When Hachette Book Group picked up Mia Ballard’s self-published novel last June, she likely felt she’d struck gold. She might now regret ever being noticed. Hachette has axed the US release of Ballard’s novel *Shy Girl* after claims that it was written using generative AI. The horror story, which was self-published in February 2025, got a traditional UK launch via Hachette’s Orbit imprint (science fiction and fantasy) in November. Following The New York Times’ revelation on Thursday of AI use in Shy Girl, Hachette scrapped the book’s planned spring US launch and took it off its website entirely. “Hachette remains committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling,” the publisher stated to the Times. Authors must inform Hachette if AI was involved in creating their work. Ballard has denied employing AI tools to write the book, attributing the seemingly AI-generated sections to an editor. “My name is ruined for something I didn’t even personally do,” Ballard wrote in an email to the New York Times on Thursday. Hachette UK canceled Shy Girl, marking the first instance in which a major publisher has publicly withdrawn an existing title over suspicions of AI-generated content. For months, online readers have voiced concerns about the book’s apparent AI usage. A detailed video analysis by YouTuber frankie’s shelf highlights linguistic patterns typical of AI writing in the novel. The video also highlights words in Shy Girl that appear with unusual frequency (“edge” 84 times and “sharp” 159 times), frequently used in abstract and nonsensical manners. In January, Max Spero, founder and CEO of Pangram, tested the Shy Girl text with his AI detection tool. He stated that the novel was 78% AI-generated. The publishing industry has been taken by surprise by AI’s rise. While AI-generated writing has already shown up in numerous self-published books, established publishers such as Hachette remain skeptical of the technology. Hachette representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
