In a move reminiscent of a literary watchdog, Amazon has imposed fresh restrictions, invoking a new rule limiting authors to the self-publication of three books daily on its renowned platform. This stringent measure comes in response to a surge in the listing of suspected AI-generated content for sale in recent months. Critics argue that Amazon’s limit of books would have little impact, casting doubt on its effectiveness.
Amazon’s response and new guidelines
Amazon told How To Be Books that while it had not seen a spike in publishing numbers, it was “constantly evaluating emerging technologies and is committed to providing the best possible shopping, reading, and publishing experience for authors and customers.”
Earlier this month, Amazon changed its guidelines in relation to their self publishing platform in regards to AI. In a coordinated effort, Amazon said it had “lowered the volume limits we have in place on new submissions by KDP publishers to help protect against abuse.” The Kindle Direct Publishing platform (KDP) serves as the avenue for authors to independently publish their literary creations, thereby showcasing them on the vast Amazon marketplace.
Read: Amazon issues new AI policy for KDP platform
In terms of the daily limits, it added: “The current limit is 3 titles on any given day and we may adjust it if needed. Authors and publishers will be will be notified if they reach the limit and have the option to seek an exception.” However, the company did not divulge the specifics of the prior limitation.
The official post elucidated Amazon’s vigilant stance on the swift development of generative AI and its consequential influence on the realms of reading, writing, and publishing. It emphasised that this change would affect only a minuscule proportion of publishers and authors. Furthermore, it was stipulated that authors and publishers could apply for exceptions to this newly established rule.
Critics react on social media to Amazon’s books limit
Founder of Empowered Author, a book marketing company run by award-winning marketer Sam Missingham sarcastically said “That’ll solve the problem. Amazon restricts authors from self-publishing more than three books a day after AI concerns.”
Others critiqued the move with some saying that it would be unlikely that an author can publish three good quality books in day either way.
These regulatory measures were instituted in the wake of Amazon’s removal of suspected AI-generated books that had been falsely attributed to the author Jane Friedman. Concerns had also been raised earlier about books related to mushroom foraging, which were reported as likely AI-generated and potentially containing perilous advice. The proliferation of AI-generated travel books had similarly inundated the Amazon marketplace.
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