With all the wild weather ravaging the planet, we hope this update finds you and your loved ones safe and secure. September is a busy month for us, let's dive in!
Issue 140
Issue 140 will release September 5th. Cover art by Aaron Nakahara, original fiction by Lyndsie Manusos, Zohair, Lucy Zhang, Victor Forna, Sarah Hollowell, and Rich Larson, flash by Chelsea Sutton and Elisabeth Ring, essays by Dana Cameron and Mariano Villarreal, and reprints from Eugen Bacon and Tonya Liburd. And some exciting news! This is a quieter issue, with introspective pieces that we hope make you think and feel deeply.
Map of Lost Places Submissions Guidelines and Kickstarter
Editors Sheree Renée Thomas and Lesley Conner are looking for stories about places where weird things happen. Places that have strange histories, their own traditions and customs, their own dangers. These can be based on real folk tales or old wives tales - think the Mothman in Point Pleasant, WV - or ones that you come up with all on your own. But your story should tell of someone going to one of these places - either intentionally or they just stumble across it - and what happens when they encounter the frightening/strange thing that is in or occurs in that location.
Depending on the Map of Lost Places Kickstarter funding level, we expect to fill the anthology with eight to twelve original stories selected from an open reading period. The Kickstarter will launch on October 10 - click here to be notified as soon as it happens! The open call for stories will begin December 1, 2023.
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. We just launched a website dedicated to our classes and workshops, including on-demand recordings!
You can find our current list of classes here. Classes in September include Keep It Short: Writing Flash Fiction with Rebecca E. Treasure, Outlining Your Novel with Premee Mohamed, and Decoding the Submission Grinder with founder and developer David Steffen! We also have a class with Ai Jiang upcoming and a very exciting multi-session course on Jeff VanderMeer's The Wonderbook with Darian Bianco.
Apex Flash Fiction
The Flash Fiction Contest for August 7-31—themed Optophobia—will close on August 31. The theme for September 7-30 will be announced and will open to the public on September 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.
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 140. We'll have interviews, a critique opportunity, 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
