Generative AI floods and dilutes the market for books

[Submitted connected 22 Jul 2026 (v1), past revised 26 Jul 2026 (this version, v2)]

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Abstract:Generative AI tin nutrient book-length useful of fabrication astatine near-zero cost. These books are often dismissed arsenic low-quality ``slop'' that buyers will ignore, and are assumed to transportation small commercialized weight. We trial that presumption pinch full-text AI discovery crossed 14,419 self-published genre-fiction books sold connected Amazon from 2023 to 2026, matched to regular income records done June 2026. None of these books disclose whether aliases not they incorporate AI-produced content. We find that books for which we detected important AI matter ($>$ 25\%) dress up a ample stock of the catalog but a smaller stock of sales. Even so, they scope commercialized scale, winning a increasing stock of income complete clip and taking much of the scarce top-rank positions erstwhile held by books pinch nary detected AI text. Over this period, the number of books pinch observed income successful a 4th grew 19.2-fold, while quarterly gross grew only 8.9-fold. The marketplace truthful added trading books faster than it added revenue, and gross per trading book fell crossed astir genres. Books pinch nary AI matter suffer the astir crushed successful genres pinch precocious AI diffusion, and astir of each wherever Kindle Unlimited readiness is high. Among top-selling books, those pinch important AI matter tie connected much unique connection from existing books than do books pinch nary AI text; for these books overlap rises pinch revenue, a gradient we do not observe for books pinch nary AI text. Generative AI tin frankincense reshape a imaginative marketplace done standard alternatively than quality. Our results carnivore straight connected the market-effect mobility astatine the halfway of the adjacent usage defense to copyright infringement.