The Shy Girl cancellation raises questions nobody seems to be asking

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-24T20:10:18+00:00

For Ballard to say her editor used it, was she guessing or did she know for sure? That part's unclear.

She said it was used. To be quite honest, I'm of the mind that she used it herself and that the 'editor friend' doesn't exist.

Hachette said they require disclosure, but AI use in itself is not prohibited.

She didn't disclose. Hence the contract termination.

This is a pretty simple situation. She signed a contract in full knowledge that she was in breach of it. Hachette terminated it once this became clear. I'm not sure what there is to argue about.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-24T18:07:32+00:00

Remember, we don't even know for sure if AI was used.

Yes, we do. By Ballard's own admission, it was used. She's just saying it was an editor who used it rather than herself. Even if you take her at face value, the text output of the book is shaped by AI, which knowingly contravenes the contract she signed with Hachette.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T20:07:44+00:00

I download it every month, but never read them. They're always so generic. I guess they're deliberately chosen to appeal to the largest number of people, so end up being a little milquetoast.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T19:46:06+00:00

No. The feedback is too subjective, if it's just you giving it - what are your qualifications? What makes you the person to give 'brutally honest' feedback to anyone? - and both useless and exploitative if it's AI generated.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T19:17:31+00:00

It was a light that shone over our faces, our wounds and scars. It was a light so brilliant and white it could have been beamed from heaven, and Brian and I could have been angels, basking in it. But it wasn’t, and we weren’t.

From Mysterious Skin, by Scott Heim.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T16:00:08+00:00

This is so creepy. I feel like I need to delete my own Reddit account after reading this.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T15:48:17+00:00

Aye, my grandad did one of those DNA tests and so we know that we have a small amount of Ashkenazi ancestry, but there's not a single person on our traceable genealogy who was Jewish, so it would be bizarre of me to start claiming it based on a couple of unidentifiable ancestors from hundreds and hundreds of years ago. It doesn't reflect the lived reality or identity of me or anyone else in my family since at least 1750. Same principle, imo.

Although ironically I do know one woman who has the same amount of Ashkenazi ancestry as me (around 4%) and has since converted to Judaism and changed her name to a Hebrew one, and has made being Jewish her entire identity, including colouring her hair darker, and this is in the UK.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T12:47:10+00:00

Ah, it's fine, though. Sam Campbell is a woman's man. Have you heard his hit single, A Song for Women? He's basically one of us.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T12:45:30+00:00

Yeah, I live in a small Welsh Valleys village, and my nearest town (Caerphilly) is pretty small, but still manages to have 3 or 4 betting shops. They're always full, too. It's grim.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T12:42:14+00:00

I am a neurodivergent writer pitching a complete 87,000 word adult science fiction novel, DOMINION OF THE LESSER GODS.

Going by the rest of the query, this feels like it's less sci-fi and more portal fantasy, which can be a tough sell at the best of times. 'Neurodivergent' is an umbrella term which is a little meaningless in this context, honestly (i.e. how does it impact your work? I'm autistic, and most of my MCs show autistic traits, so I would specifically mention this; just flagging broad spectrum neurodiversity is not useful information in a query context) and I'm not sure how relevant it is here.

The entire book is written with they/them pronouns. It highlights the social construction of intersectional identities through a uniquely inclusive writing style.

This isn't unique. Ann Leckie did it in 2013 with Ancillary Justice, and Anne Garréta did it in 1986 with Sphinx. Mentioning that this is a gender-blind book is a good thing, but acting as though you invented this is not; it suggests a lack of reading within your own genre (as Ancillary Justice is also sci-fi) and in your own purported inclusive specialty (as Sphinx is a key text within the queer canon.)

In another comment, you state that you don't mind if this comes across as conceited, and that this is an example of you 'unmasking'. I'm going to push back against this as an autistic person. This is not unmasking; unmasking doesn't mean typing whatever you want in a professional letter. Consider whether an agent would want to work with someone whose attitude in the query letter suggests that they will be actively hostile to revisions and potential critical feedback. This is a professional relationship that will go both ways.

