AI Usage Policy

Our stance on AI usage is simple, and we want to be upfront about it since this question is asked frequently in emails.

AI is never used on client work.

1. At no point in our process does anyone at ISPS use AI on client works. This is codified in the contract we provide clients when they sign with us.
2. No, none of my emails are written by AI. If you receive a response from anyone at ISPS, it is written by a human being. Some emails are templates, but even the templates were created by a person (me). You may find the occasional typos in my messages, and I assure you, they are home-grown (much to my chagrin).
3. AI is used in an agentic manner on the backend of the business. I use Claude to assist with certain tasks relating to scheduling, project management, and similar tools (like Zapier). This work is purely administrative and assists me with disabilities I have as an autistic person. I struggle with executive function, so I find having AI assist with certain administerial tasks allows me to focus more on the work I am best at.

We do not work on purely AI-generated material.

We do not work on books that would cross the threshold of not being copyrightable under the standards of the US Copyright Office (https://www.copyright.gov/ai/). To be clear, this means that if the book was primarily written through prompting without significant human editing, we will not work on it. Using AI to help you outline your book will not get you bounced, but if it is doing the actual writing, that is where we draw the line.

If you use AI to edit your book, please tread with extreme caution as it often likes to make changes you may not be aware of that can lead to significant questions about human authorship. If we have concerns about AI usage that do not square with what you tell us was done, we will decline the job.

We aren’t looking to blast anyone and will not attack anyone for using AI in their manuscript. That isn’t how we perform. The worst thing that will happen is we will decline to work on the manuscript. I know editors who work on AI-generated works and would be willing to work with clients who used AI heavily in the creation of their book.

Please be honest with us.