Markdown edition

# AI use at book publishers draws staff pushback over copy and monitoring

> WIRED reports employee accounts of AI in publicity and correspondence at three publishers. Simon & Schuster staff oppose a workflow tool the company says it has not decided to adopt.

By BIG CHANGE Editorial

Published: 2026-10-10T01:19:01.440Z
Updated: 2026-10-10T01:19:01.440Z
Canonical: https://bigchange.ai/blog/book-publishers-ai-use-staff-pushback

![Plain unbranded hardback books stand on an angled wooden bookshop display rack beside a blank promotional card.](https://bigchange.ai/api/media/file/book-publicity-display-hero-v1.png)
AI-generated conceptual illustration by BIG CHANGE. The display, books and card are invented and unbranded; no publisher, specific cover or deployed workflow is depicted.

[WIRED's interviews with more than two dozen publishing workers](https://www.wired.com/story/book-publishers-are-quietly-using-more-ai-staff-are-revolting/) describe AI tools entering work at HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette. The reported tasks include drafting publicity copy and emails, making marketing material and contributing to cover art. The workers spoke anonymously to protect their jobs. Their accounts show specific uses and disagreements inside those companies; they do not establish how many publishers use AI, how often the tools appear in finished books or whether authors have agreed to each use.

The sharpest documented dispute concerns a different kind of tool. Simon & Schuster employees have sought signatures on a letter opposing the possible use of Skan AI's Blueprint to analyze work processes. Chief executive Greg Greeley confirmed that the company was exploring the product, then told staff on October 6 that it had made no decision to use Blueprint or another productivity monitoring or workflow analysis tool. [Publishers Weekly quoted the memo](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/101470-s-s-staff-balk-at-ai-performance-tracking-software-talks.html) after a company spokesperson shared it with the publication.

## The big change

- **What changed:** WIRED's October 9 reporting puts employee accounts of AI use in book publicity and other production work alongside an organized objection to a possible workflow analysis product at Simon & Schuster.
- **How it is happening:** The accounts distinguish employees using language models, company supplied access to approved tools, and a product still under exploration. These are different stages of adoption.
- **Why it matters:** Publicity copy and correspondence represent a publisher to authors, agents, booksellers and readers. Staff are asking who may use AI for that work, what must be disclosed, and whether software used to study workflows could also be used to judge workers.
- **What remains open:** The interviews are not a measure of industry prevalence. Simon & Schuster says it has made no adoption decision on Blueprint or a comparable monitoring tool.

## What workers say the tools are doing

At HarperCollins, employees told WIRED that the company bought licenses for Claude and also acquired access to ChatGPT and Jasper. One employee described staff being assigned to find uses for the tools in meetings. Another said one division was using AI to make marketing videos. These are accounts from employees, not a companywide inventory. HarperCollins did not respond to WIRED's request for comment.

Workers at all three publishers described AI generated publicity copy to WIRED. Literary agents said they suspected some editors had used AI to write rejection emails; employees at the companies told WIRED they believed that had happened. Suspicion based on phrasing cannot, by itself, prove how a particular email was written. A concern about unpublished manuscripts being pasted into outside models is also distinct from evidence that this occurred. One HarperCollins source said the company's legal team had told editors who asked about uploading full manuscripts to externally connected models not to do so.

The publishers' stated boundaries differ. Hachette told WIRED it supports AI for operational purposes that help authors' books reach readers, while opposing creative uses, including communication with authors and partners. Simon & Schuster's marketing and communications chief, Wibke Grutjen, said employees can access a limited set of approved enterprise tools, use is optional, and unvetted tools are prohibited. Neither statement establishes how consistently a policy is followed in individual correspondence or marketing work. WIRED's anonymous accounts describe some employees feeling pushed to experiment and others using tools as workloads grew.

