Authors slammed after AI prompts show up in published books: “Opportunist hacks using a theft machine”

Several independent authors are facing intense backlash after readers discovered ChatGPT-generated responses left in their published books. Screenshots circulating on Bluesky and Reddit appear to show AI prompt replies embedded in final drafts from authors Lena McDonald, K.C. Crowne, and Rania Faris. Two of the accused authors responded to the allegations, according to social media posts, with one confirming that they used AI but only for “minor edits.” It’s not going over well.

Screenshots go viral: AI prompt replies are found in published books

On May 21, Bluesky account Indie Book Spotlight aimed that light squarely on Lena McDonald, K.C. Crowne, and Rania Faris. The account gathered screenshots of other social media posts showing AI prompt responses in their fantasy and romance novels.

“Thought for 13 seconds. Here’s an advanced version of your passage, making Elena more relatable and injecting additional humor while providing a brief, sexy description of Gregori,” reads one of Crowne’s romance books.

“This is already quite strong, but it can be tightened for a sharper and more striking delivery while maintaining the intensity and sardonic edge you’re looking for,” reads a passage in a Faris novel.

McDonald’s alleged ChatGPT slip-up involves prompting the LLM to imitate another author’s style, fueling theft accusations.

“I’ve rewritten the passage to align more with J. Bree’s style, which features more tension, gritty undertones, and raw emotional subtext beneath the supernatural elements,” it wrote.

Readers and fans review bomb and call for accountability

Readers and writers alike have come out in strong opposition to the use of AI models like ChatGPT, accusing those who turn to it of theft, laziness, and betrayal of the medium. The backlash against these three authors was swift and uncompromising.

“I’m so f**king tired, guys. If you don’t write, you’re not a writer. It’s that simple. Stop doing this to your readers, who PAY,” wrote Indie Book Spotlight in a Bluesky post. “Readers and authors deserve better than this.”

“Like here’s me obsessing over every f**king comma, every action tag, every facial expression,” wrote author @talesfrompurgatory.bsky.social‬. “Doing 38364939 editing passes. But these f**ks are just out here vomiting AI into the f**king market & MAKING MONEY.”

Over on Reddit, users focused their ire on McDonald as they accused her of stealing from J Bree, bestselling author of the Moral Fates series. They called for each other to review-bomb McDonald’s Darkhollow Academy books, bringing the second in the series (the one that allegedly contains the AI response) down to a 1.71 star average.

One Redditor, u/Scf9009, claimed that they confirmed the accusations, though the Daily Dot could not independently verify this.

“I got the book to provide secondary confirmation that this is real,” they wrote. “Which means everyone has now read part of the book, which qualifies for a Goodreads rating, and possibly even Amazon.”

“Which means we can all go add our 1-star reviews should we so choose.”

K.C. Crowne calls AI use “an honest mistake”

Prolific romance author K.C. Crowne appeared to respond in a Facebook post captured and added to a Reddit thread. The message claims to be from Crowne using the account of her personal assistant, Amanda.

In the comment, the writer admits to the use of AI, but denies it being a big deal.

“I’ve recently started the practice of using AI to make very minor edits,” the comment claimed. “To be honest, I’m still learning about how to best use AI to make my reader’s experience better but I can assure you that keeping my original voice strong is of utmost importance. I hope you can understand that enhancing the reader’s experience is my ultimate goal.”

The Redditor who posted the screenshot also accused Crowne of using AI for this response, writing, “TBH her reply feels AI generated too.”

In a statement to the Daily Dot, Crowne called the inclusion of part of the AI prompt response an “honest mistake” that she takes full responsibility for. She further maintains that although she uses the technology, it doesn’t compromise her voice or style.

“While I occasionally use AI tools to brainstorm or get past writer’s block, every story I publish is fundamentally my own—written by me, revised through multiple rounds of human editing, and crafted with the emotional depth my readers expect and deserve,” she wrote.

“I’ve been publishing successfully for years—long before AI tools became available—and more recently, I only use AI-assisted tools in ways that help me improve my craft while fully complying with the terms of service of publishing platforms, to the best of my ability.”

Rania Faris and the beta reader

According to writer Amy Perez, Faris blamed the inclusion of AI prompt evidence in one of her books on a beta reader. Faris denied this allegation on Threads.

“I am sincerely not blaming it on a beta reader, it is the truth,” she said.

Later, Perez claimed she got a message from Faris saying she would offer proof, but then decided otherwise.

“Rania came to my DM’s (I already knew her story) offered to show me the confession messages between her and the beta reader but then backtracked and didn’t send me them because she ‘anticipated my defensive perspective and knew she was right about me,” Perez wrote.

Faris did not publicly respond to the update.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Rania Faris for comment via TikTok. We were unable to find any contact information for an author named Lena McDonald, nor any information on who or how the book was published.

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