Authors slam startup’s plan to use AI to publish 8,000 books next year | Books

Authors and publishers are criticizing a startup that plans to use AI to publish up to 8,000 books next year.

Spines charges authors between $1,200 and $5,000 to use AI to edit, proofread, format, design and distribute their books.

“These emojis… don’t care about writing or books,” independent publisher Canongate said in a post on Blue Sky. Spines urges “aspiring authors to automate the process of getting their books out into the world with a minimum of care, consideration, and skill.”

“These are not people who are interested in books or reading or anything remotely related,” Suey Davis Okunbowa, author of “The Lost Ark of Dreaming,” whose most recent book is “The Lost Ark of Dreaming,” told Blue Sky. I mentioned it in my post. “They are opportunists and exploitative capitalists.”

Spines, which secured $16 million in a recent funding round, says authors will retain 100% of their royalties. Co-founder Yehuda Niv, who previously ran a publishing and publishing services business in Israel, insisted the company is a “publishing platform” rather than a “self-publishing” or vanity publisher.

“Regardless of how they present their platform, they are a vanity publisher,” Deirdre J. Owen, co-founder of “independent micro-publisher” Manison Press, wrote in a post on X. Ta.

The company is apparently just trying to “speed up” self-publishing “in a way that doesn’t work. Of course they don’t want to say it that way,” said Page One co-host Marco Rinaldi. – Posted on The Writer’s Podcast, Bluesky.

Anna Ganley, chief executive of the UK’s largest trade union for writers, illustrators and translators, said of authors paying for the publication of their work: “Before entering into a contribution agreement with an author, I would like to warn you to consider this carefully.” Author’s.

“It’s very unlikely that the author will be able to achieve what they hope they can achieve, and it’s highly unlikely that that’s the best path to publication. And if you’re also relying on an AI system. We are concerned about the lack of originality and quality of the service.”Even if there is any guarantee that the AI ​​system in question was not developed using illegally collected copyrighted content, which we think is unlikely, ”, she added.

Spines says it will reduce the time it takes to publish a book to two to three weeks. Last week, Microsoft announced it would launch a book imprint that also aims to print books faster than traditional publishers. Earlier this month, it was revealed that HarperCollins had reached an agreement with Microsoft to allow some of its titles to be used to train AI models, with permission from authors.

“Our goal is to empower authors,” a Spines representative told the Guardian. “Without Spines, aspiring authors would approach a publishing agent and be rejected by 99% of them because they are not famous or the right person.

“Disappointed authors can turn to vanity publishing, paying between $10,000 and $50,000 per book, or they can turn to vanity publishing, paying $10,000 to $50,000 per book, or self-funding, which requires expertise in each task, such as cover design and book marketing. You can also choose to go the publishing route, a process that can take anywhere from 6 to 18 months. Spine uses technology to streamline the book publishing process and help authors do what they do best: tell great stories. It allows me to focus on writing.”

Spines says, “We level the playing field for any aspiring writer to publish within three weeks and at a fraction of the cost. Our goal is to help authors leverage technology to publish their books,” the representative added.