A cautionary tale on the AI-authored novel

For weeks the book world has been buzzing after the New York Times broke the news that publisher Hachette Book Group cancelled the US release of Shy Girl by Mia Ballard, and withdrawn the UK edition after allegations that the author relied heavily on AI to write the book. “Hachette remains committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling,” a Hachette spokeswoman said. She added that Hachette requires all submissions to be original to the authors and asks authors to disclose to the company whether they are using AI during the writing process.
 
The Short Version of What Happened
The timeline of this story seems to be that the book was originally self-published and sold decently. There were accusations of AI use—and the author admitted to stealing a painting without credit for the self-pub cover—but the book was picked up by Hachette UK and  published in November of 2025. The book continued to receive accusations and criticisms that the book was poorly written and filled with errors.
 
It is unclear exactly how AI use was determined. The NYT says Hachette did so after “conducting a thorough and lengthy review of the text.” But some believe it was cancelled only after evidence was presented. The author seems to have basically confessed in a YouTube comment, although she blames it on a friend who edited the book and “changed a lot of the wording” and then claims she didn’t have time to do a final pass herself to check what was changed. She has since reiterated the claim that “an acquaintance she hired to edit the self-published version of the novel had used AI” and that her “name is ruined for something I didn’t even personally do.” She says she is pursuing legal action. 
 
(That in itself is a crime: It’s unbelievable to me that any author wouldn’t read their book before publication since you are responsible for edits you accept!)
 
Some people have asked why this book was canceled at all, even if it was AI-written or just slop. Lots of bad books are published, right? First, let me note that more than a few books have been published partially or entirely written by AI. But these books have all disclosed the fact both to the reader and to the publisher. AI use is not banned from publishing entirely but the responsible thing to do is to disclose its use beyond basic things like spellcheck or research. 
 
The published books that have used AI used them in thoughtful, artistic ways. Not to simply generate a book the author didn’t “have time” to write or even read before it was uploaded. What we’re talking about with this case is something closer to traditional copy and paste plagiarism than anything creative. 
 
The issue here seems to be that the author lied about it and signed a contract attesting to sole authorship. The reason to cancel this book is similar to the reason you cancel a traditionally plagiarized book. There are ethical reasons, sure, but also just plain business ones. It hurts your brand and reputation to publish slop —and those things still matter in publishing. Readers might barely notice what colophon is on a book’s spine, but authors care and publishers’ reputation affect how books are covered and sold. 
 
It Was a Matter of Time…
Everyone knew a scandal like this would hit sooner or later. I haven’t read it but the general opinion is that it’s pretty bad. But I have to give a point to the AI boosters here. This book got criticism and suspicions of AI use from readers…but also clearly some people bought it and enjoyed it. It sold 1,800 copies and tricked at least some readers.
 
Does this mean AI can write artistically now or compete with great or even just good authors? I wouldn’t go that far. The book seems bad. Sloppy. But we must acknowledge that lots of human slop sells too. Perhaps we can say that AI slop has achieved human slop levels.
 
What a world!
And in the meantime, happy reading,
Joni