"It was, therefore, far too late for any publisher to have taken this clause into account in their design briefs, Wilson told the Guardian. It is obviously heartbreaking that two wonderful pieces of fiction by highly respected authors have become embroiled in this issue, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with their writing. Wilson said it was also upsetting for the production and design team, who had worked hard on the books."
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad about it, she told the Guardian. It's my 22nd book, and it is my fourth collection of short stories. These stories were written over a sort of 20 year period, so for me, it's quite an important book. Johnson said authors typically have very little to do with the design of their books, and she had no idea AI had been used to create her cover, which features a cat with human teeth."
Two New Zealand books, Obligate Carnivore and Angel Train, were submitted for the 2026 Ockham book awards' NZ$65,000 fiction prize and were later disqualified after the awards applied new guidelines banning AI use in cover design. The guidelines were amended in August, by which time all covers had already been designed, leaving publishers unable to anticipate the clause. The publisher described the timing as heartbreaking and upsetting for production and design teams. One book creator expressed sympathy for AI concerns but disappointment at the decision and said they had little involvement in the cover design and did not realize AI was used.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]