‘It’s like the wild west’: how AI has rocked the literary world

With authors losing lucrative deals and writers removed from prize shortlists, accusations of AI use are sending shock waves through the publishing industry. Is it too late to turn the tide on machine writing?The romance novelist Coral Hart got her break writing books for Mills & Boon, the publisher of bodice-ripper paperbacks. In 2012, she decided to dip her toe in self-publishing. She felt drawn to dark romance, a subgenre featuring twisted, toxic love stories that was taking off online but that publishers didn’t want to touch. Three years later, things were going well enough that she decided to self-publish full-time.Kindle Unlimited, where Hart sells her books, rewards prolific writers: the algorithm favours those who can produce a new book at least once a month. Hart says she knows of authors who hire more than a dozen ghostwriters to keep pace. By herself, Hart can write 10,000 words a day, but AI could help her produce many more. Since 2025 she has written 370 novels under