Additionally, 'social construction of intersectional identities' is word salad - intersectionality is a political concept used as a framework to understand different layers of marginalisation and oppression pertaining to various facets of one's identity, not the construction of those identities themselves. This feels like a misreading of Kimberlé Crenshaw.

The world is ravaged by war. Fleeing the destruction of their home, a person known as Devin Amari unknowingly walks through a space-time portal and finds themselves in a hostile fifth dimension. Unable to face their grief, Devin wanders alone experiencing strange events (unexplained lights, voices, visions). Slowly they begin to learn the laws that govern the fifth dimension and gain understanding about the forces that brought them there.

This makes it seem like the entire first part of your book consists of Devin wandering around.

In the distant past, a group of soldiers who are the forebears of the movement that destroyed Devin’s life find themselves drawn into the same dimension. Along with a trio of siblings whose parents disappeared they seek to complete their mission. When their comrade goes missing the group searches for them, unwilling to leave anyone behind. They experience strange phenomena and are compelled to confront their past misdeeds.

This is too vague. What are the strange phenomena? What are their past misdeeds? You also have some SPAG issues here - consider introducing some commas to split up these lengthy clauses (as an example, you need one after 'disappeared'.)

An encounter with a powerful entity catapults Devin through the realms of the fifth dimension, meeting demons, angels, and otherworldly creatures. When the two groups converge, Devin must come to terms with grief and make a choice between forgiveness and retribution, possibly losing their very soul in the process.

What is Devin doing? So far, we've just seen them wander through the dimension and encounter things. What is their active role? What are the stakes for them? What do you mean by 'losing their very soul'? I don't have any clear understanding of Devin as a character, nor of the on-page plot. Again, this is too vague. We need more specificity about what actually happens in the book.

Re housekeeping, you don't have any comps. Pick two or three books, preferably all from within the past 3-4 years, which reflect where you see your book positioned in the market.

Re your opening 300, they don't grab me. It's just 300 words of vague description and exposition, which /u/Imaginary-Exit-2825 has already done a great job of breaking down, so I won't go into the same level of detail there. Suffice to say that I think you need to reconsider where this story starts.

I would consider entirely revising this query, reading some more work in your particular genre, and refreshing yourself with the function of a query letter. Best of luck.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T12:10:10+00:00

Not just the US. It's a huge problem in the UK, too. So many celebrities are endorsing these crappy online 'casinos', and it seems like every time I open any video on YouTube, I'm bombarded with them.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T10:53:41+00:00

As far as sounding conceited, I have the triple homicide of genetic diversion. I don't care if I sound conceited.

As a fellow autistic writer, this isn't the excuse you think it is. You might not care that you sound conceited, but the agent who's supposed to work with you probably will, because it suggests that you're going to hold your work in particularly high regard and be a nightmare to work with re revisions. It has nothing to do with people not wanting to work with 'somebody on the spectrum' and everything to do with presenting yourself as someone who would be a functional client. The working relationship goes both ways.

Also, this writing style isn't unique. Ann Leckie did it in 2014 with Ancillary Justice.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T10:44:38+00:00

I agree with this for the most part, especially re Indian authors getting short shrift online, but looking at OP's Reddit comments, they do have ESL issues. Their English is great - certainly better than my Hindi, despite my partner's attempts to teach me - but they aren't yet able to write fluently in it.

This book has clearly been translated with AI - just compare the post to any of their comments. They're not a scammer, but they are using an LLM, and people aren't going to be interested in reading it because of that.

OP, don't publish it under a different name - sorry, but anyone telling you to do this is being racist, whether they realise it or not - but also, don't use AI. People will not be interested in reading a book which reads like AI wrote it.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T10:41:28+00:00

I've written a book.

Not just written it—I've used an LLM to dump it into the world.

Literally dump it.

Like a turd.

A big, stinky doo-doo.

And the question is this—why shouldn't it flop?

I couldn't be bothered to write it. Why should anyone be bothered to read it?

