The novel was pulled after detection software suggested it was 78% machine-made
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One of the world’s largest publishing houses has become the first to withdraw a novel from British shelves amid allegations that it was largely written using artificial intelligence.
Hachette Book Group acquired the rights to Shy Girl, by Mia Ballard, after the self-published horror title climbed up Amazon’s sales charts following its release in February last year.
At the time, the publisher said it had worked with Ballard to “refine her brilliant novel”, describing the book as a “gory horror and razor-sharp revenge thriller”.
However, the “femgore revenge novel” is now being pulled from sale after claims that much of the text was produced by AI.
Ballard — an American poet and fiction writer who lives in northern California – has denied writing the novel using artificial intelligence, claiming that an acquaintance she hired to edit the original manuscript may have used the technology without her knowledge.
On Friday, Hachette confirmed the book would be discontinued in the UK after being published in November 2025, and its US launch date has been cancelled – adding it remained “committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling”.
The novel has sold just under 1,900 print copies in the UK, according to NielsenIQ BookData.
Questions about Shy Girl first emerged earlier this year in online forums, where readers debated whether sections of the prose showed signs of AI authorship.
Max Spero, founder of the AI-detection tool Pangram, later analysed the full text and claimed on social media that it appeared to be “78 per cent AI-generated”.
Originally self-published in February 2025, the novel has accumulated nearly 5,000 ratings on Goodreads, with an average score of 3.5 stars
The New York Times quoted Ballard saying “This controversy has changed my life in many ways and my mental health is at an all-time low, and my name is ruined for something I didn’t even personally do."
AI technology is widely thought to be contributing to the rapid growth in self-publishing, with the number of titles released independently rising to around 3.5 million last year.
It comes after thousands of authors including Richard Osman and Philippa Gregory published an "empty book" in protest against AI forms ripping their work without permission.
The novel, titled 'Don’t Steal This Book,' was distributed to those attending the London book fair earlier this month.
Ballard's self-published debut, Sugar, was released in 2024.