Article · AI translation
IT Home reported on October 27 that South African author Coral Hart, writing under the pen name Coral Hart, published 371 books with the help of AI in about 20 months, with cumulative sales exceeding 1 million copies. By her own estimate, her income since the start of 2026 alone has exceeded $1 million (IT Home note: approximately 6.684 million yuan at the current exchange rate).
However, this model of using AI to produce books in bulk and publish them commercially has also sparked controversy. As a result, she has received tens of thousands of abusive messages on social media and has even faced death threats.
According to an AFP report on October 23, Hart, who is in her 40s, has 14 years of experience in the publishing industry. Before she began experimenting with AI writing in February 2025, she had independently written dozens of works. She then spent about 3 months familiarizing herself with different AI models and establishing a writing process. Most of the 371 works she has published are novels created for specific readerships based on market research, with romance accounting for a substantial share. She also said that one of her novels had reached the top 100 on Amazon's bestseller list.
Hart said she does not simply enter a single instruction into AI and publish the generated content as a finished work. She first decides on the story concept, characters, narrative style and chapter outline, then generates a first draft through a customized AI workflow. After the first draft is complete, she also uses AI for multiple rounds of plot and structural revisions, checking for issues with story logic, character development and plot continuity. Finally, she has human proofreaders check the work and revise any remaining traces of AI writing.
Hart said different AI models have different strengths and that tools need to be chosen according to the specific task. She believes that simply asking a model to write a book often fails to produce work of acceptable quality. In her view, establishing a complete story framework first, then refining it step by step through prompts and multiple rounds of editing, is necessary to improve writing efficiency and control the quality of the finished manuscript.
Hart's approach to writing, however, has drawn criticism from some traditional authors and readers. Some critics call such content “AI slop,” arguing that large-scale production of AI-assisted works could lower content quality standards in publishing and intensify market competition.
Hart responded that actual sales should be considered when judging whether readers like a work. She said readers' willingness to buy and continue reading these works shows that the content meets some market demand.
In the face of outside criticism, Hart said she has received tens of thousands of hateful messages and multiple death threats on social media. She has nevertheless chosen to make her writing process public, hoping to encourage the publishing industry to acknowledge the changes brought by AI technology. She believes AI is a tool for improving writing efficiency and that the technology will not disappear because some authors oppose it.
Hart has also recently launched a training business, teaching related techniques to hundreds of authors, and is preparing to release software for AI writers called Authorythm. The related businesses cover writing workflows, content editing and publishing operations.