## A proposal that employees want stopped

The [Simon & Schuster staff sign-on form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccM-0zNYeUvW0CzbYI-ZRHr3EM6otXZVy5d_bVA_PcMMZvbw/viewform) says employees across departments wrote the letter and were seeking 250 signatures. It raises concerns about screen activity, privacy and software that could identify tasks for automation. That is the letter authors' account of a possible system and its risks, not proof of a companywide deployment. The form's assertion that the plan came at KKR's apparent urging is likewise an allegation by the letter authors; the available reporting does not independently establish KKR's role.

Greeley's memo gives the company's account. [Publishers Marketplace reported on October 7](https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2026/10/s-greeley-says-its-for-workflow-improvement/) that he described Blueprint as one possible way to assess existing work. [Publishers Weekly's account](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/101470-s-s-staff-balk-at-ai-performance-tracking-software-talks.html) quotes him saying no decision had been made and no companywide rollout was underway or under consideration. He described the purpose of early exploration as reducing repetitive processes, not monitoring individual performance. The memo establishes the company's stated position, while the letter records employees' objections to what the technology could enable.

For authors and staff, the practical questions are now specific: which tools are approved, whether they are used on unpublished work or author facing messages, and what notice accompanies AI assisted publicity. WIRED's reporting shows why those questions are being asked at several large houses. It cannot supply an industrywide adoption rate or resolve how the Simon & Schuster proposal will end.

## Sources & further reading

- [Adam Morgan, WIRED, “Book Publishers Are Quietly Using More AI. Staff Are Revolting”](https://www.wired.com/story/book-publishers-are-quietly-using-more-ai-staff-are-revolting/), October 9, 2026. Original interviews with more than two dozen anonymous workers, named publishing representatives and agents. Its interview examples support specific reported uses and concerns, not an industrywide frequency estimate.
- [Simon & Schuster employee sign-on form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccM-0zNYeUvW0CzbYI-ZRHr3EM6otXZVy5d_bVA_PcMMZvbw/viewform), checked October 10, 2026. The first-party form states the letter authors' objections and signature goal. Its linked full letter did not render in our source view, and its claims about a proposed rollout and KKR are not independently established here.
- [Natalie Chandler, Publishers Weekly, “S&S Staff Balk at AI Performance-Tracking Software Talks”](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/101470-s-s-staff-balk-at-ai-performance-tracking-software-talks.html), October 7, 2026. Quotes from Greeley's October 6 memo, which a Simon & Schuster spokesperson shared with the publication. The quoted language expressly says no decision or companywide rollout.
- [Erin Somers, Publishers Marketplace, “S&S Staff Write to Oppose AI Software that Can Monitor Employees”](https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2026/10/s-greeley-says-its-for-workflow-improvement/), October 7, 2026. Independently reports the letter and quotes the memo's description of Blueprint as a possible avenue under exploration; the publicly accessible excerpt does not reproduce the whole memo.

## Sources

- [Book Publishers Are Quietly Using More AI. Staff Are Revolting](https://www.wired.com/story/book-publishers-are-quietly-using-more-ai-staff-are-revolting/) — Adam Morgan's original interviews with more than two dozen anonymous publishing workers, plus named sources and company statements; examples are not a prevalence estimate.
- [Sign onto the open letter against Skan AI at S&S!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccM-0zNYeUvW0CzbYI-ZRHr3EM6otXZVy5d_bVA_PcMMZvbw/viewform) — First-party sign-on form documenting organizers' concerns and 250-signature goal; linked full letter did not render and assertions about rollout or KKR are unverified.
- [S&S Staff Balk at AI Performance-Tracking Software Talks](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/101470-s-s-staff-balk-at-ai-performance-tracking-software-talks.html) — Natalie Chandler reports a spokesperson shared the CEO memo; quotes explicit no-decision and no-companywide-rollout wording.
- [S&S Staff Write to Oppose AI Software that Can Monitor Employees; Greeley Says It’s for Workflow Improvement](https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2026/10/s-greeley-says-its-for-workflow-improvement/) — Erin Somers's independent trade reporting; publicly accessible excerpt confirms the exploration language, with full text behind login.