Minnesota Author Wins Award After Leaving Traditional Press
Kate Laack's switch to independent publishing highlights growing concerns over AI training clauses in literary contracts.
Updated on Oct. 26, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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In April 2026, Minnesota author Kate Laack secured the Minnesota Author Project Award for her third self-published novel, By Any Other Name. Laack pivoted to independent publishing after concerns over AI usage in traditional book contracts.
Why it matters
Laack's transition from traditional to self-publishing highlights an emerging friction between independent authors and the integration of literary works into artificial intelligence training sets.
Laack manages her own print-on-demand workflow using IngramSpark after reclaiming rights to her two earlier titles. This move follows the discovery that her first novel, originally published in 2022, was included in a dataset for training artificial intelligence models.
The players
Kate Laack
A Pine Island, Minnesota author who self-publishes through IngramSpark after departing from traditional publishing.
IngramSpark
A print-on-demand and distribution platform used by independent authors to manage book production.
The details
Kate Laack independently manages her publishing operations, including developmental editing, line editing, and marketing. She uses manual proofreading with assistance from friends instead of automated software. Her shift to full creative control was driven by publishers requesting manuscript changes and the absence of safeguards against the use of her prose in AI training environments.
Timeline
2022: Laack's first novel was published.
2025: Laack's second novel was published.
April 2026: Laack published her third novel, By Any Other Name.
The Tech Race
Laack's decision mirrors the growing trend of authors opting out of traditional publishing to avoid proprietary AI data scraping. Her experience underscores a departure from standard contracts toward models that prioritize long-term intellectual property control.
Readers in Rochester and Zumbrota can find Laack's latest work, which she manages directly through her independent publishing workflow. By reclaiming her rights, she now maintains full control over how her intellectual property is distributed and protected.
The takeaway
Laack's career trajectory highlights why authors are increasingly scrutinizing publishing contracts for AI training clauses. Readers should watch for more independent authors reclaiming their back catalogs to bypass industry-standard data usage terms.
Further reading
Explore more developments in Artificial Intelligence as authors navigate shifting publication norms.
More information
Find updates on her writing and projects at the Kate Laack author website.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Rochester Post Bulletin.
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