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Shy Girl Novel Is Pulled From Publishing Because It Was Written By AI
Image courtesy of Hachette // Illustration by Kate Walker
The controversy surrounding an allegedly AI-written horror novel called Shy Girl is prompting a reckoning in the publishing industry.
The Generative Picture: As AI use has permeated nearly every aspect of society, self-published books have skyrocketed. Book industry insights firm Bowker found that 3.5 million self-published titles were released last year, up from 2.5 million the year before (compared with 642,000 from traditional publishers).
Behind The Pages: Mia Ballard’s Shy Girl, self-published in February 2025 and released in the UK by Hachette that fall, was pretty bold in its use of AI, according to The NYT.
Readers had been speculating for months that the novel was AI-written, citing “nonsensical metaphors and odd, repetitive phrasing.”
Max Spero, founder of the AI detection program Pangram, tested the book and found that 78% appears to be AI-generated.
The NYT conducted its own analysis using several detection tools, flagging common AI tells such as “gaps in logic, excessive use of melodramatic adjectives, and an overreliance on the rule of three.”
Ballard, who has little social media presence, did little to quell the accusations when she told The NYT that “an acquaintance she hired to edit the self-published version of the novel had used AI.”
Last Chapter: As backlash intensified, Hachette announced it would no longer print the novel in the UK and scrapped plans to release it in the US through its Orbit imprint. It may be the most high-profile book cancellation tied to AI use — but it’s not the first. Two other publishers, speaking anonymously, told The NYT they’ve also encountered authors quietly using AI in their work.
Hachette — along with every major publisher The NYT contacted — requires submissions to be “original,” largely for copyright reasons. The problem? “Original” is a vague standard, one that leaves room for interpretation and potential abuse. And if Shy Girl managed to pass through multiple discerning editors, it raises a tougher question: how can publishers police undisclosed AI use at all?
Next Novel: With a study out of Stony Brook University finding that 20% of more than 14,000 self-published novels on Amazon are “substantially” written by AI, we may be entering the literary slop era. Prepare for editing jobs to increasingly require an understanding of the top AI models.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.