Frequently asked questions

For over 50 years, SCBWI has encouraged and celebrated the creativity, dedication, and lived experiences of our members. This is a bedrock principle of our organization. Therefore, we are opposed to any use of text-prompted generative AI in writing, illustrating, translating, or other aspects of creating children’s books. Generative AI developers train their systems on human-made work, unethically using and copying this work without regard for copyright, credit, or compensation. Our position on AI goes beyond these immediate issues. While Generative AI is a burgeoning technology, we don’t believe it produces unique and meaningful creations. As a community, we craft and cherish transformative books brought to life through imagination and talent, human heart and soul. The power and joys of children’s literature originate from a creator’s inventiveness, talents, and hard-earned skills. We have a responsibility to young readers everywhere to make the immersive books they need and deserve. The stories and art we create have the power to change lives. We make books to share ourselves and inspire others. It is long, difficult, and immensely personal work, and it cannot be any other way. No technology can ever replace your labors, your vision, and your urge to create. Our community wants to see the world through your eyes, and hear your voice. Young people need books as singular and original as you.

GenAI continues to evolve and change, not only as technology, but also in how it has quickly become an everyday part of our lives. Today’s traditional publishing standard is not to encourage or include any GenAI created text, translated text, or illustrations in books, and we abide by that. Protecting the creativity, insights, and empathy that human creators bring to book creation for young readers is essential. SCBWI is dedicated to supporting our members as they create the books young readers will cherish for years to come. In light of that, we have revised and updated our GenAI policy as of September 2026. As GenAI evolves, we’ll keep a close eye on how it develops and will update the policy as needed. The following addenda apply to all members, whether you’re seeking traditional publication or choosing alternative publishing, including hybrid or self-publishing. We have given careful thought to these points and feel they will best protect the creativity and integrity of the work SCBWI members create. 1. Generative AI is not to be used to generate, rewrite, illustrate, or alter any portion of work, including but not limited to Awards, Grants, Scholarships, Draw This, the Member Bookstore, the illustrator gallery, BookStop, the portfolio showcases, pitching events, critiques, or consultations at any SCBWI global or regional events or conferences. 2. When submitting text or illustrations to any of the above, members must check the box on the submission form confirming that no GenAI was used in the creation of their text or images. We will not accept submissions without this declaration. 3. Members must remove any GenAI created content from the SCBWI website by December 31, 2026. This includes any such content in the member bookstore or the illustrator gallery. 4. SCBWI reserves the right to disqualify submissions or rescind awards if they are discovered to have been created with GenAI. 5. Finalists may be asked to provide evidence of the development of their submitted work, such as preliminary sketches, drafts, revision history, layered source files, or other process documentation. Failure to provide reasonable process evidence may result in disqualification. 6. A panel of Advisory Council members will review the process evidence on a case-by-case basis if the submission is believed to have been created with GenAI. SCBWI will not be using AI detectors to assist in this process.

Generative AI is a new reality that publishing can’t ignore. SCBWI has a responsibility to its members to learn about the technology and how it affects the organization. We want our policies to reflect what publishers want, which is human-created work. Also, GenAI trains itself on scraping copyrighted work of children’s book creators without consent or compensation. Our goal is to stay a trustworthy resource, and that means keeping our policies aligned with today’s publishing standards.

“‘Human Authored’ means that the text of the book was written by a human and not generated by AI, with the exception of minimal uses such as AI applications that check spelling and grammar or for research.” We find this Author’s Guild statement from its Human Authors Certification program is an excellent guide.

Yes, it does. Plotting, character building, and revising your work are core creative parts of writing a book. To give that over to GenAI shortchanges your ideas and your distinctive human touch.

If the story analyzers do not suggest actual text, then using them doesn't violate our policy. We suggest you check your exclusive member resource, the Essential Guide to Publishing for Children, which includes human freelance editors who can help you work through your challenges with feedback that’s nuanced like only a real person can give you.

We caution members against using GenAI for query letters or synopses when submitting to publishing professionals. Many publishers have their own rules against accepting materials created this way. If you submit your query or synopsis into GenAI, there’s the possibility that your work will be scraped. Also, submitting a synopsis to SCBWI that has been written or altered by GenAI is not permitted.

SCBWI exists to support the people who create books for young readers. Our policy states, “... [G]enerative AI developers train their systems on human-made work, unethically using and copying this work without regard for copyright, credit, or compensation.” That’s not how we believe the work of authors, illustrators, and translators should be treated, whether you're self-publishing or pursuing traditional publishing. We believe in your skills and talents, and our policies reflect that confidence.

SCBWI is a community of tens of thousands of wonderful children’s book creators, and we trust our members. We’re giving everyone the opportunity to voluntarily remove any GenAI created art from the gallery by December 31, 2026.

Member profiles aren’t specifically covered under our policy, though we still encourage you to stay away from using GenAI in this instance, too. Our policy focuses on words or illustrations created for books for young readers, along with submissions to SCBWI awards, grants, and more. You can find more detail in the full policy.