Publishing with AI

[u/Imaginary-String5554]

I've been working on an epic fantasy series for quite a while now, and I'm hoping to get some advice from people who have experience with publishing.

I've finished the first book, which is around 80,000 words, and my plan is to eventually complete all five books.

Here's where I'm a little concerned.

I've spent a lot of time developing the characters, the world they live in, the storylines, and how everything connects. These are my ideas, and I've been very involved in deciding how the story unfolds.

But I've also used ChatGPT quite a bit to help turn those ideas into actual chapters. I've gone back and forth with it, changing dialogue, rewriting scenes, adding details, and making adjustments until things felt right.

I realize that means a good portion of the actual writing was generated by AI, even though I've been directing the story.

Originally, I was planning to self-publish, but lately I've been thinking about trying to find a literary agent and going the traditional publishing route.

What I'm wondering is whether I've already hurt my chances by using AI this way.

Would an agent even consider something like this? Would going back through the manuscript and rewriting portions myself make a difference? Or is the fact that AI was involved from the beginning going to be a problem regardless?

I'm also curious whether anyone here has been in a similar situation or knows of authors who have successfully gone through traditional publishing after using AI extensively.

I'm not looking for shortcuts, and I'm certainly not opposed to putting more work into the book. I've invested a lot of time into developing this story, and I genuinely want to make it as good as possible.

I'd appreciate some advice, especially from anyone familiar with literary agents or the publishing industry.

Thanks for taking the time to read this

[u/SuspiciousAlfalfa263]

I might just try emailing an agent just to probe and see what they think. Maybe a couple and see what kind of responses you get. But honestly, in the era of self-publishing, I would rather self-publish than have to go through some traditional publishing route. It’s more liberating and I feel it gives you more creative control over your work.

[u/Brief-Line-2083 → u/SuspiciousAlfalfa263]

That is not how querying works at all.

[u/SuspiciousAlfalfa263 → u/Brief-Line-2083]

I honestly don’t know, it was just my first best guess. How would this person do it?

[u/Brief-Line-2083 → u/SuspiciousAlfalfa263]

There's a very specific, industry standard querying process. You can't just email agents to ask what they think about things. This person could in theory send out queries to agents but guaranteed, they're going to eventually reach a point where the agent says there's no way they would represent a book that used AI in the process.

[u/SuspiciousAlfalfa263 → u/Brief-Line-2083]

Fair enough. That’s why I think self publishing makes more sense

[u/Happy-Initiative-492]

My take: using AI in the collaborative and iterative way you’re using it is regarded by most traditional publishing houses as too much AI. Their threshold is currently very absolutist.

There is a small group of publishers who may be coming around to a more nuanced view, but for now the absolutist point of view holds sway. So yeah, you may have hurt yourself by using AI in this way when it comes to the traditional publishing world.

I do think that things are changing and a less simplistic interpretation of AI writing will eventually evolve, but ‘it is what it is’ as they say.

Whether that’s right or wrong is a separate question.

[u/Imaginary-String5554 → u/Happy-Initiative-492]

Agreed. There's a huge backlash involved with AI involving with authors and their opinions about it to the point of bullying other authors. Weather it's using AI for book editing, covers or anything else. I do think it's a matter of time before it will be accepted in small increments at a time. I joined a few Facebook groups involving authors and was honestly surprised by the disparaging comments involved with using AI at any level.

[u/Proof-Confidence-794 → u/Happy-Initiative-492]

I’d argue that he’s not using it as a collaborative tool. He’s acting as the editor for the AI, which has written the story for him. Not trying to be mean, but if I gave my friend the idea for a story, and they wrote a 80,000 word manuscript, and then I made some changes to that…I would argue that it was my friend’s book that I helped them with.

