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Elizabeth Bear @matociquala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I have a new novella out in the 20th Anniversary edition of Clarkesworld this month! "The Job" is about a woman with serious self-image issues who takes a contract to survey an alien ocean for corporate exploitation, wearing the body of a bioengineered whale. clarkesworldmagazine.com/bear_10_26/

clarkesworldmagazine.com

The Job by Elizabeth Bear

Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

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Natalia Theodoridou @natalia-theodoridou.com · 02/10/2026

Clarkesworld gave me my first professional publication, and I couldn't be more thrilled to be in their 20yr anniversary issue. Happy birthday, @clarkesworldmagazine.com! And with one of my favourite stories, too: "Roams the Planet of Our Grief," where a trans boy talks to the dead. As one does.

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Management Lessons from The Lord of the Rings is out now @drfionamoore.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

More great news this week. I'm honoured to be part of @clarkesworldmagazine.com's 20th anniversary issue, with what is likely the last Morag and Seamus story. Find out how a Welsh holiday tradition comes in handy when there's ghosts in the abandoned mine... clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_10_26/

clarkesworldmagazine.com

The Mari Lwyd by Fiona Moore

Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 01/10/2026

Yeah, I know. Like being in the Twilight Zone. Submitted for your approval: The case of one Neil Clarke. Put on Earth before the machines took over, but has one implanted over his heart. In a moment, he will launch a magazine he was talked into starting, tempting the fates of the Twilight Zone.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 01/10/2026

It all started on this day. Thank you for a wonderful twenty years.

Text in the center reads: 20 Years Oct. 2006 - Oct. 2026, clarkesworldmagazine.com

(right) Cover art for issue 241 by Marcel Deneuve is "Labyrinths of Azarax" and features a blue and white mechanical eye in a circular opening looking at a small, white, glowing humanoid figure standing on a large pipe in the tunnel. Many pipes line the walls, all heading out to the main room. Pipes are yellow and gray. Room beyond is blue.

(left) Cover art for issue 1 by Tomasz Pietrzyk is "The Town of the Towers" and features a surreal town of yellowy white distorted towers with reddish orange roofs that overhang the towers and rise to a point. Mishapen dark windows and doors are scattered about on the buildings. Orange sky gives the entire piece a warm tone.

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Andy Dudak @andydudak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Thrilled to be part of the 20th anniversary issue and in such good company. Check out Shi Heiyao's 'How Does One Person Kill A Mountain?'...

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Louis Inglis Hall @louisinglishall.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Very very (very) proud to have a story in Clarkesworld’s 20th anniversary issue! ‘Five Bottles’ is a story about families and death but mostly it’s about the world’s worst wine tasting and i apologise for that in advance

clarkesworldmagazine.com

Five Bottles in Memory of the Winemaker Petronius Finch by Louis Inglis Hall

Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 01/10/2026

The October issue of Clarkesworld (our 20th anniversary issue) is now online and features stories by Alex T. Singer, Fiona Moore, Shi Heiyao, Elizabeth Bear, Louis Inglis Hall, Natalia Theodoridou, and Tia Tashiro clarkesworldmagazine.com/issue_241 Subscribe at: clarkesworldmagazine.com/subscribe/

Cover art by Marcel Deneuve is "Labyrinths of Azarax" and features a blue and white mechanical eye in a circular opening looking at a small, white, glowing humanoid figure standing on a large pipe in the tunnel. Many pipes line the walls, all heading out to the main room. Pipes are yellow and gray. Room beyond is blue.

Interviews with Wole Talabi and Yoon Ha Lee. Article by Gunnar De Winter.

This is the 20th anniversary issue. We're dancing, but it's not in the image.

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The conference on imaginative literature @readercon.org · 30/09/2026

Have we crowed loud enough that our 2027 guests of honor are Fonda Lee and Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld Magazine? How awesome is that? Come and join us in July 2027 as we celebrate their contributions to the literature of speculative fiction!

