Business Insider (BI) reports that the Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into Publishing.com, a company that sells courses on creating and selling AI-generated books as a side hustle.
Per BI, Publishing.com raked in nearly $50 million in 2022. In 62 complaints obtained by the outlet, customers typically spent $2,000, while some spent over $7,000 on courses and additional resources.
Customers complained to the FTC that Publishing.com used high-pressure sales tactics, and was not forthcoming about how much additional money customers would need to be spent to publish, market and close sales. One complaint read, “They constantly say to use credit cards, borrow money, put yourself in debt in order to afford this program.”
Related: Amazon Has a Fake Book Problem
Founded in 2019 by the twin brothers Christian and Rasmus Mikkelsen, Publishing.com has gone by other names, including Publishing Life and AI Publishing Academy.
On the company’s current website, the top banner reads, “We help people with zero business background or tech experience create & publish books that sell*.” The asterisk leads to a disclaimer buried deep on the home page which reads in part, “Publishing.com makes no guarantee of any financial gain from the use of its products.”
In between the banner and the disclaimer, there are numerous effusive customer testimonials that include statements like, “These twins have really laid the path for anyone to publish and make $. Dummy proof and a subject matter expert is with you along your first publishing journey from start to CHA Ching!!!!”
Vox has previously called out Publishing.com and its users for creating a wave of “garbage books” clogging up the e-book marketplace, calling them, “partly AI, partly a get-rich-quick scheme, and entirely bad for confused consumers.”
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