AI Overwhelmed Amazon With Books — And Real-Life Writers Suffered

According to a recent study, 20% of self-published books on Amazon contain significant amounts of AI-generated text, yet only generate 11.3% of revenue. Between 2023–2026, the number of self-published books increased by 38.3x, the number of books that sold increased by 19.2x, but revenue only increased by 8.9x.

1Human Author Revenue Falls in Nearly Every Genre

For seven out of eight categories, revenue per book decreased for non-AI books between 2023 and 2025. The one category that saw an increase was fantasy/horror, which was the last category to adopt AI. There, revenue per book went up by 35%. Organic bestsellers are being replaced by AI books, which now make up 31% of all new Top-25 books.

2Windfall Profits for a Few Against a Broader Slump

Of the 385 most active AI authors, 287 increased their productivity after writing their first AI book. One pen name made $1.7 million on 8 books, while another made $643,000 on a single bestseller that sold 80,431 copies. Most of the growth is coming from a few players, but the overall market is becoming saturated.

3Proof of Harm for Copyright Cases

This is the first time that there is empirical evidence that can be used to demonstrate market harms in copyright litigation against AI firms, something plaintiffs have struggled to do up until now. Just like the labor market, AI is replacing humans and taking their market share.