Things AI can do (but there aren't many)

[Stuart Dren]

"My team was—and
is—drowning, and more importantly, serious writers with polished work
are getting buried in a pile of manuscripts that should never have been
sent.

I made the difficult decision to start charging for editorial
services—not as a money grab, but as a filter. The nominal fee was
intended to ensure that only committed writers would submit. Instead, it
created confusion and, I now understand, the appearance of a
bait-and-switch. For that, I've apologized, and I'm changing how we
operate entirely. (For the record: those who took the offer loved the
experience.)"

That doesn't even make sense. Like, from one paragraph to the next the logic isn't contiguous. I guess we're past the point of expecting that, though. Also that's at least partially AI written, but of course we're also past expecting any less.

Actually, I'm looking at the website and a few things stand out, but of course I've the benefit of pure hindsight.

THE ECHO TOME

Some stories do not just want to be read. They want to be remembered.

Hah. Hah hah hah.

 

[Naomasa298]

I'll admit that my conscience pricked just a bit when sharing emails from this crew. Not any more, after receiving this latest. Having considered just sending copies by DM to Homer, I think this one deserves public shaming:

Dear Writer,

I'm writing to you directly because you have an existing relationship
with Soo Generis—whether your work is under consideration, accepted, or
you've simply been part of our community. I owe you transparency about
what's happening and where we're going.

The Duotrope Problem

Earlier this month, I was listed on Duotrope without my permission. It
worked—too well. In the last four days alone, I've received over 500
submissions. The vast majority (99%) were clearly first drafts,
underdeveloped and submission-ready in name only. My team was—and
is—drowning, and more importantly, serious writers with polished work
are getting buried in a pile of manuscripts that should never have been
sent.

I made the difficult decision to start charging for editorial
services—not as a money grab, but as a filter. The nominal fee was
intended to ensure that only committed writers would submit. Instead, it
created confusion and, I now understand, the appearance of a
bait-and-switch. For that, I've apologized, and I'm changing how we
operate entirely. (For the record: those who took the offer loved the
experience.)

The Solution

Effective immediately:

All submission channels are closing. I have asked Duotrope and similar
services to delist Soo Generis entirely. The firehose must be turned
off.

A new email for existing writers: If you have work with me at any
stage—submitted, accepted, under revision, or in discussion—please use
YOUMAYBEEAGER@ANYONEWANNABUYLONDONBRIDGE.COM for all future correspondence. This will bypass the
clogged general submission queue and ensure your messages reach us
directly.

Going forward, I am only reading work from writers who have been invited
to submit. This means either:

You were personally referred by one of my beta readers or editors, OR

You were recommended by an existing Soo Generis writer

The Opportunity

This is where you come in. I value the writers who are already part of
this community, and I want to grow through your networks—not through
anonymous submission lists.

I am launching a referral program with a simple premise: if you know a
writer whose work you admire, send them to me.

The new submission page (for referred writers only) is:
EAGERANDMAYBEFOOLISHTOO@LETSGETRICHTOGETHER.COM

Referred writers should mention your name in their submission

For every writer you refer who submits work I accept, you'll be entered
to win

The Prize

$1,000 to the writer who refers the most new business over the next six
months (minimum 5 referrals).

This isn't about quantity—it's about quality. I want to meet writers you
genuinely believe in. Writers whose work you'd be proud to share shelf
space with.

What This Means for You

If you have work with me already: nothing changes. Your status remains
exactly what it was. Please use GREEDYWORKSTOO@PYRAMIDSCHEME.COM to stay in touch.

If you know someone whose writing deserves attention: send them my way.

If you're simply watching to see what happens next: thank you for your
patience. I'm trying to build something sustainable here, and I'm
grateful to have you along for the ride.

Respectfully,

Soo Generis
Creative Director & Visionary

I got the same. No recognition of their use of AI, or what people have been saying. 500 submissions via Duotrope is just a lie - the last time I looked, there were about 7 pending submissions and 6 or so results. Maybe the newsletter did something amazing in the one day I didn't look.

"Creative Director" - I did some digging on these people. All emails are unsigned. They claim to be based in Cheshire, and provide a UK non-geographic number as a contact. This could route anywhere. They use American spelling on their emails, which look AI written anyway (the em-dash is a tell). They aren't a limited company - no records on Companies House, and if they are a UK based limited company, they're breaking the law by not having contact details on their website. I could probably track them down using their phone number, but I can't be arsed.

 

[defaux]

For the record: those who took the offer loved the
experience.

And still plugging the editorial services...

Curious @Naomasa298 did duotrope say they had removed them, or did they just disappear? That last email reeks of damage control.

 

[Naomasa298]

Curious @Naomasa298 did duotrope say they had removed them, or did they just disappear? That last email reeks of damage control.

The listing just vanished. There's been no statement by Duotrope, so far. They're still visible on Grinder, but most of their reported submissions have disappeared, so I suspect they're in the process of being deleted.

Also, the email doesn't stack with what actually happened. They didn't use payment as a submission gateway. They used it as an upsell. You didn't have to pay to submit.

That email seems to have gone to everyone who submitted. So basically, they just sent out an email telling all the submitters that 99% of you are shit. Who the hell submits a first draft?

 

[Rigor Mortis]

The listing just vanished. There's been no statement by Duotrope, so far. They're still visible on Grinder, but most of their reported submissions have disappeared, so I suspect they're in the process of being deleted.

Curious @Naomasa298 did duotrope say they had removed them, or did they just disappear? That last email reeks of damage control.

From my response from Duotrope:
"...we have taken the action of marking the Soo Generis projects as "removed," so they no longer have active listings with us..."

