Aspiring authors should hope that artificial intelligence never replaces human literary agents. Rejections would be fast, leave no room for a response, and be utterly discouraging. You know, like what already happens, except for the speed and response part. For example:
Dear [Author Name],
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review your proposal, [Working Title]. I appreciate the time, care, and creative energy that clearly went into shaping this project, and I’m grateful you considered me as a possible advocate for your work.
After careful consideration, I’ve decided to pass on representing this proposal. This was not an easy decision. Book publishing is an extremely competitive field, and agents must make difficult choices not only based on the quality of a manuscript, but also on market timing, editorial demand, and how well a project fits with our current lists. In this case, while your idea has merit and your passion for the subject is evident, I don’t feel I’m the right agent to champion it successfully in today’s marketplace.
Please know that a rejection at this stage is not a judgment on your talent or the value of your work. Many successful books were declined multiple times before finding the right advocate. I encourage you to continue refining your proposal and submitting it to other agents who may be a better match for your vision.
Thank you again for thinking of me, and I wish you the very best with your writing and future submissions.
Warm regards,
[Agent Name]
Literary Agent
This was a ChatGPT-generated response to my request to create a 200-word agent response to a book proposal. Maybe you recognize some of the phrases. Knowing that AI generated the response above likely takes away much of the encouragement attempted throughout!
Seriously, as time goes on, more and more processes in book publishing will be handled by AI, in part or in whole. Over the years, more and more aspects of publishing have become less subjective and more black-and-white, which in the digital world of zeroes and ones, makes it susceptible to an AI takeover.
I can envision a service where authors pay to upload their proposal and, in addition to a thorough review, receive suggestions for agents who would be most suited to work with them.
I could also envision a tool for agents that analyzes the salability of a proposal and provides a deep dive into the author’s platform, grading the author’s media footprint and its potential to assist with marketing. But maybe AI will eventually replace agents altogether (trying not to think about that too much).
Publishers who are already using AI for a number of business functions will eventually expand it to analyze a book proposal and provide a go/no-go to publish, recommending a proposed financial offer based on the author’s history, potential, and category sales.
None of the above is too far off in the future. Use of AI is just scratching the surface for every business segment and will only expand at an astounding rate.
But remember, it’s only a tool. A good and powerful tool, but still just a tool. You likely won’t be able to win an argument with it about the validity of your book, but pursuing creativity and writing in an interesting manner will protect your work.
AI may have a lot to give,
and it’s gonna grow, that’s true,
but AI will not let you live
in a choice to die for you
on a Cross, hands pierced by nails,
a crown of thorns upon the head,
biting back the anguished wails
and forgiving those, instead,
who do not know what they do
in the Slaughter of the Lamb,
who do not know what is True,
who reject The Great I Am.
Yeah, maybe AI is cool,
but it’s no Person, just a tool.
Ooooooooooh, Andrew! THIS!!
What Pam said.
Thanks, Sy!
I’m so glad you like it, Pam!
I cohost a podcast and recently received a pitch from an AI publicist. It harmed my trust in the author and hit me wrong. I deleted the email after a brief scan. I don’t know if I was too finpickity but I prefer dealing with real people. 🙂 I do rely heavily on AI for stat analysis type stuff and admin type stuff (excel sheets caregiving my content, etc). But again, prefer dealing with people in relation to podcast guests.
Feels like we’re living in a Twilight Zone episode, doesn’t it?
I like the one with William Shatner and the monster on the aeroplane wing.
Yeah, no. Makes me happy to be old.
Sy, live in the past, like me. Every day I am physically able, I do a little more work on the replica of a Chilton DW1, a prewar British ultralight aeroplane, that I’m building in the living room. My DIY (thanks to Barb) hospital bed becomes, by day, a work surface.
Nothing about it has anything to do with the modern world, the world of which I refuse to be part.
In the immortal words of Bartlesby, I would prefer not to.
Dan, I’m wondering when AI will replace college professors. I teach a business writing class. Students can use AI to write their papers, so why not use AI to grade them? (I don’t support either idea, for the record.) The question then becomes: What are students learning? How to use AI? While AI can be a great tool, it can also remove the humanity of our work.
I recall all these many years ago when our kids (now all adults) were told to purchase calculators for their math classes in middle and high school.
Wait, what? I guess rather than teaching math, they teach kids how to use calculators.
The AI thing is probably in the same vein. Just teach everyone to use it, and then schools can focus on what really matters… marching bands, school musicals, sports, social events, and goofing off at lunch period with your friends while still trying to look cool to the opposite sex.
Just processing here . . . Publishers are using AI for various purposes. But writers cannot.
Authors use AI in many ways, just not to replace writing the book. Brainstorming, outlining, research, and anything to help with writing, but the author creates.
Publishers use AI to draft product summaries that include keywords for online searches, promotional copy, and financial analysis, among other things, but they still use human wisdom and insight to make decisions and excellent editors to make the text sing.
AI will replace some (many?) functions in publishing. Authors can choose whether to be replaced by it or, with insight and creativity and using all sorts of tools, write excellent books.
How do you feel, Dan, about contracts that prohibit any use of AI for the writer?
I am not aware of any major traditional publisher that outright prohibits it. A contract might provide examples of proper use but not prohibit use entirely.
AI certainly is shifting the publishing industry! My prediction is that the future for human authors and agents lies in strategic branding, leaning into core values and character growth built on a sound moral framework for timeless appeal, rather than embracing buzzy trends in hopes of a quick rise to the top.
Thanks, Dan, for pointing out how agents and publishers might soon or already be using AI! This gave me the idea for a fun experiment where I fed my manuscript, my website and a summary of my proposal to an AI, and asked it whether I, as an agent, should sign this author. A waste of time? Possibly — I’m suspicious the answer was dishonestly flattering.
I fear that in itself is the bigger threat of AI — in the future, how many authors will bother with the challenge of pitching for real, opening themselves to real rejection, when it’s so easy to be artificially validated by a bot? When Gemini appreciates my genius, why should I listen to the human haters?
And yet, we have the assurance that God’s Word will reach every nation, one way or another. A remnant will remain, so we have no reason to give up in defeat.
AI is assisting with Bible translation and with translating Christian books. Nothing is a surprise to God, and he uses everything for his purposes.
That’s interesting! But yes, exactly!