Apex welcomes you to the declining months of 2024. Join us under the dying leaves, amidst the turbulent winds, and read what our authors have to share.
Issue 146
Issue 146 of Apex Magazine releases on September 3rd. 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
2025 Kickstarter Results
Our 2025 Kickstarter reached our goal of $15,000 and exceeded it to reach $22,889! We are still figuring out as a team what exactly that means for next year, but we know we get to keep sharing beautiful, strange, shocking, and surreal fiction with you and we are so grateful. Thank you to every single person who backed, shared, and cheered for us!
Unpublished Authors Submissions Call
From EiC Lesley Conner:
During August and September, Apex will only be open to submissions from authors who have never been paid for their published works. The total payment does not matter. It could be a token $5 or a few dollars from self-published works on Amazon or Patreon. If you have never been paid for any fictional writing, then we want to see your stories during this special submission period.
We will close to regular submissions during August and September. If, after going through all of the submissions we currently have and those we receive during the unpublished authors window, we still have room for more stories in 2025, then we will open to regular submissions in October and November. But this is a big IF. At this moment, we have only secured funding for three issues of Apex Magazine in 2025. That works out to 60,000 words of original fiction for the year. 10,000 of that is earmarked for previously unpublished authors, which means unless we unlock additional issues during our Kickstarter, I am only looking for 50,000 words of original fiction for 2025 and we currently have around 1,000 submissions still under consideration. If we do not unlock additional issues, there is a high likelihood that I will fill all of 2025 from stories that have already been submitted.
All the details: https://apex-magazine.com/apex-blog/unpublished-author-submissions-call/
Issue 145
Issue 145 continues to be released on the website through the month of August. Cover art by Silvia Moravčíková Bobeková, original fiction by Daniela Tomova, Stephen M.A., Marie Croke, and Pamela Rentz, flash by Akis Linardos and Anne Wilkins, essays by Christopher Mark Rose and Malon Edwards, Marissa van Uden's interviews with authors Stephen M.A. and Marie Croke, and reprints from T.K. Rex and Christi Nogle. A.C. Wise continues the wonderful Words for Thought short fiction review column, and Leah Ning reviews Kelsea Yu’s It’s Only a Game. This issue is full of strange and literary stories – join us in letting them seep into the quiet, secret places of your skull you never knew were there.
Dreamer by Silvia Moravčíková Bobeková, cover design by Justin Stewart
Island of the Dead by Brian Keene
World Horror Grand Master Brian Keene returns to zombies in this relentless sword and sorcery horror epic!
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!
Upcoming later this month we have Arley Sorg teaching "Pitches, Queries, and the Secret Handshake: Best Practices for Engaging With Agents and Editors". In September, the brilliant Ai Jiang will be teaching about "Unconventional Descriptions and Subjectivity-Infused Storytelling".
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 August 7-31—themed Obituary—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 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 145. 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