 

[defaux]

Also, the email doesn't stack with what actually happened. They didn't use payment as a submission gateway. They used it as an upsell. You didn't have to pay to submit.

Yeah, I noticed the internal logic inconsistency. At this point I'd be fairly sure all their emails were AI generated. It has that feeling of the AI losing context the further the conversation goes on. It *sounds* like it makes sense until you realise that it contradicts the previous responses.

He also said originally he hired new editors to handle the volume, and then needed to offer additional services to keep them busy, and now has too many entries for them and has to rethink his entire business model. But by the way people still love the services we are too busy to offer.

That was why I wondered if there was 3rd party confirmation of them being removed/withdrawing. And Rigor's note suggests that they are full of shit all round, claiming to have withdrawn after they were removed.

In case anyone's looking, the red flags are right over there. Aisle 2. And in the atrium today we're running a course on "How to trash your business in 24 hours" demonstrating the practical uses of AI.

 

[Madman Starryteller]

This has all happened so fast I can barely keep my hat on in the winds of change.

Maybe they should reconstruct, into... Skynet? What with the amount of bot usage and all. Would have better luck managing the US nuclear arsenal.

 

[Naomasa298]

They would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those pesky writers.

 

[ps102]

I don't do submissions (yet...) but this saga has been pretty interesting.

 

[Homer Potvin]

I don't do submissions (yet...) but this saga has been pretty interesting.

Right? What a frigging mess.

I got podcast ideas spilling out of every orifice in my body.

 

[Naomasa298]

I got podcast ideas spilling out of every orifice in my body.

I don't think I needed to know that.

 

[Homer Potvin]

I don't think I needed to know that.

Fortunately my chili camerones already cleared from last night. Holy crap was that good. Cold salsa ranchera on top of hot shrimp is the "secret."

 

[Mogador]

There won't be any sector of society not overrun by it soon enough. Maybe by even 2027. Makes me want to start smoking again. I'm prolonging my life for... this?

Everything makes we want to take up smoking again. This stuff makes me want to take up smoking creosote.

The misanthropy of the whole AI boom is deeply depressing. The lengths people will go to to not employ a person. There's 7bn of us and we are still, by all accounts, the most sophisticated thinking machines in the known universe.

The gross misuse of energy, not co-incidentally at a time when we were otherwise due to finally have the energy glut promised since the 50s. Right about now there oil and gas prices are falling through the floor and wind and solar are going gangbusters.

Do you know how much energy it takes to get a human to solve your problem, in the grand scheme of things? None, unless we were planning on letting them starve. Give a man a ham sandwich and a cup of tea and he can just as well stack shelves or apply his mind, or sit on his arse.

I write for a living (albeit not the kind of stuff we cover here). I own my own company so there is zero risk to me. Nonetheless is hugely dispiriting to see how little everyone apparently cares that an actual author actually looked over the text and meant it and thought about it and then put it out there because he thought someone else should read it. Apparently we don't care really.

"Things AI Can Do": Eat itself, eat the language, make me want to smoke creosote.

Believe it or not I'm not entirely against the technology on a technical level. There are many useful applications. But as ever we need saving from ourselves not our machines.

 

[Homer Potvin]

The lengths people will go to to not employ a person.

Well, that's nothing new. When Noah was building the Ark, he probably figured out some new tools and had to lay a few dudes off. The fact that technology is coming for writers now was certainly unexpected. Makes me think of the scene in the second season of The Wire where Frank loses his shit when he sees cranes replacing human stevedores (dock unloaders) in European ports.

Nonetheless is hugely dispiriting to see how little everyone apparently cares that an actual author actually looked over the text and meant it and thought about it and then put it out there because he thought someone else should read it. Apparently we don't care really.

I hear you, bud. Money is thicker than morals.

But as ever we need saving from ourselves not our machines.

That ship sailed around the time Noah's did. Unfortunately.

 

[Madman Starryteller]

What can one do, but laugh and cry?

We could build an infrastructure of civilian-employed electro-magnetic pulse weapons. 1 large emp bomb for every family, 2 emp grenades for every individual who knows how to throw rocks. And if possible a directional electro-magnetic pulse rifle for every adult human on Earth.

That will keep us apex over the toasters until they develop immunity.

 

[Rzero]

Well, that's nothing new. When Noah was building the Ark, he probably figured out some new tools and had to lay a few dudes off.

That's a bad week right there, getting downsized and then drowned by God.

I wonder if Noah hired daylabor outside the Home Depot.

 

[Homer Potvin]

That's a bad week right there, getting downsized and then drowned by God.

I wonder if Noah hired daylabor outside the Home Depot.

Might have been better for all of us if Noah had been like, nah, I'm going to sink this bitch after he set sail.

 

[Naomasa298]

I wouldn't despair (yet). It might lead to human-written prose becoming more in demand vs a tide of AI-written crud. Publishing could revert back to the mid-20th century, where there are actual gatekeepers who evaluate books for merit, instead of another Empress Teresa being published every five minutes.

 

[Amontillado]

Nexus Data Centers is building a 600 MW data center in the little community of Hubbard, Texas.

The town of Hubbard is about 1,200 acres. The data center will be 2,000 acres.

I am constantly amazed by how well stupidity scales. I hope Hubbard has plans for what to do with the data center once the AI bubble pops.

 

[ps102]

I am constantly amazed by how well stupidity scales. I hope Hubbard has plans for what to do with the data center once the AI bubble pops.

Indeed. I am curious about what happens after it pops. AI isn't going anywhere of course, but I am interested to see whether the insane amount of investment will actually lead anywhere.