It's the most Apexy time of the year! In the Apex offices, we're all getting ready for the holiday. Lesley is basting her meatloaf man, Rebecca is evilly plotting (a novel, of course!), Marissa is carving manuscripts into masterpieces, and Leah is terrifying local villagers. In the basement of a house somewhere in Lexington, Kentucky, Jason hides from the daylight.
We hope this update finds you well and looking forward to the decline of 2024. Despite all the terrible things happening in the world, and because of them, story and community are more important than ever. Thank you for including Apex in your day.
Issue 147
Issue 147 of Apex Magazinereleases November 5. Original fiction by Rachel Bolton, Rachael Severino, Danny Cherry Jr, Avra Margariti, Garrett Ashley, flash fiction by Parker M. O'Neill and Juniper White, reprints from Danian Darrell Jerry and DaVaun Sanders, essays from Robert V.S. Redick and Zohair, with our regular nonfiction from AC Wise, plus an excerpt from the new release Island of the Dead by Brian Keene and two book reviews.
The incredible, terrifying cover art is by Asya Yordanova, who has done Apex covers in the past.
Letters to Nowhere by Asya Yordanova
Snap Judgment Episode 12 with special guest Sloane Leong
Every quarter, industry professionals Lesley Conner, Rebecca E Treasure, and a special guest offer live feedback on the first pages of anonymous submissions, which are read aloud by our brilliant host and narrator, Aly Grauer. We are pleased to announce that our special guest editor for this event is Sloane Leong!
Sloane Leong is a cartoonist, illustrator, art director, narrative game designer, writer, and editor of mixed indigenous ancestry. Through her work, she engages with visceral futurities and fantasies through a radical, kaleidoscopic lens. She is the creator of several graphic novels: From Under Mountains, Prism Stalker, A Map to the Sun, and Graveneye. She has been self-publishing her own comics since she was a teen and has done work for Pixar, Viz Media, New Republic, Image Comics, Cartoon Network, DC, Dark Horse, Namco, and more. Her fiction has appeared in many publications including Lightspeed Magazine, Dark Matter Magazine, Apex Magazine, Fireside Magazine, Analog, Realm Media and many more. She is also the co-founder of the Cartoonist Cooperative, an organization dedicated to helping cartoonists develop a generative and sustainable creative practice. She is currently living on Chinook land near what is known as Portland, Oregon with her family and two dogs.
Snap Judgment Episode 12will be livestreamed on the Apex Magazine Youtube on Monday October 28 at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT / 12 a.m. CT / 6 p.m. UTC).
Opening to General Submissions
Apexwill be open to general submissions in October and November. Our regular submission guidelines are available here. We will close in December and re-open sometime next year, until we finish reading all this year's submissions, we won't have a specific date.
Issue 146
Issue 146 of Apex Magazine continues to release on the website. With original fiction by Eugen Bacon and Clare E. Rhoden, Koji A. Dae, Victor Forma, Tia Tashiro, and Akis Linardos, flash fiction by Alex Sobel and Joshua Ginsberg, nonfiction by Renan Bernardo and Jordan Kurella, and reprints from E. Catherine Tobler and Wendy N. Wagner, this issue is absolutely overflowing!
Our cover art this month is by Marco Mazzoni, and it’s a stunner!
Will Love You Until the End of the World by Marco Mazzoni
Breath of Lifeby LH Moore
Preorders are open for Breath of Lifeby author and poet LH Moore!
Breath of Lifeis a collection of the works of author and poet LH Moore, whose history- and Afrofuturism-inspired speculative short fiction, poetry, and essays move between and blur the genres from horror to science fiction to fantasy. With themes of family and identity, rooted solidly in history and imagining the unknown—both here on Earth and beyond—Breath of Lifeis an exploration of the unexpected.
Writer, poet and historian LH Moore’s Afrofuturism- and history-inspired speculative fiction and poetry have been in numerous publications and anthologies, such as all three groundbreaking Dark Dreamsanthologies of Black horror writers; Bram Stoker Award Finalist anthology Sycorax's Daughters; Black Magic Women; Chiral Mad 4 and 5, SLAY, Conjuring Worlds, StokerCon 2019, Humans Are the Problem anthologies; and Fireside, Apex, and FIYAH magazines.
Island of the Dead by Brian Keene
World Horror Grand Master Brian Keene returns to zombies in this relentless sword and sorcery horror epic! Happy Book Birthday to Island of the Dead.
Einar, an enslaved barbarian, plots his escape from a war galley transporting troops and a mysterious weapon to far enemy shores. But when an apocalyptic storm at sea leaves Einar and his fellow captives shipwrecked on a strange, uncharted island, friend and foe alike must band together against a ravenous, steadily growing horde of the undead... and even worse dangers.
Stephen King (yes, that Stephen King) said this book, "Looks exceedingly cool." Need we say more? Orders are available now!
Not even death is an escape from the... ISLAND OF THE DEAD.
Brian Keene is the author of over fifty books, mostly in the horror, crime, and fantasy genres. He has also written for such media properties as Thor, Doom Patrol, Justice League, Doctor Who, The X-Files, Aliens, and Masters of the Universe. Several of his novels and stories have been adapted for film.
His numerous awards and honors include the 2014 World Horror Grandmaster Award, 2001 Bram Stoker Award for Nonfiction, 2003 Bram Stoker Award for First Novel, the 2016 Imadjinn Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and the 2015 Imaginarium Film Festival Awards for Best Screenplay, Best Short Film Genre, and Best Short Film Overall.
Keene also serves on the Board of Directors for the Scares That Care 501c charity organization.
He lives in rural Pennsylvania, along the banks of the Susquehanna River, with his wife (author Mary SanGiovanni), and their five cats, thirteen hermit crabs, and assorted deer, possums, raccoons, bears, eagles, and other wildlife.
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. Check out our sitededicated to our classes and workshops, including on-demand recordings!
Author and poet Azure Arthur will be teaching about "How To Write Inclusively Without Appropriation" on the 26th of October. In November, we have Premee Mohamed teaching about novel revisions.
You can find our current list of webinars here and workshops here. We also now offer pre-recorded on demand classes as well as critiques and query feedback!
Apex Flash Fiction
The Flash Fiction Contest for October 7-31—themed Vacuum Cleaner—will close on October 31. The theme for November 7-30 will be announced and will open to the public on November 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 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 a forthcoming issue of Apex Magazine.
Discord Happenings
As always, we have a fun community on our Discord, offering 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 147. We'll have our usual interviews, critique opportunities, and some 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