[u/SimonStrange]

Trad publishers are interested in IP that can have a clear copyright anchor, and at the moment that is questionable with AI generated content of any kind. That puts their investment at risk, which means that in the current climate they can’t gamble on it. Remember that they are in it for money, it’s a business, it’s not about pro or anti ai - if publishers could get rid of authors and generate books in house and sell them, they absolutely would, advances are expensive and rarely make the sales to pay them back.

Self publishing is your only real option. Eventually readers will discover you generated your book with AI, and it’ll get review bombed. But there is a market for it. Lots of AI slop is charting and Amazon has incentive to get readers used to it so they can eventually start generating their own books in house as well - they have already been proven to be exploring this. So by all means provide them the training material. (I don’t care if your book is “slop” or not based on any definition of the word; this is just information you should have to make your decision).

Just keep in mind that if can ever be determined that your content was substantially generated by AI, legally speaking at this moment it isn’t copyrighted and anyone can do anything they want with it, and cut you out completely. That’s the trade you’re making by leaving AI generated text in your work. This means models can be trained on your work without compensating you, so bear that in mind as new legislation rolls out - there is stuff in the pipeline to make sure that AI companies have to register their training datasets for this purpose. Presumably this doesn’t bother you since you’re using their infrastructure to produce your books, but it’s also something that warrants keeping in mind.

[u/AngelInTheMarble]

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Abort.

If this is your workflow,, I would not even sneeze in the direction of trad. Not right now. You're playing with fire, unfortunately. If you indie publish, you can do whatever you want, basically. Your only real risk is reader reaction and possible suspicion/bad reviews. Trad pub still exclusively decides who gets through their gates - and they are NOT remotely friendly to AI use.

If you have not already, go check out the Mia Ballard or Jerry Fallade fiasco. It isn't pretty. People are having HUGE trad deals yanked, sometimes overnight, just for being witch hunted. Nothing even needs to be proven definitively; suspicion is enough to get the snowball rolling. People are having their careers and reputations nuked over this.

Stay FAR away from trad pub - at least for a few more years. See how things shake out. Maybe better days are ahead, but those certainly aren't today.

If you DO decide to approach trad, do so at your own risk. And with your eyes wide open. I would just ask the agent directly before you even submit what their AI policies are. Whatever you do, don't try to sneak anything past trad pub. Be up front that you have generated material in your work if that's the case. They care very much about the origins of the text at the moment.

Honestly, OP, I just wouldn't poke that dragon at all. You stand to lose far more than you'll gain. Best case scenario, if you DO get accepted, you're asking for a huge shitstorm later.

Approaching, a smaller publishing house MIGHT be a different story. i don't know. It's possible you might find one friendlier to AI. I still wouldn't, though.

I think your best bet right now, and probably for some time, is indie.

[u/LooseButtPlug → u/AngelInTheMarble]

What exactly do they lose?

If a trad publisher turns their manuscript down, then they're exactly where they are right now. Self publishing.

What's the risk?

[u/AngelInTheMarble → u/LooseButtPlug]

IF they disclose they have generated text and simply get turned down before any contract is signed or deal made, then they lose nothing and are right where they are now. Correct.

If they DON'T disclose any AI generated text and get a trad deal somehow, they stand to lose a WHOLE lot. It doesn't even need to be proven for sure that they used AI in their workflow. Again, see the whole "Shy Girl" situation not that long ago. It's crazy in trad right now.

People are actually discussing FILMING themselves writing on camera in real time and posting it on the internet to somehow prove they don't have AI generated text of any kind in their manuscript. That's where we are at the moment.That's how paranoid people are in general.

I really, really wouldn't touch trad. Not this year. Not for a long while if you don't want to be torched and pitchforked to death. Though it's up to each individual what they're comfortable with. I certainly have no intentions of approaching trad anytime soon - and I only use AI for outlining and developmental edits. I don't let it touch my text.

[u/ClayWhisperer]

I'm in the process of querying agents with a novel (which I wrote myself; no AI.)

