It says why in the piece, Holly. I don't want the dirty remnant of fake followings littering their footsteps into my publications. And I wouldn't look at the piece because I won't look at anything written by someone who publishes there because they can not uphold our ideals as creatives at Assemblage and also play spam sham with publications like that. It's just a standards issue.

Why would you think I have the time to read anything from anyone and have no standards and then, if anything is good, publish it? It's just me. The standards are in place to make my life easier and to allow the cream to rise to the top. I want a high barrier to entry, not a low one.

Right, you don't think it should be a deciding factor - great. I do. If you have a publication, allow them all to submit and see if you have any time left at the end of the day. There is a reason to deflect the spammers. No one, no one would write a piece perfect for Assemblage and also contribute to those rags. The two don't go together. We invest in the writers first and we know what we will get.

This is your view because you aren't editing and looking at submissions and looking at garbage stories. Go be an editor for one of those rags and let me know how you like it.