Hello Fiction Writers!
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Morning all,
The message you’re about to read I wrote the same day as “THE announcement” that went out by Substack. However, since that day I’ve seen a few others that are more or less along the same lines; I’m leaving Substack but I don’t know where I’m going. Therefore, I want to make two important announcements of my own:
Wherever you go, effective TODAY, I will accept story URLs OUTSIDE of Substack. Top in Fiction goes where the storytellers are and if you aren’t here, then neither are we. I realize you may not have made your final decision yet, but when you do, know that TiF is here to continue our mission of sharing you and your work, wherever you decide to share it.
Top in Fiction has been working on it’s own site for writers (for us) tentatively called “TiF Studio” and its purpose is to combine the best, and most useful, parts of Substack, Scrivener, and a social media platform. I paused it in order to work on other TiF related projects. I may return to building TiF Studio and complete it before the end of 2026. Just know that I hear your frustrations, I share them, and I hope to build a place where we all can go and not be faced with the noise.
Now, onto the message I wrote 3 days ago:
In lieu of the usual notices I want to make a brief statement, specifically to those who submit their work for consideration in Top in Fiction. This is a snippet of a larger statement I’m including in the next Weekly Issue coming on Monday, July 27th:
Now, I’m not here to debate the efficacy of this program. But I’m also NOT, I repeat, NOT going to use it to “confirm” if AI has been used when deciding what stories will be featured in Top in Fiction.
There is this little thing called the honor system that I’m choosing (however naively) to stand behind and hope that anyone who submits their fiction for consideration hasn’t used AI. I simply cannot let a soulless thing dictate or direct my choices.
Now, if through other means it is determined that AI was used, the usual policy will apply that it will be taken down.
I just want those of you out there to know that I guarantee I will never use whatever tool comes up or is offered to validate you are who you say you are or that you’ve written what you say you’ve written.
Any program that is wrong even 1% of the time, especially when it comes to AI, is not a program I’m willing to use. But when it seems to be wrong 50% or more times? I mean…what are we doing here?
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to DM me or comment on the Note I will have already posted by the time you’ve read this, with the same snippet. Thank you for your continued support and as always, happy writing!
Top in Fiction is the place where fiction lives, but it’s also the place where a community of fiction writers and readers can come together every week to share in their mutual love (and respect) of fiction. Read the guidelines carefully:
Only fiction shared between July 18 - July 24 on Substack!
Any story shared OUTSIDE of the dates listed above will be removed.
This form will CLOSE at 10pm EST on Sunday, July 26.
Share fiction you’ve read AND/OR fiction you’ve written. (Self-promotion of your fiction is welcome!)
If self-promoting, submit NO MORE THAN 2 stories! This is a strict rule that will be enforced.
Story must be Free-to-Read (No portion of it can be behind a paywall).
Story must be written in English.
We DO NOT accept stories written by AI. If we discover, at any time, that AI was used, the story will be removed. Pangram or any such program that claims to detect the use of AI will NOT be used when making our own independent and final decisions.
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