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July 30, 2026By Erin Somers

Seven-Figure Book Deal Cancelled Over AI Suspicions Raises Questions About AI Guardrails

July 30, 2026By Erin Somers

A debut thriller won by Minotaur in a seven-figure, two-book deal after a reported 14-way auction was withdrawn by its agents this week for suspected use of AI. The novel, whose title and author PL is withholding for the author’s privacy, sold for an alleged $2.5 million or thereabouts. But rumors surfaced quickly from people who had read the manuscript that the book contained many of the hallmarks of AI, including negative parallelism, off-kilter metaphors, and a flat prose style. On Wednesday, the author’s co-agents Marc Gerald and Ashley Coleman at Europa Content withdrew the book, after questioning the author […]

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Filed Under: AI

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