Jerry Falade debut novel cancelled: Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body was withdrawn from sale after his agents said they could no longer verify how the manuscript evolved. The collapse ended a reported more than $2m path to publication and left the book’s 2028 release plan hanging in the same dispute over AI use.
June and the 14-way auction
In June, Marc Gerald first read the manuscript, and the book later drew a reported more than $2m offer from Minotaur in a 14-way auction. Sandy Hodgman of Hodgman Literary is said to have secured several six-figure bids in the UK. For publishers, that kind of bidding usually signals a debut that has cleared the hardest hurdle: a crowded market willing to pay up before a single copy ships.
Falade said he had written the book without using AI in the writing or editorial process. Marc Gerald described that explanation as “clear and credible,” and also called the manuscript “stunningly good, everyone fell in love with it. It’s a book that appeals to absolutely everyone.”
29 July and the agency split
After a meeting on 29 July, the agency decided to cut ties. Gerald said the firm needed to have total faith in the work, and that line matters here because the issue was not only whether AI appeared in a draft, but whether the team could still stand behind the manuscript’s full evolution.
Gerald also said he first read the book in June, and that an editor raised concerns halfway through the submissions process that the novel had signs of potential AI use. Europa Content opted against using AI-detection software, so the decision turned on the agency’s own reading of the manuscript and Falade’s account of how it was written.
Falade and the wider bias claim
After the agents’ email to publishers, the book was withdrawn from sale. Falade said the response reflected racial bias in publishing, adding: “Three Black authors received major publishing deals this year, and all three later had deals cancelled or disrupted following suspicions about AI. 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.”
He also said: “In my case, rumours began circulating and, within six hours, I had been dropped by my agency, deals were pa”. The unfinished line captures the speed of the collapse more sharply than any industry memo could. A debut that had been priced like a major property is now a case study in how quickly AI suspicion can shut down a sale, even after six-figure bidding and a seven-figure auction.
