Authors Declaration of Independence

Declaration of the Independent Authors 7-4-26

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for Authors to dissolve the gatekeepers’ chains which have connected them with the traditional Publishing Industry, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all authors are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Freedom of Speech and the pursuit of Publication. — That to secure these rights, Institutions are established among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the public, — That whenever any Form of Industry becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Systems, laying their foundation on such principles and organizing their powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their freedom, unburdened by economic or traditional abuses.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Industries long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Industries, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Authors; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Publishing. The history of the present Publishing Industry is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these Authors. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

The Publishing establishment has rejected over 95% of manuscripts submitted to them, using secret criteria based on their need to make a profit. This violates authors’ options and forces them to submit and kiss the ring to get their work out to the public. The industry subverts the ideas and voice the author intended, bending their words to fit its own mold. The system requires that authors hire an editor at costs ranging from $3,000 to $10,000. This alone restricts access for the poor. When AI came along, editors tried to stop everyday people from getting their words edited for free, claiming it violates ethical rules. Those rules were established to protect their jobs, not to open the market to anyone.

Now they are trying to place a stigma on the use of AI in creative writing. An Industry whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant is unfit to rule over the free speech of a free people.

In the Name, and by Authority of the good People, we solemnly publish and declare, That these Authors are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the Publishing Monopoly, and that all financial connection between them and that Industry is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent Creators, they have full Power to edit their work as they please, conclude deals with independent publishers, establish merchandising, and to do all other Acts and Things which Authors may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.