It's a well-established social norm (at least in the SF world) that money should always flow from publishers to writers, never the other way around.
And that norm worked 25 years ago, barely, when publishers of science fiction magazines had working business models thanks to paid subscribers, newsstand sales, library customers, and advertisers.
Now it's down to paid subscribers, of which there are few, and partnerships with online platforms, which are dwindling (he says Amazon recently discontinued a program that generated revenue for Clarkesworld). Something's got to give. He's dealing with it by shutting off the submissions pipeline, but this publication is truly at risk of going under, which would be a great loss to the SFF community.
Making AI side hustle scams pay for wasting his time is not an ethical lapse if legit authors pay nothing. If he's worried about international submissions or poor writers unable to afford a token fee, set up a scholarship funded by the scammers. An alternative if the pain continues is the publication going under or selling out in a far worse way.
And that norm worked 25 years ago, barely, when publishers of science fiction magazines had working business models thanks to paid subscribers, newsstand sales, library customers, and advertisers.
Now it's down to paid subscribers, of which there are few, and partnerships with online platforms, which are dwindling (he says Amazon recently discontinued a program that generated revenue for Clarkesworld). Something's got to give. He's dealing with it by shutting off the submissions pipeline, but this publication is truly at risk of going under, which would be a great loss to the SFF community.
Making AI side hustle scams pay for wasting his time is not an ethical lapse if legit authors pay nothing. If he's worried about international submissions or poor writers unable to afford a token fee, set up a scholarship funded by the scammers. An alternative if the pain continues is the publication going under or selling out in a far worse way.