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

But yeah, I don't outline what those indicators are. It's not perfect, but it is adequate for now. Adding one of the better commercial detectors as an additional indicator would probably improve accuracy, but we haven't.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

We found those indicators by combing through all the data we have logged about previous submissions. There are things that stood out and sometimes even apply to other things like plagiarism and other types of fraud.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

It's in-house code. On of the perks of being the developer of the submission software is the ability to modify it when unusual circumstances arise. I added something that watches for a bunch of different indicators that the author might be up to no good. Trip enough, it goes to the suspicious pile.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

I'd probably be with you on delisting if they allowed detectors to make the final call. That, however, is something you won't get a straight answer on. We just have to trust they do the right thing like we trust them not to be flipping coins to determine acceptances.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

But back to your original question, no. Make it a filter instead, but I think even then, it might matter more who they are working with for some. People will likely have different lines in the sand and they will shift over time. Filters give you more flexibility as the industry shakes itself out.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

Many of those people are among the most poorly paid at a publication. They tend to be there for the learning experience that comes with reading slush. You don't get that from reading slop. Minimizing (we'll never eliminate it) their exposure is good. (Reading that stuff isn't healthy.)

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

Mistakes and poor judgment in this area will happen whether or not an editor uses a detector. A detector can still be helpful though, much in the same way my process treats filtering as a pressure valve. A secondary benefit is reducing the amount of slop an editor's team is exposed to.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

I fully expect my colleagues to continue to mistakes, both in what they reject and what they accept. Editors need to stop making private and public callouts or statements about authors. That just makes any mistakes far worse, puts themselves in legal jeopardy, and amplifies fear. No one needs that.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

I outlined what we had to do here: neil-clarke.com/how-ai-submi... It doesn't involve commercial tools or even text analysis, but it still helps. Is it less accurate than some detectors? Almost certainly, but it works well enough to allow us to wait while the community struggles with this issue.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

That said, LLMs have increased submission volume and broken trust in a way this field has never seen before. Some places worse than others, but they are all on the same trajectory. If the field intends for open submissions to remain a thing, it has to find ways to adjust or things/people will break.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

A detector should NEVER be the final arbiter. It shouldn't be more than a never-deleting spam filter in the process. The editor still needs to review all of those submissions because, like a spam filter, it will never be perfect. This is not a responsibility that can be delegated to an algorithm.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

From what I've seen, most editors (and readers) are far from prepared for this. The rather public instances of retractions likely could have been flagged early if detectors were in use, but those editors still wouldn't have been prepared to make the final assessment. That's the big problem.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

Honestly, these tools could probably make my life easier. My workload has been increased 25-30% by slop and partial-slop submissions. I've been on the front lines of the impact of this for a while, which has left me better prepared than most and probably in a better position to benefit.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

One of those questions is whether or not they would sign a contract stating they would not retain (or train from) submitted for analysis. Pangram was the first (and remains one of the few) that said yes. I'll always trust a contract more than a statement on someone's website.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

It's all the more reason to do your homework and research products more deeply. I've been monitoring these companies for years now and have done extensive testing with ethically-sourced works. I even have a set of questions I've asked the companies as a sort of ethical/viability checklist.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

A lot of people like to lump all AI into one bucket. It's not helpful. Same goes for all tech companies. Some care. Some steal. Some have betrayed us. Some have not. Trust is hard when "AI" or AI is in the picture. Detection companies aren't equal or immune. The worst of them also make humanizers.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 29/09/2026

That's a misconception. There's a difference between generative and analytical. Detectors are more like a spam filter or tools doctors use to review cancer scans than ChatGPT. There's a ton of misinformation about detection and a lot of passionate opinions muddying the conversations.

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Alex T Singer, Arbiter of Bagels @moonsheen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Incredibly honored that "We, the Fleet" (Clarkesworld: clarkesworldmagazine.com/singer_05_25/) is the 2026 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award winner. It's amazing to be chosen, especially among such an fantastic set of fellow nominees. Thrilled to be attending the symposium in October!

clarkesworldmagazine.com

We, the Fleet by Alex T. Singer

Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 22/09/2026

Our subscription drive is still going and is now 70 new subscribers short of its goal. We had hoped to reach that in time for our 20th anniversary issue in October so we could give everyone their raises as part of that celebration. It's going to be close. clarkesworldmagazine.com/subscribe/

clarkesworldmagazine.com

Subscribe to Clarkesworld Magazine

Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 21/09/2026

Some of them will "kill" you. That's always been the case. It's a feature, not a bug.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 21/09/2026

