My response to ārevolutionary publishersā shilling AI.
Youāre not disrupting anything.
Human action dictates whether a book succeeds or fails.
Last week, a picture of the four smug founder dudes from ārevolutionary publisherā Spines went viral.
Spines (https://x.com/Spines_com) is a platform that automates editing, covers, translation, audiobooks, and more.
The company raised $16m in VC and plans to publish 8,000 books next year.
Most people were pissed off when they saw the news:
-Publishers claiming itās a predatory vanity press
-Authors bemoaning the fees, saying KDP is cheaper
-Readers questioning the need for a tranche of low-quality titles
-Editors and translators in fear of losing work
As a publisher with a similar model, Iām not pissed; Iām ambivalent.
Spines charges authors up to $5k to āharness the power of AIā.
True, they do provide authors with a cheap and fast option, while traditional publishers can take years to release a book.
All 8,000 books fail without anyone to read them.
When The Bookseller asked Spines to provide sales data for their ābestsellers,ā Spines refused š
.
The lesson? Do the work or become the product.
Microsoft is also working with big publishers to train their AI models on their books, and many big tech firms and publishing houses are getting involved.
Hereās what I think is really going onā¦
Itās about the data. They want to train their LLMs on your manuscripts.
Spines and Microsoft donāt give a fuck if you sell any copies.
They want to build machines capable of cutting humans out of the creative process. They might even succeed.
My prediction? Penguin Random House will buy spines within 24 months.
But our community wonāt give up the right to thought.
Konsensus Network has been connecting authors and readers since 2019.
We want to transform your ideas into books that change the world.
And we want you to succeed because we believe in the same ideals.
If you have a freedom manuscript in the works, I want to hear about it.
Book a free call with me, and let's strategize and go through your options.
If you donāt invest the time, effort, and money in your book project, you donāt honestly believe in its ideas.
Authors who settle for a low-rent print-a-page service with zero strategy or support are spineless. And they know where to go.
Calendly
Niko Laamanen
Founder of Konsensus Network, The Freedom Publishing House.
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My response to ārevolutionary publishersā shilling AI \ stacker news
Youāre not disrupting anything. Human action dictates whether a book succeeds or fails. Last week, a picture of the four smug founder dudes from ...
