FOREWORD
The mind has difficulty digesting change. This makes sense when we’re young, but as we age, one would think that we would be used to something as common as the changing seasons.
Yet every four months, we continue to be amazed as the world radically transforms around us. Snow and ice covering streets melt away, and suddenly our eyes are treated to the sensory overload of spring. There’'s a sense of exhilaration as brilliant blues and reds wash over us. Everywhere is lush green lifting the spirit and filling one with joy that they’ve survived another cold and blustery winter.
It is with that same sense of wonder that we bring you the Spring Issue II 2023 of Samjoko Magazine. We’ve been around for sixteen months, a fact we’re extremely proud of. We’ve learned a lot about this process as we’ve aged, and must make note of some changes to the publication.
First, the wait time for responses has grown to about four months on average. If you submit during this summer submission’s period, your piece, if accepted, won’t be published until fall at the earliest, winter at the latest. We’re doing this because it is difficult to choose a piece when we have so few slots that we are actively filling.
Which brings us to the second point. We aim to publish ten to fifteen pieces each issue, but we’re quite satisfied with publishing less. This will happen for a few reasons. First and foremost, finances. Our goal is to make this publishing venue last because we want to do our part in giving a voice to writers and their work. However, we have limited funds, and since a year and a half later we’ve received no patrons, we have to make do with what we can personally generate.
Thirdly, we’ve had several instances where we sent out an acceptance letter only to be told that the piece has already been accepted elsewhere. While we are quite happy that something sent to us found a home at another publication, we would like to remind those who submit to send us a withdrawal notification in a timely manner.
Finally, we would like to address the tsunami that has struck the creative world: ChatGPT and other AI writing programs that are allowing people to take a shortcut to craft.
In the submission guidelines of a growing number of publishers, there has been added a stipulation that AI assisted writing is prohibited. Here at Samjoko, we’re not going to add this amendment for a simple reason: there’s no reason to believe those who use AI will follow it.
AI assisted writing has been around for a while, and though it’s probably more comprehensive in its abilities than before, there’s really not a lot, practically, that can be done about it. We aren’t really concerned that it’s producing “publishable” writing, as any writing is publishable. That word means less in 2023 than it did in 1993.
Perhaps an AI generated or assisted piece may slip through and be published by us one day, and we suppose the individual may feel some sense of satisfaction that they managed to make twenty dollars while simultaneously taking it from someone who took the time and effort to create a piece of writing on their own. However, life isn’t fair, and people taking any opportunity, scrupulous or unscrupulous, to get ahead is as old as time itself.
With that said, we would like to once again urge everyone to be a patron or buy us a coffee so that we can continue to publish writing from writers all over the world.
Enjoy the Spring Issue II 2023 of Samjoko Magazine.
