New paper says AI-written books now make up 20% of self-published sales on Amazon
TuhinChakr · x · 2026-07-28
A new paper on AI and copyright argues that AI-generated or AI-assisted books are already having a measurable economic impact on self-published writers.
According to the quoted findings from Amazon genre fiction:
- about 20% of self-published books include substantial AI text
- AI-assisted books account for 20% of total sales
- roughly one-third of bestsellers include AI text
- writers who do not use AI are earning less as a result
The paper’s broader claim is that the presence of large numbers of AI books can crowd out non-AI titles even when the books themselves are not especially high quality. The thread uses this to challenge the industry’s legal argument that training on copyrighted works causes no financial harm.
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