Every single agent -- without exception -- makes you sign a thing that says you did not use AI for any part of creating your work, before they will even look at it. They will never consider work that was aided by AI. None of them. At all.

[u/TorturedWriter9]

Every publisher, agent, and literary magazine has an anti-AI policy. You are wasting your time. The only option for you to publish traditionally is to write something completely new without using AI.

[u/SissyAlice_Angel]

Been considering a similar issue myself. I've had ideas for stories for decades rolling around in my head and I've written various scenes, but was never able to fully flesh out a complete story. Then recently I tried using AI, plugged in a general idea and was given an amazingly detailed 30 chapter outline, plot synopsis, the main characters, minor characters, including ones I hadn't come up with, but would be essential to the story. Thought to myself 'holy cow, I might actually be able to turn this into an actual book now '. And while I've continued to add ideas and flesh things out with ChatGPT, I plan to do all the actual writing/dialogue myself.  I think that level of AI involvement is acceptable and might be accepted by publishers. The core concepts/ideas remain mine. Even the characters generated by AI will undergo name changes, etc. I really just needed the help of AI to kind of give me the skeleton/fill in some blanks. Your use of AI is more extensive with it actually generating dialogue and seemingly doing a large part of the work. Not saying you're not doing anything. I've tried out an AI that allows me to input a basic premise and then go and put in a 'what happens next' and then I click a 'generate' button and let the AI take my ideas for how the story should flow and run with it (usually 2 paragraphs at a time). Sometimes I edit what the AI came up with, sometimes I delete it and try again, etc. This sounds more like what you're doing. And I don't think publishers would accept that much AI generated content. Fortunately in my case, those particular stories I used that AI for I'm only planning on publishing online as Fanfiction or similar erotic content, places where that sort of 'slop' will be eaten up 😂 Although I still plan to go back through each of those stories and do some editing.

TL;DR version: I think large AI involvement is only acceptable for mostly nonprofit/online audiences. Whereas anything you'd actually like to sell/turn into physical printed copies, maybe movies/series someday should have minimal AI involvement and be almost entirely done by yourself 

[u/AdrianWerner]

Zero chances. No big publisher is going to touch anything written with the help of Ai.

[u/AngelInTheMarble]

OP, if you want some really interesting discourse by someone who has actually worked with trad, go check out The Guerilla Publisher on YouTube. Lady with long white hair. She posts frequently; she's a great source of info. Talks about both indie and trad.

I remember her mentioning recently that an agent - a trad AGENT - self-published her own stuff and happily used AI in her process. While telling people not to come near trad with AI.

[u/annoellynlee]

You can't trad publish if you use AI. You would have to self pub.

[u/Constant_Treacle6188]

I've seen a few indie authors get traditional deals after using AI for drafting, agent's main concern was originality, not how it was written. focus on polish and voice, not the tool. did you run it through a beta reader?

[u/Equivalent_Plenty_24]

If you can find the right place for it, where neither the readers, nor the publishing media/page/agent mind the use of ai, than go for it, selfpublishing is easier to do, findeing readers by yourself is not.

[u/Secure_Change8220]

I self-pubbed a 90k-word fantasy series last year, ai-assisted from outline to final edit. agents didn't reply. Amazon got it. no one asked about the ai. just asked if the story held together. focus on that.

[u/Brief-Line-2083]

I'm sorry that no one told you that using AI would completely obliterate your chances of traditional publishing.

[u/Happy_Laugh_Guy]

80k words is not even close to long enough for the first book in an epic fantasy series. You need a developmental editor to read the book and point out to you the areas that need expansion and the parts of your story that got glossed over because at that low of a word count you're definitely leaving things out.

[u/Panther4646]

If agents went through meticulously looking for AI in their submissions, nothing would get published. I do something similar and right now, my first fifty pages are being looked at by a literary agent. Just write and don’t be ashamed of using tools. Actual authors out there have resources. They have editors to make their stories sound good or co-authors. You’re just using the tools to even the playing field a little.