When the cover doesn’t look like the player: AI, self-publishing and the problem with some women’s football biographies

Over the last few years a quiet pattern has emerged on large self-publish marketplaces: short, cheaply produced biographies of athletes (including women’s-football players) that carry odd-looking covers and shallow page counts. Many of these titles are clearly enabled by two revolutions: the massive growth in self-publishing platforms (chiefly Amazon KDP) and the ready availability of generative AI tools for text and images. That combination makes it cheap and fast to produce a book, but it also raises thorny questions for readers, athletes and the industry as a whole.

What’s happening 

Self-publishing is booming, with industry reports revealing millions of self-published titles and consistent year-on-year growth. As a result, more indie sports biographies are appearing every year.¹ However, both authors and journalists have noticed the rise of AI-generated clones and low-effort biographies on marketplaces - some of which are near-duplicates of existing books or feature covers that don’t resemble their subjects. There have even been reports of authors discovering AI versions of their own work on Amazon.² While platforms like Amazon KDP have updated their guidelines to require disclosure of AI-generated content, enforcement and quality control remain inconsistent across the industry.

Why this shows up in women’s-football bios

Three practical factors help explain this trend. First, there is both strong demand and available niches: readers and collectors want more books about women’s sports, but mainstream publishers remain selective, leaving these niches open for indie authors. Second, low-cost production has become achievable thanks to AI image generators and text-assist tools, which significantly cut design and drafting expenses, enabling anyone to publish a short biography without needing a photographer, artist, or ghostwriter.³ Third, the scale of platforms means these marketplaces can quickly connect such titles with readers, even when editorial quality is low.

Pros and cons of the self-publishing + AI combination

Pros

• Greater representation for niche subjects. Self-publishing lets lesser-known players, local teams and regional histories get a printed record.

• Lower barriers for new authors. Journalists, fans and historians can publish work that would otherwise languish. AI tools can speed tasks like transcription or layout.

• Faster, cheaper production means more titles can be tested without large upfront investment.

Cons

• Variable quality and reliability. Short page counts and minimal sourcing often mean the work lacks fact-checking, interviews or original reporting. AI-generated text can hallucinate facts.

• Misleading covers and imagery. AI image tools can produce a “photo-like” portrait that does not depict the athlete: misleading for readers who expect real photos or likeness rights.

• Market clutter and discoverability problems. A flood of low-quality titles can drown well-researched work and make it harder for readers to find reliable biographies.¹

Legal and ethical issues

Several legal questions intersect with AI use in publications:

Copyright and training data

Generative-AI vendors are the subject of multiple lawsuits over whether their models infringed copyright by training on scraped images and texts. Major cases (e.g., Getty Images v. Stability AI and related litigation) are shaping how courts view the legality of training data and outputs. That litigation matters because it may affect whether AI-generated covers or illustrations can be treated as “clean” from a copyright perspective.⁴

Right of publicity and likeness

Using an athlete’s image (or a realistic AI-generated lookalike) can raise right-of-publicity or personality rights issues in many jurisdictions. Even if an image is “AI generated,” if it’s recognisably based on a living person, the subject or their representatives may have a claim. Rights vary by country and state; authors/publishers should clear likeness or use licensed photos. 

False endorsement and defamation

Biographies that invent quotes, events or endorsements can create libel or false-light claims. AI hallucinations that attribute false factual claims to living individuals are risky.

Platform policy and disclosure

Amazon’s KDP requires disclosure of AI-generated content at upload and has content rules, but at time of writing, authors are not required (per KDP text) to label AI-assisted content beyond that disclosure, and enforcement has been uneven. The policy evolution is active and will likely tighten.⁵

Disclaimer: the above is a summary of public reporting and policy; it’s not legal advice. If you’re an author or athlete with a concrete concern, consult a qualified lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction.

How to judge reliability when considering a purchase

If you’re curious about the quality or origin of a particular book, here are some suggestions that might help you get a better sense of whether it’s more likely to be a quick or AI-assisted production:

1. Page count vs promises. A 30–40 page “biography” should be treated skeptically unless it’s explicitly a pamphlet with primary sources noted.

2. Look inside / sample pages. Check the sample for citations, dates, interview material and consistent prose. AI text often has repetitive phrasing, generic filler, or odd factual slips.

3. Publisher / imprint. Established presses and reputable indie imprints are likelier to do fact-checking than anonymous self-publishers. Verify the ISBN and publisher details.

4. Author credentials and contact info. Are they reachable? Do they list sources or acknowledgements?

5. Cover checking. If a cover claims to be a photo but looks generative (odd eyes, smoothing, hands/jersey artifacts), treat it with caution.

6. Reviews and community chatter. Authors and fans often flag AI clones or suspicious titles on forums and social media.

How this trend might change

As marketplaces refine their AI-disclosure rules and enforcement, stricter platform policies and labelling are expected, especially as litigation and regulatory scrutiny increase. Amazon has already updated its guidelines to require AI disclosure. Over time, legal clarity will emerge as high-profile cases around training data and likeness rights set precedents that could either limit reckless AI use or push platforms to take stronger action. Meanwhile, better tools for detecting and verifying AI-generated content will develop, improving image and text provenance services to assist both platforms and readers. This is likely to create a divided market: one segment featuring high-quality, well-researched sports histories and authorized biographies, and another dominated by low-cost, AI-amplified content, making curation more important than ever.

What this means for readers and for women’s-football heritage

• For readers: be cautious and check sourcing. If you want trustworthy histories and player portraits, prioritise books from reputable publishers, or look for author interviews and primary sources.

• For players and clubs: monitor marketplaces for unauthorised titles or misleading uses of likeness. Consider proactive approaches - authorised biographies, archived oral histories, and licensing photographs.

• For researchers and historians: preserve verified material in trusted archives; crowd-curated lists (with verification badges) could help offset marketplace noise.

Final thought

Self-publishing and AI tools have enormous democratizing potential for documenting women's football, but they also make it easy to publish shallow or misleading titles at scale. For curators, historians and fans, the sensible response is not to ban self-publishing, but to raise standards of verification, amplify trustworthy work, and push platforms and law to provide clearer rules and better enforcement.

References

1. Albanese, Andrew, and Jim Milliot. “Self-Publishing’s Output and Influence Continue to Grow.” Publishers Weekly, 8 Nov. 2024, www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/96468-self-publishing-s-output-and-infuence-continue-to-grow.html.

2. Tapper, James. “Authors Shocked to Find AI Ripoffs of Their Books Being Sold on Amazon.” The Guardian, 30 Sept. 2023, www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/sep/30/authors-shocked-to-find-ai-ripoffs-of-their-books-being-sold-on-amazon.

3. Hudoba, George. “The Permanent Impact of AI on Book Cover Design.” Self-Publishing Review, 5 Feb. 2025, www.selfpublishingreview.com/2025/02/the-permanent-impact-of-ai-on-book-cover-design/.

4. Dargan, Kate L. “Getty Images vs. Stability AI: The Landmark Copyright Battle Shaping the Future of Generative AI.” Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP, 20 June 2025, https://frblaw.com/getty-images-vs-stability-ai-the-landmark-copyright-battle-shaping-the-future-of-generative-ai/.

5. Amazon. Content Guidelines. Kindle Direct Publishing, 2025, https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200672390.