Our magazine is a SFWA-certified professional market.
Editor-in-chief: Lesley Conner
Managing & Flash Fiction Editor: Rebecca E. Treasure
Special Fiction Editor & Reprints: Maurice Broaddus
Nonfiction Editor: ZZ Claybourne
APEX MAGAZINE AI POLICY
Apex Magazine does not accept submissions of any kind that were written, developed or assisted by tools such as ChatGPT. While we love publishing and reading stories about AI, we want them created and conceived by flesh and blood beings. Any attempt to submit AI-aided work may result in being
permanently banned from our magazine.
Apex Magazine recognizes that non-native English speakers face a disparity when it comes to translation and access to English markets. However, we do not allow submissions generated by or edited by AI. We allow direct translation software to be used for stories – that is, non-generative AI (eg. Google Translate) – submitted to Apex. However, generative AI programs (eg. ChatGPT) may not be used for translation.
ORIGINAL SHORT FICTION GUIDELINES
1) Submit your work in Shunn Standard Manuscript Format (Modern or Classic). Your manuscript should be in DOC, DOCX, RTF, or ODT file format. Inclusion of mailing address and phone number is not required.
2) Maximum word length is a firm 9,000 words. Anything more will be auto-rejected.
3) Payment for original fiction is $.08 per word up to 9,000 words. Minimum of $50.
4) If we podcast your story, additional payment is $.01 per word up to 9,000 words.
5) If the work you are submitting is an English translation, please include the translator name and email address either in your cover letter or within your manuscript. By submitting, you are verifying in good faith that you have the right to have your translated work published in Apex Magazine.
6) Apex Magazine welcomes and encourages submissions from writers of all races, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, and military status.
We want diverse voices. We value diverse voices. Saying that, please be aware that we do not collect any information that might clue our editors to any of these attributes other than your name, email, and cover letter before any decisions are made regarding your submission.
7) Ready to submit your work? Head over to our Moksha account and upload your story!
https://apexbookcompany.moksha.io/
Stories submitted by email or sent via the postal service will be disposed of unread.
ORIGINAL FLASH FICTION GUIDELINES
1) Submit your work in Shunn Standard Manuscript Format (Modern or Classic). Your manuscript should be in DOC, DOCX, RTF, or ODT file format. Inclusion of mailing address and phone number is not required.
2) Apex Magazine’s Flash Fiction Contest is open to the public from the 7th until the final day of each month. The contest is also themed. If your story does not meet our monthly theme, it will be rejected. The new theme for each month can be found on our Patreon.
3) We continue to keep our focus on literary genre fiction: horror, science fiction, and fantasy. We do not accept multiple submissions or simultaneous submissions due to the contest structure. Winners will be published as an exclusive on our Patreon before appearing in Apex Magazine.
Winners will be asked to wait an issue cycle before submitting again (Eg. October/November winners will be asked to wait until February/March to submit).
4) Maximum word length is a firm 1,000 words. Anything more will be auto-rejected.
While there is no minimum word count, please be aware we are looking for complete stories, not vignettes.
5) Payment for original fiction is $0.08 per word up to 1,000 words. Minimum of $10.
6) If the work you are submitting is an English translation, please include the translator name and email address either in your cover letter or your manuscript. By submitting, you are verifying in good faith that you have the right to have your translated work published in Apex Magazine.
7) Apex Magazine welcomes and encourages submissions from writers of all races, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, and military status.
We want diverse voices. We value diverse voices. Saying that, please be aware that we do not collect any information that might clue our editors to any of these attributes other than your name, email, and cover letter before any decisions are made regarding your submission.
8) We do not accept reprints. Our policy on work published to Patreon is that the story will be treated as a reprint.
9) Stories rejected from our flash fiction contest are ineligible for submission to Apex Magazine. However, you can submit different stories to the magazine and the flash contest simultaneously.
10) Ready to submit your work? Head over to our Moksha account and upload your story!
https://apexbookcompany.moksha.io/
REPRINTS
We do not accept unsolicited reprints.
PATREON FICTION POLICY
Our policy on work published to Patreon is that the story will be treated as a reprint and will be paid at our reprint rate. If you’re a pro-level writer (by SFWA affiliate standards) with a Patreon and have a story you’d like us to consider, please query first.
POETRY
We currently do not publish poetry.
RIGHTS AND RULES
No multi-submissions for short fiction. We try to respond to all submissions within 60 days. If your story is under further consideration by our editor-in-chief or managing editor, then expect longer wait times. Simultaneous submissions are allowed for the magazine, but we ask you withdraw upon acceptance elsewhere as soon as possible.
Before you submit your work, please review the appropriate contract template. If we accept your work, we will expect you to be familiar with our terms. Thanks!
Original Short Fiction
Reprint Fiction
Nonfiction
Translator
ARTWORK QUERIES
We are not taking artwork submissions or queries at this time.
SUPPORTING APEX MAGAZINE
Apex Magazine strives to be writer/artist/translator friendly. Here are some of the steps we take to make sure we remain writer friendly.
Apex Magazine is open eleven months a year (we take a breather in December) for submissions.
All our original stories are pulled from the slush pile. We don’t pre-fill our issues with solicited work.
We don’t like narrow submission windows.
We share our contracts for everyone to review prior to submission so that there are no surprises.
Our first tier rejection goal is 60 days. If you make it past the slush team to our editor-in-chief, that can take a few months.
