The way that books are selected for publication has remained basically the same for years: editors read over a manuscript and decide if they think it has potential and is a good fit. But that could be changing: The publishing platform Inkitt has teamed up with Tor to release the first book picked by an algorithm. Which could be the beginning of the end of the old-school "actually reading the manuscript" method.
Inkitt, which describes itself as "The Hipster's Library," is a platform that allows users to read books that haven't been published yet — or to "fall in love with novels before they go mainstream." And using an algorithm that analyzes reading patterns on the site, they've identified what they think is the world's next bestselling young adult novel: Bright Star by Emily Swan. The algorithm identifies it as "highly-addictive" and publisher Tor apparently agrees because they've agreed to publish the novel.