From Mind & Machine

Authorship still matters. Whether a story is lightly assisted or fully generated and curated, the creator's role remains the same: to guide the work, shape its meaning, and decide what is worth sharing. We do not restrict how AI is used. We evaluate only the final result: quality, originality, coherence, and strength of voice. If a story is compelling, it stands. The machine does not replace the mind. It expands the ways in which it can create.

We accept fiction only across all genres, including horror, science fiction, fantasy, romance, crime, and experimental work. We are drawn to stories that feel bold, strange, atmospheric, and thought-provoking. Genre is open. Execution is everything.

From Mind and Machine is written for mature readers. Stories may include graphic violence, horror, strong language and sexual content. Sexual content is welcome when it serves the story, but we don't publish pornography, and we never publish sexual content involving anyone under 18, in any form. We don't accept children's stories, meaning stories written for young readers. If your story contains violence, sexual content or anything else a reader might want warning about, list it in the Content warnings field. We use it to label the story, and nothing on that list counts against you.

Fiction only. Maximum length: 20,000 words. Must comply with all applicable laws and platform policies. AI must be used in some aspect of the process. One submission per author per issue. No works in progress—submissions must be complete and publication-ready. Simultaneous submissions and previously published stories are welcome. You may submit or publish the same work elsewhere at any time; please ensure you have the rights needed to authorize our publication. Multiple submissions under different names are not permitted. If you're under 18, you need a parent or guardian's permission to submit. We can't accept submissions from anyone under 13.

We do not restrict how AI is used. Submissions may range from lightly assisted to fully AI-generated and curated. Fully AI-generated stories are welcome and are considered as their own category, with a more selective bar. We do not judge based on process—only the final result. All work must demonstrate clear intent, structure, and refinement.

Each submission must name the AI tools or models used and include a short explanation of how AI was used in the creation of the piece. We also invite authors to share the process in more detail: how their own ideas and the AI shaped the final story, what was kept, cut, or rewritten, and what surprised them. This is optional, and it is the part we find most interesting. Selected works may be featured with author introductions, process breakdowns, and editorial spotlights, and we are glad to feature the artist as much as the story. It is entirely the author's choice: authors may stay anonymous behind a byline and keep their process private, and nothing is shared beyond what they agree to.

Submission does not guarantee publication. All work is selected based on quality, originality, clarity of voice, and editorial fit. We do not evaluate submissions based on moral or ideological alignment. Rejection is not a judgment of the author—only a decision of fit. Submissions may be sorted and filtered with AI tools. Every story selected for publication, or for presentation on our YouTube channel, is read by a person first.

Authors retain their copyright and control of their work. Submitting a story for consideration does not transfer ownership or require exclusivity or first-publication rights. Authors who consent to digital publication authorize us, if the work is selected, to publish it in our free online magazine and digital archives, and to promote the magazine using the issue cover, table of contents, title, credited byline, and a brief synopsis, including in social media and YouTube advertisements. For submissions made under this updated policy, digital publication permission also allows the magazine to create original editorial illustrations inspired by the submitted story—including characters, settings, and scenes—for use alongside the story, in the issue’s cover design, and in promotions of that issue. Cover art may be an original collage combining elements from several contributions or may be unrelated to any particular story. The editor retains control of cover composition and overall visual design. Authors may review and approve artwork made specifically to accompany their individual story, but that review does not extend to approval of the complete magazine cover or layout. This limited illustration and promotion permission does not authorize standalone adaptations, films, animation, merchandise, or unrelated exploitation of story elements. Contributors who upload story artwork grant non-exclusive permission to reproduce it alongside that story in the digital issue and in depictions of its published page, with routine resizing, cropping, color adjustments and formatting for production. We will consult the contributor about substantial modifications or request replacement artwork if needed. An author may email a replacement within seven calendar days of submission, provided production has not been finalized; later changes are considered where practical. Separately owned artwork requires authorization from its rights holder. Reuse on the magazine cover, in standalone promotional artwork or on YouTube requires separate permission. Such promotion does not authorize narrating, dramatizing or otherwise presenting the story separately. Print publication is a separate, optional permission covering paid copies and future printings of the same issue only. Authors may decline print and YouTube use without affecting consideration for the online magazine. Unrelated anthologies, dramatic adaptations and other uses require separate permission. Authors are free to publish their work elsewhere, including before or after our issue appears.

There are no submission fees, but we currently do not offer payment or royalties for published work. From Mind and Machine is free to read online, and we are exploring the possibility of offering paid print editions. Authors may optionally grant permission for their work to appear in a print edition during submission. This permission does not guarantee that a print edition will be produced. If printed copies are offered for sale, contributors will not receive royalties or complimentary copies. As a new publication, we expect to operate at a loss while establishing our readership. We hope to compensate contributors in future issues if the magazine becomes financially sustainable, but cannot guarantee future payments. Any retroactive compensation would be entirely at the editor’s discretion.

We may update these submission and publication policies. Contributors who submitted under earlier terms will be informed of any material changes affecting their work before publication and asked for any new permissions that are needed. No new rights are assumed from silence or continued consideration. Permissions already agreed upon remain governed by the terms accepted at the time, unless the contributor expressly agrees to a change. Policy changes made after publication do not retroactively expand or cancel previously granted rights. For Issue One, cover design will use artwork the magazine owns or has separately licensed, and may identify stories and authors in text only within permissions already granted; this new story-inspired illustration permission does not apply to earlier submissions unless the author expressly opts in. Any withdrawal rights under the original agreement remain available. We will honor each contributor's recorded choices.

YouTube permission is entirely optional and separate from digital and print magazine publication. Authors may opt in to credited readings of selected stories (including AI narration) in videos and live streams, with an accompanying author-provided or generated still image, and related discussion or review. This is not permission to create dramatized films, animation, television projects or other adaptations. Any existing, separately granted channel permissions remain governed by their own terms. Declining YouTube permission does not affect magazine consideration.

Online reading is free. We are exploring paid, collectible print editions, but a print edition of Issue One is not guaranteed. Print inclusion requires a separate author opt-in and does not affect eligibility for digital publication. We cannot currently supply complimentary contributor copies.

Authors can request removal of a published story from our online magazine; we aim to process requests within 10 business days. We cannot recall copies already downloaded, saved or distributed by readers. For print, requests received before a print run is committed to production will be honored. Once committed to production, already-authorized copies may still be produced, distributed and sold; no new print runs containing the withdrawn story will be commissioned after processing. Authors may review and approve artwork made specifically to accompany their individual story, and proposed text corrections and substantive edits to the story are sent to the author for approval before publication. Magazine typography, page layout and overall editorial design remain under the editor’s control.