Black author vows to fight back after he loses $2 million publishing deal due to AI accusations

Jerry Falade, who had 14 different publishing houses bidding for his ‘Call Me, I’ll Hide The Body’ novel, is now on the defensive.

An author who lost a seven-figure book deal over accusations that he used AI to write his debut novel is fighting back, denying the claims, as what was once viewed as a hallmark for a young writer has become a source of controversy.

In a series of Instagram posts, Jerry Falade stated he was “Definitely innocent!!!” while adding, “They CAN’T and WON’T stop this Black boy’s light from shining.”

The aspiring author had written “Call Me, I’ll Hide The Body,” a crime novel that immediately garnered attention and sparked a bidding war among some of the biggest names in book publishing. More than 14 publishers bid on the novel before Macmillan’s Minotaur imprint reportedly acquired the U.S. rights, while HarperCollins secured the U.K. rights. In total, the publishing deal for Falade’s debut book and a follow-up was around $2 million.

However, Falade’s literary agent stepped in, stating that he could no longer support the book and informing both publishing houses of his concerns about the use of AI in its writing. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Falade informed the outlet that he did use AI, but only during the research phase of the novel, but not for the actual manuscript. He stated he relied on an open-source AI tool to answer research questions tied to the book’s subject matter, including forensic details and opted for a locally run model because it does not retain extensive search histories.

“If you’re a Person of Color and you secure a lucrative deal in history, someone, somewhere, will accuse you of using AI,” Falade wrote on Instagram.

The writer, who earned his undergraduate degree in Nigeria, said he also used the open-source model because he didn’t want his search history to raise flags, including queries on “how to dissolve a body.” In his Instagram Stories post, he highlighted professors who read his work as early as 2021 and raved about it, long before ChatGPT and other open-source models became popular.

In the fallout from the “Call Me, I’ll Bury The Body” controversy, Falade was dropped by his literary agent, had deals paused and press releases were issued related to the controversy. He’s also suggested that the book went through multiple editors at different publishing houses, who didn’t raise suspicion that he used AI.

“Three Black authors received major publishing deals this year, and all three later had deals canceled or disrupted following suspicions about AI,” Falade told The Guardian. “There seems to be a troubling assumption that when a Black writer produces work that attracts significant attention, the work could not possibly be their own. Meanwhile, there are popular white writers who have publicly mentioned using AI for their writing processes and they’re still doing fine.”

One of those authors, Mia Ballard, had her career ruined after her horror novel “Shy Girl” was canceled by publisher Hatchette in March over accusations that she used AI to write it. Another, HM Wolfe, author of the viral novel “Daggermouth,” has also denied accusations that AI was used to create the popular book.

Falade has since retained an attorney and despite the news about “Call Me, I’ll Hide The Body” being canceled, he was still eager to write.

“Trust me, when this book is finally released, the bidding war we saw on Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body will be child’s play compared to this,” he said.