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Big US publishers use AI without telling authors, Wired reports
Staff at HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette describe AI-written cover copy, pitches to agents and cover art.
Three of the five biggest US book publishers use AI tools in their work without telling authors or the public, Wired reported on Friday 9 October 2026, from interviews with more than two dozen staff who spoke anonymously. Back-cover blurbs, publicity copy and emails to literary agents now often start in Claude or ChatGPT at HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette, staff say, and managers frequently ask for it.
HarperCollins bought Claude licences and asked staff to serve as “AI Champions” hunting for uses, according to the report; it also holds ChatGPT and Jasper licences. Simon & Schuster workers signed an open letter against a trial of Skan AI’s workflow software. A Hachette spokesperson told Wired the company backs AI for operational tasks and opposes creative uses, including messages to authors. Simon & Schuster said its tools are vetted and optional; HarperCollins did not respond.
The same houses sued Meta in May over copyright, Gizmodo notes. One agent says they now add contract clauses that bar publishers from running manuscripts through a language model.
Readers meet publicity copy on Amazon and Goodreads first, so whoever writes it shapes how a book sells.
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Alexandre S.
Alexandre S. is a creative ad strategist and copywriter with ten years' experience in digital marketing across multiple channels.