Hachette Book Group has withdrawn the horror novel Shy Girl by Mia Ballard after online speculation that artificial intelligence was heavily used in its writing. The UK edition, published in November 2025, will be discontinued, and the US release under the Orbit imprint has been cancelled.
The decision, first reported by the New York Times, follows weeks of debate on platforms such as Goodreads and Reddit, where readers questioned whether sections of the text possessed hallmarks of AI-generated prose. A YouTube video titled “I’m pretty sure this book is ai slop” gained over 1.2 million views.
Ballard denied personally using AI, telling the New York Times that an acquaintance hired to work on an earlier self-published version had incorporated AI tools. She added: “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.”
Originally self-published in February 2025, Shy Girl had nearly 5,000 Goodreads ratings (average 3.51 stars) and sold approximately 1,800 print copies in the UK, according to NielsenIQ BookData. Hachette stated it remains “committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling.”
The episode underscores the growing challenge publishers face regarding AI. Last week, the Society of Authors introduced a logo to distinguish human-authored books, following a similar initiative by the US Authors Guild in early 2025.
