More than half of the UK’s published novelists believe AI is coming for their jobs, a recent Cambridge study reports. At the same time, a new breed of “writer” brags they can produce a whole book in under an hour.
In a now-infamous New York Times article, “The New Fabio is Claude,” a writer named Coral Hart claimed to have self-published over 200 romance novels in a single year using AI. Specifically, Anthropic’s Claude; yes, the same company authors sued for training its models on pirated books.
Dystopian, isn’t it? She allegedly sold 50,000 copies and earned a six-figure income. The pitch is a masterclass in hustle-culture logic:
If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who’s going to win the race?
A compelling argument, isn’t it? Because as we all know, success in creative writing is a numbers game. Forget compelling stories. Forget a unique voice. Forget emotional resonance. It’s all about quantity, baby. Just churn it out.
But wait, it gets better.
Coral Hart, entrepreneur extraordinaire, launched a company to teach other aspiring authors her methods. I visited her website and stumbled upon a service so brazen it made me laugh out loud: “Done-for-You Romance.”
Skip the blank page and jump straight into editing. Each Skip-the-Draft package gives you a fully drafted romance manuscript — professionally plotted, written, and ready for your personal touch. Perfect for authors who want to publish faster without starting from scratch.
Whoa. I’m no lawyer, but after years in the publishing trenches, I can tell you this: you can’t copyright a book generated by AI, even with “your personal touch.” Gen-AI output is public domain. Period. This isn’t writing; it’s the digital equivalent of copying Pride and Prejudice, changing a few character names, and slapping your own on the cover.
So, this brings us to the million-dollar question: does this stuff actually sell, and is the risk worth the reward?
Let me be blunt. Using AI to generate novels is the worst decision a writer can make. I’m going to show you precisely why. And if, after reading this, you still want to do it, please do me one favor:
Don’t invite me to the funeral of your writing career.
The Siren Song of the Shortcut
Can you produce an entire novel with generative AI? Yes. Could it be commercially viable? Maybe, if you have a considerable marketing budget.
Look, I’m not anti-AI. I embrace new technology. I was an AI enthusiast myself, and I get the appeal. You have a story burning inside you, but the blank screen can be terrifying. Then, a video flashes across your screen, a snake-oil salesman promising you can write a novel in a single day. It’s an intoxicating promise: bypass the fear, the doubt, the months of agonizing work, and leap straight to the finish line.
But that shortcut comes at a cost that will gut your career before it even begins.
Gold, Gravel, and Brandon Sanderson
Let’s talk economics 101: the scarcity principle. People pay more for things that are valuable and rare. When something is scarce, it’s meaningful. When it’s abundant, it’s disposable. Gold is more valuable than gravel because it’s hard to obtain. Any gold miner or bank robber can tell you that.
Books are no exception.
Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson raised a record-breaking $41.7 million on Kickstarter for four new books. Readers pledged hundreds for a single campaign. Why? Are there not enough fantasy books already?
They pledged that money because they weren’t buying any fantasy book; they were paying for a Sanderson book. They wanted to live in the worlds he created, through the magic of his unique voice. This holds true for any author with a fanbase: they offer something valuable, rare, and inimitable that their readers crave.
AI-generated books are, by their very nature, generic gravel. They are the opposite of scarce. Anyone can produce them. Readers instinctively recognize derivative, soulless content and won’t spend their hard-earned cash on it. And even if they’re duped into buying one, they won’t become a lifelong fan of the “author.” They’ll just feel ripped off.
A Look at the Evidence
“But what about Coral Hart’s six figures?” you ask.
I went to her Amazon page, and… oh, boy. The reader ratings for her recent, AI-generated books are abysmal. That’s not the profile of a bestselling author. A quick trip to Goodreads painted an even bleaker picture: 243 ratings with an average of 1.26 stars.
Trust me, after years in this business: you cannot build a sustainable career with reviews that look like a crime scene.
