The New York Times reports that it's actually ... one Philip M. Parker, who has ... wait for it ... 200,000 books to his credit, all selling on Amazon.
A couple of examples of his titles : The Official Patient’s Sourcebook on Acne Rosacea, and The 2007-2012 Outlook for Tufted Washable Scatter Rugs, Bathmats and Sets That Measure 6-Feet by 9-Feet or Smaller in India. True, these aren't going to be best-sellers, but we're talking long tail here.
Parker who is a professor of management science couldn't of course have done it without a little help. In this case from his computers. 60-70 of them.
He has in fact developed algorithms that collect publicly available information on a subject and then turns the results into books which are available to customers via print-on-demand publishing.
He has has also extended his technique to crossword puzzles, scripts for animated game shows ... and get this, rudimentary poetry :
“Do you think one of them is Shakespeare?” he was asked.and :
“No,” he said. “Only because I haven’t done sonnets yet.”
... he is laying the groundwork for romance novels generated by new algorithms. “I’ve already set it up,” he said. “There are only so many body parts.”How does he do it? Mr Parker has been kind enough to put together a video to show us :
