How to Use AI (Ethically) to Get a Book Deal
AI is here — but so is traditional publishing. The authors who stand out will not be the ones who hand literary agents and editors a generic, AI-generated proposal. They will be the ones who protect their ideas, create work rooted in real expertise, and use AI without undermining the industry they want to join.
In this episode, Meghan Stevenson, traditional publishing expert and founder of Meghan Stevenson Books, shares three principles for entrepreneurs, experts, and creators who want to use AI ethically while pursuing a traditional nonfiction book deal.
You can use AI and still get a traditional nonfiction book deal. But AI should not replace the original thinking, expertise, and human-created work that make a nonfiction book proposal valuable to literary agents, editors, and traditional publishers.
A book proposal is typically sent first to a literary agent for representation. The agent then sends it to editors at major publishers. According to Meghan, those gatekeepers are seeing plenty of “AI slop” — work that feels generic, unoriginal, or disconnected from the author’s actual expertise.
The opportunity is to do better. Use AI intentionally for appropriate tasks, while ensuring that the proposal and book are recognizably yours.
1. Treat AI as if it is not private
The first rule: do not upload sensitive information, creative work, or unique intellectual property into a consumer-facing AI model.
Meghan’s guidance is to treat mainstream AI tools as though anything entered could someday be reviewed by a person, leaked, reused in training, or used as a marketing tool. This applies whether you pay for the service or use it for free.
That means being especially careful with:
Financial information and sensitive personal data
Proprietary business information
Your original book ideas
Unpublished creative work
Unique frameworks, stories, or intellectual property
Your ideas are valuable. If you would not want something published in a newspaper or online, do not put it into an AI prompt.
While users may be able to adjust privacy controls, Meghan’s broader point is simple: protect your work rather than assuming a consumer AI platform will keep it fully private.
2. Remember what agents and editors value
A traditional book deal is not simply a reward for assembling information. It is an opportunity to create transformation for readers.
Meghan points to an idea raised by bestselling author Tim Ferriss: there is a difference between information and transformation. A reader may be able to ask an AI tool for quick answers, summaries, or bullet points. But having the right information does not necessarily change someone’s life.
Books can create transformation through:
An author’s stories and perspective
A clear, step-by-step structure
The author’s influence and expertise
The experience of engaging deeply with the material
That is why how-to books can still matter in an AI-driven world. Readers can access information quickly, but a human author can help them understand, apply, and act on it.
For entrepreneurs, experts, and creators pursuing traditional publishing, this is the standard to aim for: create a proposal and a book that demonstrate your distinct authority and offer readers more than easily generated answers.
3. Do not use AI to copy other people’s work
Meghan’s third principle is about honoring other creators’ rights.
She notes that there are lawsuits involving authors, publishers, and writer-supporting organizations that allege consumer AI models were trained on pirated books and other unauthorized copyrighted content. In that context, using AI to write a book proposal can raise serious ethical concerns: it may result in expression that copies others’ work.
The practical takeaway is not that authors should avoid AI altogether. It is that authors should not use it as a substitute for doing their own work.
Write from your own expertise. Develop your own point of view. Create your own language, frameworks, stories, and arguments.
AI can still be useful when it supports your work rather than replaces it.
Meghan identifies several relatively low-risk uses:
Researching and breaking down complex topics
Brainstorming ideas
Generating transcripts
Creating meeting notes
Even with these uses, remain conscious of privacy settings and of how the platform may collect, store, or use your data.
The goal is not to hand your creative process over to a machine. It is to use technology in ways that help you work more effectively without giving away your intellectual property, copying others, or producing work that agents and editors will reject.
The bottom line
You can pursue a traditional nonfiction book deal in the age of AI. But the strongest path is human-led.
Protect your original work. Write a proposal that reflects your real expertise. Respect other creators’ expressions. And use AI for tasks such as research, brainstorming, transcription, and notes — not as the author of the book proposal you hope will earn you representation and a publishing deal.
If you want to discover what may be blocking your path to a bigger book deal, Meghan offers a free five-minute assessment at meghanstevenson.com/quiz.
Questions answered in this episode
Can you still get a traditional nonfiction book deal in the age of AI?
Are consumer-facing AI models private?
Should you upload original book ideas or creative work into AI tools?
What types of information should you avoid entering into an AI model?
What happens after you finish a book proposal?
What do literary agents and book editors think about AI-generated writing?
Why does human-created work still matter in traditional publishing?
What is the difference between information and transformation in nonfiction books?
Has AI made how-to books irrelevant?
Why might using AI to write a book proposal create ethical concerns?
What are ethical ways to use AI while pursuing a book deal?
Can AI be used for research, brainstorming, transcription, and meeting notes?
