Generative AI has upended how we write things, or even if we write at all. Now a startup wants to be the main character in the next chapter of that story: AI that replaces the role of the publisher.
Spines is a self-publishing platform that claims that — thanks to being powered by artificial intelligence — it can do all the work of a publisher, and do it faster and cheaper. That task list includes editing a piece of writing, providing suggestions to improve it, and giving users a frank projection on who might read the published work; providing options for cover design and layout; and distributing the finished product in e-book or print-on-demand formats.
Spines’ pitch is that work that might have otherwise taken six to 18 months at a traditional publisher can now be completed in two to three weeks.
“Our innovation is in the process of production,” said CEO and co-founder Yehuda Niv.
Since launching in 2021, the Miami-headquartered, Israel-hatched startup says it has published no less than 1,700 books and is currently growing revenues at a rate of 1,000%. Popular titles, it says, include an autobiography by the ex-con and cult figure Fleece Johnson; a children’s book written by someone who was gunned down as a teen and is now rebuilding his life in a wheelchair; and a motivational guide aimed at women.
Spines currently does not have plans to take on the writing itself, although there are plenty of others working on that already.
Now Spines has raised $16 million in a Series A round to take its efforts to the next level, which will include audiobooks.
Zeev Ventures — a venture firm founded by Oren Zeev — is leading Spines’ Series A, with previous backers Aleph, M-Fund, and LionTree also participating. Prior to this, Spines raised a $6.5 million seed round in April 2024. The startup is not disclosing its valuation.
Spines is the brainchild of Niv, who co-founded the business with Lev David (CMO), Niv Ovdat (COO), and Nir Kenner (CTO).
Niv said he first thought of moving into publishing when he was still an electrical engineering student at Ben-Gurion University. He’d written a manuscript, he said, but decided the process of pitching and publishing it was too hard.
So after leaving university, he decided to stick to his idea and founded his own publishing house, Niv Books. This was his first foray into bringing more technology to bear on the process of making books. Using faster processes — but with people in the mix — Niv Books eventually was putting out 1,200 titles annually. Those included Niv’s own “Silent Thunder,” available only in Hebrew, plus a number of bestsellers, he said.
It was then that Niv — thinking about the runaway success and seemingly endless capabilities of generative AI — came up with the idea of an all-AI publisher.
The concept was initially incubated at Niv Books.
“But soon I realized this might be greater than what Niv Books could ever be,” he said. “The opportunity is huge. Technology is so advanced, and I needed to raise capital from top investors. This is an American company, not an Israeli one. It’s a different approach.”
So he incorporated in Delaware and got on with building his startup.
Niv claimed that after the boom of business and visibility he got with the seed round in April, he had 12 different “top tier” U.S. VCs knocking on his door. That came down to four very serious approaches, which he took to Oren Zeev, who had been giving Niv some advice.
Zeev — once a major investor in Audible, the audiobook startup that Amazon eventually acquired — instead offered to lead the investment himself, which he has with a $10 million check.
“Back in 2003, I saw the untapped potential of audiobooks with Audible, long before they became popular,” he said in a statement. “Today, I see a similar transformative power in Spines to reshape the book publishing industry.”
There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of digital publishers and self-publishing houses in the market today. Formidably, they include the likes of Amazon, but we’re also seeing efforts that compete more directly with Spines by using AI to speed along the publishing process. They include Publishing.com‘s Publishing.ai, the imaginatively titled AI Book Publisher, and Blurb, not to mention publishing efforts from big names in online writing like Wattpad and Inkitt.
Niv believes that, for now at least, Spines is different because the full publishing experience still can cost what he says is “tens of thousands of dollars,” and there is no guarantee that you will get a book deal. With Spines, of course, you do get the deal, because you are paying for the services yourself.
Spines’ production plans, Niv said, start from about $1,200 and can go up to $5,000, depending on how many services an author is requesting. Users are given options for cover illustrations, but more options might come with higher costs. There is a professional on the team who gets involved as well, Niv said.
There is also distribution membership, billed monthly, which starts at $19/month and can go up to $49/month, depending on where you would like to be distributed. Royalties on sales are split the same for everyone: Authors get 70% and Spines gets 30%. Niv said that this is a great improvement on other publishers, which typically give authors between 10% and 20% of sales. Lastly there is a management fee, which again varies depending on services rendered.
For those who do not relish the idea of full AI publishing, there are costlier options that involve humans. There is also a team of customer success agents. Not to be confused with literary agents, these are people who have been trained, on average for about a month, on the ins and outs of publishing with Spines.
That seems relatively transparent, although not everything is at Spines.
You will not know, for example, what AI is going into the process, and how your IP will be used longer term. Niv confirmed that Spines does not build all of its AI from the ground up — like many companies today, it’s focusing on customizing what is out there for its own purposes. But he would not disclose which third-party services the startup is using. Following up further, a spokesperson referred to that information as the startup’s “secret sauce.”
Nor does this AI startup seem to give authors a lot of insight and analytics into what is actually working and what is not in terms of content. The company refused to answer my questions about the most popular genres, instead pointing me to the fact that it has identified 16,000 different genres that stories can fit in, and they all have a shot. “There is nothing that is obvious,” Niv said.
It’s fair to wonder if Spines is just an exercise in efficiency, or if it might bring a new dimension to the world of literature: Take away all the pain points and a new written word might emerge. It’s not clear that publishing, like any creative endeavor, has ever been that clear cut before. But in the meantime, Spines will be green-lighting authors, and its AI will be pushing more books out into the world.