Halfway through September and there's a chill in the air. Or is it the stories in Apex? We have classes on unconventional descriptions in storytelling, writing inclusively without being appropriative, and managing anxiety in public settings, Issue 146 is releasing on the website, the book company has new releases coming soon, and more! Read on.
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
Opening to General Submissions
Apex will 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, but we aren't sure when as of now.
Unpublished Authors Submission Call
During the months of August and September, Apex Magazine will only be open to submissions from previously unpublished authors.
For this submission period, being an unpublished author means that you have never had an editor/publisher select your story for their publication. Whether or not you were paid for that publication doesn’t matter. It also means that you’ve never published your own stories either on a Patreon, through Amazon’s publishing platform, or through some other self-publishing model where you are selling your story. If you have any questions about whether or not we would consider you to be unpublished, please email lesley@apex-magazine.com.
Breath of Life by LH Moore
Preorders are open for Breath of Life by author and poet LH Moore!
Breath of Life is 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 Life is 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 Dreams anthologies 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! This will come out October 22nd!Get your preorder ASAP!
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? Preorders 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 site dedicated to our classes and workshops, including on-demand recordings!
Later this month Ai Jiang is teaching "Unconventional Descriptions and Subjectivity-Infused Storytelling". Elevate your prose with atmospheric, visceral, and juxtaposing elements, and master the craft of immersive storytelling.
Upcoming 12 October we have Rebecca E. Treasure teaching "Managing Anxiety and Public Speaking". Later that month, author and poet Azure Arthur will be teaching about "How To Write Inclusively Without Appropriation".
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 September 7-30—themed Liminality—will close on September 30. The theme for October 7-31 will be announced and will open to the public on October 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 146. 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
