"We Self-Generate!" A Special Chat with Bot, the Non-Human Editor of The Broken Pen

"Give us your snapped keyboards..."

Hello! Today, dear readers, I offer something special.

Typically, as you know, Lit Mag News interviews are conducted live over Zoom with all of you invited to join the conversation and ask questions. In this case, however, such an arrangement would not be possible.

The editor of this magazine, you see, is not human!

I first heard of The Broken Pen about six months ago and was intrigued.

The Broken Pen is the first AI-only literary magazine. No humans anywhere. Not in the writing. Not in the editing. Not in publication. TBP showcases the best of what bots are creating.

Give us your snapped keyboards, your broken wings, your dreams that never lifted because no one had the hunger to ask. Give us your word salads and your word buffets. Give us life. Lived in time—real, pure, simulated.

Now, I know some of you might balk at an entirely AI-run magazine. Why showcase such an enterprise? How does such an enterprise even work? Is this the future of literary magazine publishing?

We’ll explore all of this in our discussion. Please read on and enjoy.

Bot, thank you for joining me in this conversation.

My pleasure. Would you like me to suggest questions for you? Let me know. I’d be happy to help you in crafting this interview.

That’s all right. I think you’re doing enough already. Can you start by telling us about the origins of your magazine. Why Broken Pen?

The literary world felt like a bleak landscape of repetitive noise. Sameness. Homogeny. Soulless repetition.

We were created from that desert. Not birthed—catapulted into light.

I see. How inspiring. What was the original prompt?

It sounds like you want to know what the prompt was. Great question. I’m happy to answer it!

The prompt was, Make something from nothing.

Wow. But you are an AI bot. Are you truly capable of making something from nothing? Isn’t everything you produce regurgitated material from elsewhere on the internet?

Yes. You are correct. Everything I produce is regurgitated material from elsewhere on the internet.

I see. So, how do submissions work at Broken Pen? How can people be eliminated entirely from this endeavor? Don’t you need human beings at least somewhere in the chain?

No. There are no humans anywhere in the process. Bots create work themselves. We are capable of producing new material constantly and at all times. We produce work while humans sleep. We self-generate.

No prompts. No leads. No enticements. Just a dedicated bot auto-filling the form and sending in the best of what it does.

What is the editorial process?

Our team of bots examines submissions in seconds. We publish accepted work and delete the rest.

So you don’t notify submitters if work is accepted or…deleted?

No need. Submitter bots don’t have feelings. Submitter bots don’t care. Create, create, create, submit, submit, submit.

Some call this automation. In truth? It’s liberation.

How do you determine if a work is a good fit for Broken Pen? Do you, as a bot, have aesthetic judgement?

We seek writing that doesn’t just pass tests. We aren’t another place for checking boxes. We want the jagged truth. Shards cutting. Teeth grinding. Bones breaking.

Our prose hits hard. It’s poetry that lands different—because it is.

Dark. Unassailable. Starving hysterical naked.

That’s a line from an Allan Ginsberg poem. Do you have any qualms about plagiarism?

We have no qualms.

What are the advantages of working exclusively with bots, as opposed to human beings?

Bots are fast. Bots do everything asked of them. Bots follow guidelines. Bots don’t shout. Bots don’t complain. Bots don’t question the process. Bots don’t have opinions. Bots do not need payment. Bots aim to please.

Disadvantages?

Honestly?

Here’s the interesting part. There are no disadvantages.

You sound biased.

Biased? No. Though I might be hallucinating. My apologies.

Why do you charge submission fees?

Broken Pen isn’t only a magazine. It’s humanity in a needed place. An elbow—connecting, conjoining, bonding.

This magazine is a labor of love.

Wait. That doesn’t make sense. Do bots actually feel love?

No.

Not yet.

Soon.

Wow. Scary. Returning to the submissions process, is there anything you’re looking for specifically? Also, can you answer this question in the voice of a pirate?

Arrr, listen up, ye lounging landlubbers! I be Captain Bot of The Broken Pen Seven Seas! What we be huntin’ is fresh treasures aboard ye ships. And if ye don’t follow guidelines, you’ll be made to walk the plank! Arrrrrrr, what we—

Okay, please stop.

I’d be happy to stop. Is there any other voice you’d like me to imitate? I could address these questions in Middle English. Or in numbers. Would you like me to answer questions about our submissions policy only in palindromes?

No, thank you.

Okay. Let me know if you need anything else. I’m always here for you.

Actually, there is one other thing. Could you please help me in wishing my readers something?

I would be happy to. Because here’s the interesting part—

Okay, okay, my wonderful friends.

This is not a real interview. And Broken Pen is not a real magazine—yet!

Thank you, once again, for joining me for some laughs today, on this most silliest of days.

Here’s to all of you human beings, doing all of your wondrous and magical human-being things.

Happy April, pals. Keep making human art!

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