Curious, I dug deeper. I looked up her other pen names, like Ashleigh Giannoccaro. The picture here is starkly different. The books she published years ago, before generative AI, were much better received. She was already a prolific writer, publishing several books a year the old-fashioned way. My assumption, she had an established career and a following before she switched to the AI firehose.
How did outsourcing their creativity to a machine work out for other AI writers? Here is a representative excerpt from a review for an AI-generated book:
…this book is AI generated. It just lacks any trace of substance or emotional depth that a human author would bring to a story. It just felt like nothing. Merely words on a page.
Merely words on a page. Is that what you got into writing for?
There Is a Better Way
Here’s the secret the AI hustlers won’t tell you: you don’t need AI to write fast and well. You don’t need it to publish multiple novels a year and earn a six-figure income. Stephen King writes a book in under three months. Prolific indie authors were crushing it long before ChatGPT.
Ever wondered how some bestselling authors write a full novel in less than a month? Yes—just one month, from the first spark of an idea to a publishable manuscript. It’s not talent or luck.
Subscribe for my newsletter to learn the exact techniques and receive a free e-book as a welcome gift!
You shouldn’t be asking, “Why should I learn to write when AI can generate a book in an hour?”
Ask, “How do I build a writing career that lasts longer than a TikTok trend?”
Even if AI can generate a book, it cannot generate a career.
Legal Risks of AI-Generated Books
Still tempted? Let’s talk about the legal risks.
For traditional authors: Publishers require that your work is original. AI-generated text is legally not considered original work and cannot be copyrighted. If they discover you’ve used it, they can sue you for breach of contract. You’ll lose your advance, your reputation, and any chance of working with a publisher again.
For indie authors: The risks are just as real. Platforms like Amazon KDP require disclosure of AI-generated content. Failing to do so is a violation of their terms of service. Also, using AI opens you up to copyright, trademark, and unfair-competition lawsuits. Even unintentional copying can get you in hot water.
The penalty? Account termination. And when KDP terminates your account, you aren’t suspended. You are banned. For life. You can’t open another one. Your self-publishing career is dead, burned, and its ashes scattered by the wind.
The Soul of the Matter
What bothers me most in this entire circus is the insidious idea that drafting a novel—the act of creation itself—is a chore. An unpleasant task to be outsourced.
If you’re an author, a true author, then the act of breathing life into characters and building worlds from scratch isn’t a chore; it’s the entire point. It should be a joy. A struggle, yes, but a deeply fulfilling one.
Storytelling has never been just about plot points. At its core, it’s the art of emotional exchange. The most enduring stories are vessels for their author’s unique insight, pain, wonder, and life experience.
Can AI be creative? Why not? After all, even a parrot can talk. AI simulates creativity. But there is a universe of difference between creativity and artistic vision. An artistic vision stems from purpose, from the human need to communicate something specific: an idea, a lived experience, a raw emotion.
AI has no artistic vision because it has not lived a human life. It has no scars, no heartbreaks, no triumphs. It cannot draw from the well of personal experience that makes art resonate.
I’m not anti-AI. I’m anti-mediocrity.
And I’m for you, the writer. The one who respects the craft and the reader. The one who knows that the magic is in telling a story only you can tell, not in generating AI slop.
Here is a passage from my guide, Trust Your Story:
The most impactful stories are authentic. They stem from genuine human experiences, not from mechanical adherence to formulas and plot templates. Don’t settle for mediocrity; aim for authenticity.
Some creators worry that advances in generative AI technology will make them obsolete.
Should we, as human creators, be concerned? I am not. No matter how advanced AI becomes, it cannot teach you how to be a successful storyteller or write deeply satisfying stories. While AI understands the mechanics of storytelling, it can’t grasp the nuances of human existence. Human-written text may be flawed, but it’s authentic, reflecting the style, character, emotions, voice, and lived experiences of a real person. For me, authenticity trumps stylistic perfection.
Now, what are your thoughts? I’m curious to hear your experiences and perspective. Leave a comment below.