the delicate art of prompt engineering. Learn more.