Guide
The "Human Authored" mark, and what to say if you used AI
The Authors Guild now certifies books whose text was written entirely by people. If yours was drafted with a model, you cannot use the mark, and you should not want to. Here is what the mark means and how to disclose instead.
What the mark is
The Authors Guild launched its Human Authored certification in beta for members in January 2025 and opened it to all authors and publishers of books sold in the United States later that year. Certified books can carry a trademarked seal on the cover, the copyright page and in marketing, and are listed in a public database. By March 2026, Publishers Weekly reported more than 3,000 authors had certified around 5,000 titles.
Who qualifies
The Guild's FAQ defines a Human Authored work as one whose text "was fully authored by one or more human beings and not generated by AI", allowing only a de minimis amount such as spelling and grammar checking. Using a model for research, brainstorming or a synopsis is allowed; using it to draft passages is not. The certification is an attestation, not an audit: you sign a declaration, and the Guild can revoke the mark if it turns out to be false.
Critics such as Jane Friedman have questioned the carve-outs and whether readers will notice the seal at all; the Guild's response, published alongside, is worth reading if you are deciding whether to certify.
If your book was drafted with AI
You do not qualify, and claiming the mark would be a false statement on a trademark. What you can do is what the Guild itself has lobbied for since 2023: disclose. Honest disclosure is becoming the norm on the platforms that matter, and readers are more forgiving of a stated method than of a discovered one.
Disclosure wording that works
This book was drafted with the help of AI writing tools from the author's outline, interview answers and notes. Every chapter was reviewed and edited by the author, who is responsible for its contents.
Put it on the copyright page. If the book is a memoir or a devotional, a fuller note in the acknowledgements, saying what you gave the tool and what you changed, reads as candour rather than confession.
Where else to disclose
- Amazon KDP's AI content question on the publishing form. Required.
- Distributors such as Draft2Digital and IngramSpark, which ask similar questions.
- Your own product page or website, in one sentence, if you sell direct.
- Competitions and magazines, most of which now ban or restrict AI-drafted submissions. Read the rules before entering.
Why disclosure and quality are the same project
A reader who is told "drafted with AI, edited by me" will read with a fair question in mind: is the author actually present? The interview answers, the voice sample and the edit pass exist to make sure the answer is yes. A disclosed book that sounds like you earns trust. An undisclosed one that sounds like a model loses it twice.
Disclosure is on by default. Neubook Write writes the AI-assistance line on the copyright page of every export and lets you edit the wording before you download.
Start a book, freeSources
- Authors Guild: Human Authored certification expands to all authors
- Authors Guild: Human Authored FAQ
- Authors Guild: Artificial intelligence advocacy
- Publishers Weekly: Authors Guild opens Human Authored certification to all US authors and publishers
- Jane Friedman: My concerns about the Human Authored certification, and the Guild's response
- Literary Hub: The Authors Guild is allowing more writers to certify their books are AI-free