General Discussion

as acceptable.

And yes, I know you can get paid to write as a freelancer, sometimes very well. And you are selling to markets. Though sometimes publishers have to make competitive bids in auctions. And sometimes they realize they want something that doesn't look much like what they published earlier and they take a chance on something new, though if it's successful enough they might want to keep following that new example. Smart publishers give good editors some leeway.

It isn't true that every publisher has a formula. They do often have general guidelines on subjects and length, and they want to see submissions written for what they view as their particular audience, in terms of interests and age and educational level. But editors of real magazines, as opposed to websites filled with SEO clickbait to generate revenue from ads, are still more interested in quality and originality than just following a formula.

And book publishers often publish a dizzying array of fiction and non-fiction on different subjects. So have some of the better magazines.

If AI-generated content becomes considered acceptable because it's "inevitable" it will destroy the quality of professionally published writing.