Dutch publisher floods market with 2,000 undisclosed AI books
A company in Zuid-Holland has produced more than 2,000 non-fiction books using artificial intelligence, releasing about 10 titles daily since mid-2025. Most major Dutch online bookstores have not disclosed that the works are AI-generated, according to the Auteursbond authors' union.
Andries B.V., based in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, uses print-on-demand production with no inventory. The books sell for 16.95 euros on platforms including Bol.com, Libris, Bruna, Boekenwereld, AthenaeumScheltema, and Van der Velde. Only Bol.com clearly labels them "AI-gegenereerd." Shoppers on other sites receive no information about their origins.
Scale described as unprecedented
Noor van der Heijden from the Auteursbond called the scale alarming. "I know of a few providers who have made dozens of AI books, but one producer of thousands of those books-that is unprecedented," she said. "And alarming for the consumer, who does not know what he is buying."
Van der Heijden raised a second concern: the training data. "The AI models are trained with illegally obtained, copyrighted material. The AI bookmaker is now competing with the robbed writers, having stolen their texts."
How the books are made
Andries Herremans, identified by the Chamber of Commerce as the company's operator, confirmed the books are AI-made. He said AI selects the subjects-typically niche topics that traditional publishers would avoid.
Titles follow patterns like "Alles over …" and cover subjects including dog breeds, cities, hobbies, and philosophical movements. One recent release: "Hoe schrij ik een boek," offering writing advice.
Herremans described the production process: "A team of different AI models works on it - a topic generator, writer, editor, designer, reviewers. Each with their own task and specialty, whereby they check each other."
Humans oversee the process, he said, but "we do not have a human expert who looks along substantively per title." The content comes from "the general knowledge that the AI models have."
Retailers respond
Herremans said the company had informed bookstores about the AI involvement and that newer titles now include an AI mention inside the book.
After inquiries from Trouw, AthenaeumScheltema.nl labeled all Andries B.V. books as "AI-gegenereerd" within one hour. Audax, the parent company of Readshop and Bruna, said it would add the same label to its entire active assortment this week. De Slegte added supplementary text to the titles immediately.
Van der Heijden said the Auteursbond plans to address all platforms. "The platforms should at least provide clear information: this book is made by AI."
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