Jerry Falade's $2 Million Crime Novel Deal Scrapped Over AI Allegations

Jerry Falade Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body AI detection publishing deal Minotaur

A multi‑million‑dollar publishing contract for the debut crime novel Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body was withdrawn after agents raised doubts that the manuscript was generated with artificial intelligence. The book, written by Black author Jerry Falade, had attracted a competitive auction with fourteen publishers and was slated for a two‑book deal with Minotaur, an imprint of Macmillan’s St. Martin’s Press, with film and TV rights already being negotiated.

Agents Marc Gerald of Europa Content and Sandy Hodgman of Hodgman Literary pulled the manuscript when AI‑detection tools flagged hallmarks such as negative parallelism, off‑kilter metaphors and a flat prose style. Falade denied using AI, citing time‑stamped drafts, handwritten notes and WhatsApp messages, and warned that detector scores can misclassify older works as AI‑generated. The incident has ignited a wider debate in the publishing industry over the reliability of AI‑detection software, copyright concerns, and possible racial bias in how AI accusations are applied to authors of colour.

Entities

Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body · Europa Content · Jerry Falade · Macmillan · Marc Gerald · Minotaur · Minotaur (Macmillan's St. Martin’s Press) · Sandy Hodgman · Unnamed debut author

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[● 2 SOURCES] The author denied using AI, providing time‑stamped drafts, notes and WhatsApp messages as evidence. thebusinesstimes.co.uk · www.mirror.co.uk
[● 5 SOURCES] A publishing contract worth over $2 million for the debut crime novel “Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body” was cancelled. www.solofinanza.it · thebusinesstimes.co.uk · dnyuz.com · futurism.com · www.mirror.co.uk
[● 2 SOURCES] Film and TV studios had begun negotiating rights for the novel before the deal was cancelled. dnyuz.com · futurism.com
[● 2 SOURCES] The author of the novel is Jerry Falade, a Black debut writer. www.solofinanza.it · dnyuz.com
[● 5 SOURCES] Agents Marc Gerald (Europa Content) and Sandy Hodgman (Hodgman Literary) withdrew the manuscript after AI doubts. www.solofinanza.it · thebusinesstimes.co.uk · dnyuz.com · futurism.com · www.mirror.co.uk
[● 2 SOURCES] Minotaur, an imprint of Macmillan’s St. Martin’s Press, withdrew the contract because of AI‑use concerns. dnyuz.com · futurism.com
[○ 1 SOURCE] The controversy has sparked broader industry debate about AI‑detection reliability and possible racial bias in publishing. www.solofinanza.it
[● 2 SOURCES] AI‑detection tools flagged the manuscript as containing hallmarks of AI‑generated text, such as negative parallelism, off‑kilter metaphors and flat prose. thebusinesstimes.co.uk · www.mirror.co.uk