A startup intending to publish up to 8, 000 books using AI next year is facing criticism from writers and publishers. Spines, the company in question, will charge authors between $1, 200 and $5, 000 to have their books edited, proofread, formatted, designed, and distributed with AI assistance. Independent publisher Canongate criticized Spines on Bluesky, accusing them of disregarding the craft of writing and exploiting hopeful authors by automating the publishing process with minimal care. Similarly, author Suyi Davies Okungbowa labeled them "opportunists" and "extractive capitalists" in a Bluesky post. Spines, which has secured $16 million in seed funding, claims authors will retain 100% of their royalties. Co-founder Yehuda Niv, with a background in publishing in Israel, describes Spines as a "publishing platform" rather than a vanity publisher.

However, Deidre J Owen of Mannison Press disagrees, asserting on X that Spines fits the definition of a vanity publisher. Marco Rinaldi, co-host of Page One – The Writer’s Podcast, criticized Spines for accelerating self-publishing in an ineffective manner while avoiding the label. Anna Ganley, CEO of the UK's Society of Authors, urged writers to be cautious of contracts requiring them to pay for publication, citing concerns about originality and quality, especially when AI systems are involved. Spines claims it can shorten the book publishing process to two to three weeks. Concurrently, Microsoft announced a new book imprint aiming for faster publication, and HarperCollins has agreed to let Microsoft use some titles to train AI models, with author consent. Spines has yet to comment on these critiques.