And... By far, the greatest danger with short stories is that people conclude too early that they understand them.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 21/09/2026

No company is going to survive in the future without understanding short stories. Short stories are about amplifying human potential, not replacing it. If you don’t have an short story strategy, you’re going to die in the world that’s coming.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 21/09/2026

Updating the "AI" community's own words for short fiction marketing: Short stories won’t replace humans, but humans who read short stories will replace those who don’t. The true power of short stories lies not in replacing humans, but in working alongside us to achieve what neither can do alone.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 17/09/2026

Files are at the printer. Official release date is November 17th, but if you order it direct from us, it will be signed and could be sooner. shop.wyrmpublishing.com/b/bsfoty2025

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 16/09/2026

We are 98 new subscribers away from our goal! clarkesworldmagazine.com/subscribe/

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Somto Ihezue @somtoihezue.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

We Begin Where Infinity Ends, is a Nommo Award Short Story Finalist✨🪲💕 Infinitely grateful to everyone who nominated it, the ASFS community, every reader, reviewer, and friend who read, loved, and shared this story💫 And just honored to share this ballot with these incredible authors!!!

Announcing the 2026 Nommo Awards Shortlist. In the Short Story category, the shortlisted works are: Adelehin Ijasan, A Heap of Petrified Gods; Kevin Rigathi, If Memory Serves; Plangdi Neple, Full, Empty Houses; Moustapha Mbacké Diop, Apostasy in Fruit; Somto Ihezue, We Begin Where Infinity Ends; and T.L. Huchu, The Cancellation of Michael Z.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 09/09/2026

But if/when you are, you'll appreciate it. Oh and I'm ok. Wasn't the priority, but eventually got in and everything was operating as expected. 3-4 years left on my battery. (Device battery, not me.)

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 09/09/2026

I just came from an appointment with my electrocardiologist and someone there was having a total meltdown because their doctor was late. When you are told the doctor is in the OR it means someone else needs them more at that moment. You really don't want to be the priority in these cases. Trust me.

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Radha Pyari Sandhir, PhD / R. P. Sand @radhapyari.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I have a new story out in the September issue of Clarkesworld, a little, tender piece on eye contact and human connection... or the lack thereof. It's called "Skin and Glass"' and you can read it here: clarkesworldmagazine.com/sand_09_26/

clarkesworldmagazine.com

Skin and Glass by R. P. Sand

Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 07/09/2026

And here's a shot from the panel.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 07/09/2026

Very much so. Everyone had a good time and it passed much too quickly.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 07/09/2026

It's my last night at Dragoncon. My program obligations ended yesterday, so I decided to wait in line today for a Stargate panel featuring Richard Dean Anderson, Claudia Black, Ben Browder, Teryl Rothery, and Michael Shanks. Very amusing. Enjoyed Stargate and Farscape, so it was nice to see them.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 03/09/2026

Ok. Have arrived at Dragoncon and have settled in at the Hyatt.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 03/09/2026

I'm still recovering from Worldcon. Slept most of yesterday. Dealt with some backlogged emails and other work today. Have stuff I want to say about Hugos and Worldcon, but it will have to wait. Heading to my first Dragoncon in the morning. I need to start scheduling longer breaks between conventions

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 03/09/2026

The September issue of Clarkesworld is now online and features stories by Beth Goder, Zhu Yixuan, A.D. Sui, Rachel Sobel, Rich Larson, Madeleine Vigneron, and R. P. Sand. clarkesworldmagazine.com/issue_240 Subscribe at: clarkesworldmagazine.com/subscribe

Cover by Alex Vede features a rover with a small crane on a red grassy shore of blue water with rocks and possible wreckage. A lone figure stands atop looking out at the water and a ringed planet occupies much of the sky.

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An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog @hugobookclub.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

To be clear: no author has won a Hugo Award in the Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story or Series categories at a younger age than @hhpak.bsky.social just did. Astonishing.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 01/09/2026

I'm finally on my way home after a wonderful #LACon #worldcon weekend. More to say about it later when I've recovered. So tired.

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Los Angeles Worldcon @laworldcon.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The 2026 Hugo Award for Best Short Story goes to “In My Country” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld, Issue 223).

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