Big Five publishers quietly used AI for copy and cover work

AI tools are already helping Big Five book publishers draft publicity copy, email literary agents, and make marketing materials, according to more than two dozen workers who spoke anonymously to WIRED.

The report says HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette have all used tools such as Claude and ChatGPT inside publishing workflows, often without public notice or author approval.

At HarperCollins, executives bought Claude licenses and then pushed staff to find uses for them. Some employees were named "AI Champions" and asked to brainstorm monthly use cases.

Workers at several publishers say publicity copy has become one of the most common jobs for LLMs, even though that copy appears on Amazon, Goodreads, book jackets, and sales pitches to media and booksellers.

One publicist in the report calls that shortcut a bad idea. The bigger worry for agents is what happens if a publisher feeds unpublished manuscript text into an open LLM to generate rejection letters or blurbs.

To reduce that risk, some agents have added contract language that bars manuscript text from being run through an LLM. A closed-loop model, which stays on a company’s own network, is meant to limit that exposure.

The tension is not only about writing. Simon & Schuster staff say the company tested Skan AI, a tool aimed at cost-cutting and workflow monitoring, and employees responded with an open letter opposing it.

The labor pressure is part of the story too. Staffers say layoffs left skeleton crews handling double or triple the workload, so some people use AI because managers are pushing for speed and savings. What this does to trust with authors is the real question.