Shortly after submitting his new book, The AI Revolution in Book Publishing: A Concise Guide to Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Writers and Publishers, Thad McIlroy found himself confronted with a surprise: Ingram had flagged the book, issuing a “Catalog Integrity Notice,” and removed it from distribution.
It's not out of the question that a book about AI might have been written using AI, McIlroy told PW—and in fact, a small portion of the book did employ AI tools. “I would say that about 1% of the book overall was touched by AI,” he explained, pointing out a section in which he leads readers through an exercise of chatting with Claude.ai, as well as a section demonstrating how he used ChatGPT to create all the alt-text for the images to make the book accessible, thus making them more accessible to people with visual impairments.
But as for using AI to write the book, McIlroy said, he didn’t. Nevertheless, he surmised that Ingram's filters had mistakenly identified the book as having beengenerated using AI—a mistake indicative of the AI moment we now find ourselves in.
Fortunately for McIlroy, an Ingram employee reached out almost as soon as he raised the issue on social media. By Monday, the issue was sorted out and the restriction removed, just in time for the book's publication today. But the experience remains somewhat concerning, McIlroy said, adding that he wonders how many authors might find themselves in similar situations and questions whether Ingram’s appeal process is robust enough.
A contributing editor at PW, where he covers the intersection of technology and the book business, McIlroy has sought to provide a concise and accessible overview of AI's potential impact on authors and publishers. His book covers a range of topics, including metadata, licensing, and the challenges publishers face in formulating AI policies. He also discusses AI startups in the publishing space—McIlroy maintains a database of book publishing startups, which is available through PW’s website—and provides insights into how authors and publishers can leverage AI tools.
One aspect of the book’s release that sets it apart is McIlroy's approach to publishing and distribution, which involved first publishing the book for free online through LeanPub, an online self-publishing platform that allows authors to publish chapters as they're completed, helping to build and engage with an audience. “I published a 75% version, then a 90% version, then a 100% version,” McIlroy said. “With this process, I was able to incorporate feedback from the community.”
In addition, McIlroy doesn't just talk about AI within the book—he used it to translate the book into 31 languages in addition to English, ranging from Swedish to Thai, upon publication. “Some nuance was lost, but no one would fail to understand what I'm talking about,” McIlroy said of the translations, adding that he relied on spot checks and reverse translation—asking AI to re-translate the book from a foreign language into English—to assess the quality.
The audiobook edition is also available in six versions, all created by using AI translation and narration. Three different English-language editions are available—in American, U.K., and Indian accents—and the audiobook has been translated into French, German, and Spanish.
After the initial kerfuffle with Ingram, the company now distributes McIlroy’s book in multiple formats, including print, e-pub and PDF editions. The title is also available on Amazon, and McIlroy has made the book freely accessible as a web page through LeanPub. The platform employs a “pay what you want” flexible pricing model, allowing authors to set a minimum price, taking home 80% of any sale.
To defray the costs of producing the book, it was sponsored by four companies: Firebrand Technologies, Perfect Bound, Shimmr, and Veristage. “Sponsorships are a practical way to pay for a book, but something that publishers have also been reluctant to embrace,” McIlroy said.
When asked about AI's immediate impact on publishing, McIlroy said that the industry is still in the exploratory phase. Still, he speculated that used properly, AI could drive as much as a 20-25% increase in revenue via expanded format offerings and improved metadata and marketing capabilities AI facilitates, often a very low cost. “Imagine an entire book searchable through AI, the amount of discovery that could lead to,” McIlroy said. “That alone should be enough to spark curiosity.”