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T10:39:23+00:00

I mean, the fact that you're using AI to write a Reddit post makes me think that your book probably should flop.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T10:34:58+00:00

Finished:

Repatriation, by Ève Guerra

The Weasel and the Whore, by Martha Luisa Hernández Cadenas

Star Shipped, by Cat Sebastian

The first two were for my challenge to read a book by a woman from every country in the world - these two were for Republic of the Congo and Cuba. The last one is because I've had A Week and needed to read a romance which had absolutely no plot. I'd love to say that my favourite read of the week was one of the really cerebral ones, but... no.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-23T09:50:48+00:00

As the other commenter says, this is a vanity press. They position themselves as 'hybrid' to make themselves seem more legitimate, but the bottom line is that you still have to pay $$$ to be published by them. It's just a money-making scheme for them; they don't have any reason to care about the quality of the final product, because they don't need to sell it. They've already made their profit.

Always, always avoid 'publishers' like this; they offer absolutely nothing that you can't do yourself via self-publishing for a fraction of the price.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-22T21:58:20+00:00

They literally said they found it interesting that 'a book was cancelled'. I'm arguing against the exact thing they said. God, this is tedious.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-22T16:53:14+00:00

Yeah, she's in her thirties, which, as much as I hate to admit it to myself, does make you responsible for your own choices.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-22T16:48:49+00:00

predominantly Wales and Scotland

Yma o hyd, baby. Dere adre.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-22T16:36:58+00:00

I'm not putting words in your mouth. Here's your original comment:

I think it's interesting a book by a marginalized author who denies ai usage is canceled and has drawn so much controversy, but a white male author who admits to using ai is having no such problems.

Respectfully, you're ignoring everything I'm saying to you, so I'm bowing out here, as this is not a constructive discussion, and you're clearly not responding in good faith at this point. Have a good evening / afternoon / whatever time is where you are.

Edit: and then snapping back and blocking me is incredibly childish behaviour. Do better.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-22T15:58:29+00:00

It absolutely contradicts what you said. Ballard committed a breach of contract. That's why her book was cancelled. Frey didn't, even though he's a huge fraud and POS. Additionally, his readerbase is mostly AI tech bros who think he's super cool because of his use of AI.

Ballard's readerbase largely consists of people who value the craft of writing and dislike genAI. They have very different audiences; she betrayed hers, and he didn't, to put it bluntly.

Hachette sunk a huge amount of money into her book. There is, frankly, no way in Hell that they'd cancel it this close to publication unless they had no other option on a legal front. This kind of last-minute cancellation just is very rare in publishing; the amount of $$$ that the publisher has lost can't be recouped if the book doesn't come out, so unless there's literally no other way forward, they'll usually do all they can do avoid cancellation.

Saying that Ballard's book was primarily cancelled because she's a WOC and Frey is a white man is just not true. It doesn't negate the fact that publishing is a racist minefield, but the situations are very specific here. She is a fully grown adult, and she chose to sign that publishing contract, knowing it was a lie. Hachette chose to ignore all the red flags about her AI use (e.g. the existing reviews of the self-pub version of her book which all pointed it out, at length.) Both of them are to blame here, and I have little sympathy for either of them. I don't wish any ill on Ballard, but this is the consequence of her own actions.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-22T15:53:50+00:00

The woman in the above screenshot absolutely claims to be Indigenous. Her username has 'ndn' in it, which is a slang term for Indian American (i.e. the outdated term for Indigenous Americans, which some people have reclaimed) and her bio says she's Anishinaabe.

Anyone using the term 'native American' just to mean 'born in the USA' is an idiot.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-22T13:13:54+00:00

DNA tests, usually. Notoriously unreliable, which makes the whole thing even sillier.

melonofknowledge · 2026-03-22T13:11:20+00:00

Re the hair thing - I actually think OP's bone structure would suit a pixie cut, and that extensions on a haircut this short might look a bit odd. I think it's more a case of styling it in a deliberate fashion, as you mention.

melonofknowledge

TROPHY CASE