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Hachette Book Group has withdrawn a horror novel after allegations circulated online that its author relied heavily on artificial intelligence. The book is to be discontinued in the UK after being published in November 2025, and its US launch date has been cancelled.
The book, Shy Girl by Mia Ballard, had been scheduled for release in the US this spring under Hachette’s Orbit imprint. However, the publisher confirmed it had halted publication after an internal review. The title has also been removed from online retailers including Amazon, and will no longer be distributed in the UK.
The decision was first reported by the New York Times and comes after weeks of online speculation about the novel’s origins, during which readers on platforms such as Goodreads and Reddit had questioned whether sections of the text bore hallmarks of AI-generated prose.
The book had sold approximately 1,800 print copies in the UK, according to NielsenIQ BookData.
In a statement to the New York Times, the publisher said: “Hachette remains committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling.”
Ballard has denied personally using AI to write the novel. In comments to the New York Times, she said an acquaintance she had hired to work on an earlier self-published version incorporated AI tools.
“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,” she wrote in an email to the newspaper.
Originally self-published in February 2025, Shy Girl has almost 5,000 ratings on Goodreads with an average score of 3.51 stars.
However, questions began to be raised in early 2026 as social media users dissected passages from the novel. “I am quite certain that this was written by ChatGPT,” one Goodreads review says.
A widely shared Reddit thread drew hundreds of comments, with many alleging that the prose resembled output from AI tools. A YouTube video posted in January, titled “I’m pretty sure this book is ai slop”, amassed more than 1.2m views.
An online blurb of the book reads: “Lonely, broke and depressed with a serious case of OCD, Gia finds herself at a crossroads when her financial troubles lead her to Nathan, a mysterious and affluent man she encounters on a sugar daddy website. Desperate for a solution, Gia is intrigued by Nathan’s unconventional offer: in exchange for living as his devoted pet, all her debts will be erased.”
The episode highlights the growing challenge publishers face when it comes to AI. Last week, the Society of Authors introduced a logo aimed at distinguishing human-authored books from AI-generated content.
The scheme, the first of its kind from a UK trade association, enables authors to register their works and display the logo on their books. It follows a similar initiative launched by the US Authors Guild in early 2025.
The Guardian has contacted Ballard for comment.
