Now that we have AI, writing doesn't signal proof of work like it used to. There's long been a genre of book that's really just a glorified business card. The authors would hand out these books, and people politely accepted them, and nobody expected a single page to be read. In exchange, those authors received steep speaking and consulting fees. I can't tell you how many writers have told me how their fees skyrocketed after they published their book. Most of them were hired simply because they published a book, and not necessarily because that book was any good. This game still exists, but everybody's a little more skeptical of it now because it's so much easier to hack the system.