We hope this update finds you and your relative equinox happy and safe. We've got so much happening this month, including our Asian and Pacific Islanders Issue (Issue 137), the upcoming release of Tobias Buckell's Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories, and beginning the process of story selection for the Robotic Ambitions Kickstarter and the Strange Machines microfiction anthology! Whether it's warming up or cooling off, hopefully the change is welcome!
Issue 137
Issue 137, edited by guest editor Iori Kusano, releases April 4! With cover art by Dee Nguyen, original fiction by Tehnuka, Michelle M. Denham, Murtaza Mohsin, Sydney Paige Guerrero, Lois Mei-en Kwa, Grace P. Fong, reprints from Vajra Chandrasekera and Zen Cho, and essays by Z Aung and Manuia Heinrich Sue, this issue is amazing.
Robotic Ambitions
Our new anthology Kickstarter project launched February 21: Robotic Ambitions edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner. We closed out having reached tons of stretch goals! We unlocked essays, slush slots, new anchor authors, and a new microfiction anthology edited by Marissa van Uden! Submissions are open an additional week to April 5th for marginalized writers. Submit here!
Whether striving to protect the family they’ve chosen, searching for meaning amid the chaos of the world, or questioning what it is that makes one alive, robotic ambition can mean many different things. From robots and AI to sentient mechanical devices, this anthology will explore what it means to be sentient and mechanical. Join Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner as they peel back the metal and find out what lies at the center of Robotic Ambitions.
Half of the stories in the anthology will come out of this call, so get your stories ready! Editors Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner are looking for stories that examine the concept of “robotic ambitions.” Using philosophical, moral, and practical points-of-view, what does it mean to be sentient and mechanical? What challenges will mechanical beings face from a fearful and chaotic world? What are their goals and ambitions?
Strange Machines: An Anthology of Dark User Manuals
We are looking for your darkest, strangest microfiction in the form of user manuals, FAQs, and how-to guides for the use of (or by) robots!
Tell us a story while guiding humans through the use of a strange machine, or guiding sentient robots through human activities they may not understand. Reveal deep yearnings and dark secrets between the lines, show us fascinating futures or weird horrors, and don’t be afraid to mix biology with machine. Let your imaginations go wild to create beautiful, surreal, and dark user-guides for strange machines!
Please no simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions. We will aim to have first responses back within 30 days of closing to submissions.
Word count: Up to 250 words
Payment: $10
Submissions open: April 01
Submissions close: At midnight US central time on April 30.
Get more details here.
Happy Hour with Jason and Lesley
Join EiCs Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner with Issue 137 Author Grace Fong on April 11th at 8pm US eastern time.
Grace P. Fong is a Chinese-American author-illustrator whose writing and artwork have appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Apex Magazine, Tor.com, Strange Horizons, and others. Her writing has won an award from FIYAH x Levar Burton Reads's short fiction contest, and her art has been nominated four times for the Best Fan Artist Hugo Award, and won the inaugural Ignyte Award in 2020. In addition, she has worked as a narrative designer in tabletop/trading card games (Magic: the Gathering) and video gaming (Palia). Follow her work at http://www.gracepfong.com.
This will be our last Happy Hour for a while, so join us!
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories by Tobias Buckell
Coming April 18 from Apex Book Company!
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories is Tobias S. Buckell’s seventh short fiction collection and is comprised of 15 stories, several of which are original to the collection or were previously only available through his Patreon.
This collection ranges from galactic adventures to intimate explorations of
humanity—sometimes in the same story—rich with a sense of wonder and
deft storytelling.
Writing Classes with Apex
The Reach Your Apex initiative is our way of making the knowledge and skills of publishing professionals available to those individuals who are seeking to improve their literary craft. While a majority of our offerings target the craft of writing, we will intersperse our curriculum with workshops/webinars covering various topics about the art of editing and the business side of publishing.
You can find our current list of classes here. Classes in April include Word Economy in Short Fiction with Editor in Chief Jason Sizemore.
Apex Flash Fiction
The Flash Fiction Contest for March 7-31—themed Land & Sea—window will close on March 31. The theme for April 7-30 will be announced and will open to the public on April 7th for flash fiction submissions. Themes are chosen by Patrons at the end of the month and announced to Patrons on the 1st of each month. Submissions will be open to the public on the 7th of each month. Submissions close on the last day of the month at midnight (US Central Time).
The winner will be announced no later than the 15th of the following month and will be paid $0.08/word or $10, whichever is more. The winning story will appear on our Patreon as an exclusive and will be included in the forthcoming issue of Apex Magazine.
Podcast Episode 100
Our April Podcast (Our 100th EPISODE!) will be "The Matriarchs," by Lois Mei-en Kwa, narrator TBA.
Our March Podcast was "Over Moonlit Clouds" by Coda Audeguy-Pegon, narrated by Gabe Hicks.
Discord Happenings
As always, we have fun and community on our Discord, including critique swaps, co-writing opportunities, and general community support for writers. (Rejectomancy, anyone?)
Patreon Exclusives
On our Patreon, we have an exciting lineup of exclusives for our Patrons from the Authors of Issue 137. We'll have interviews, a photo tour of an Indian museum, and story insights. Keep an eye on our Patreon!
Not a Patron? Join us for as little as $3/month to get access to these exclusives and the magazine in your inbox!
To add the Apex Events Calendar to your google calendar, follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/4c74rext
