— Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, chapter 4, no. 146
Abyss & Apex Magazine of Speculative Fiction
Submissions Guidelines
Publication Schedule:
Abyss & Apex publishes on a quarterly schedule.
- January (1st Quarter)
- April (2nd Quarter)
- July (3rd Quarter)
- October (4th Quarter)
Please note this is NOT our open submission schedule. Please see submission schedule here.
Submissions sent outside our submission period will be deleted unread.
- Our November 2010 reading period for short fiction and flash is CLOSED per our announcement. Please wait for our next scheduled reading period.
- We have read all of the August 2010 submissions. If you have not heard back about an August 2010 submission, please query.
- Our POETRY SUBMISSIONS are now CLOSED until December 2010.
- Please read the poetry guidelines carefully.
Please wait for our next scheduled reading period.
- What we're looking for
- General information on sending manuscripts
- Fiction
- Poetry
- Small Press Book Reviews
- Queries
- Support Abyss & Apex
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
Our mission is to publish the finest in speculative and imaginative fiction and poetry, with special attention to character-driven stories that examine the depths and heights of emotion and motivation from a broad variety of cultural and social perspectives. We want to publish powerful stories with emotion that resonates in our minds and hearts long after the first reading and makes us want to read them again and again. We look for the unique: stories that stand out in a genre that pushes the envelope of unusual. We take special delight in detailed world-building, and we enjoy reading about the realms and inhabitants of your imagination.
We have no subject/topic preference, beyond a requirement that the work have a speculative element. We are happy to read high fantasy, magic realism, hard science fiction, sword and sorcery, and genrebending stories that don't quite seem to fit elsewhere. Our tastes span the gamut from classic Golden-Age SF to modern nontraditional formats.
We will consider dark speculative fiction, but we do not publish horror. We won't publish extremely graphic violent or sexual content or over-the-top gore, and we are turned off by gratuitous foul language. In other words, if the primary purpose of the story is to scare us or make us queasy, we won't buy it.
- We accept submissions via e-mail only.
- SHORT FICTION E-mail submissions must be saved in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf).
- Please note: Poetry submissions must be copied into the body of the email. Please do not attach a separate poetry file.
- NEW: Flash submissions must be copied into the body of the email.
- We do not accept simultaneous or multiple submissions, except for poetry.
- We do not accept unsolicited reprints.
- We are not currently soliciting artists or editorial content.
FICTION including Flash Fiction
We will read your genre short stories at lengths of up to 10,000 words.
We are always interested in good flash fiction (1,500 words or less). If your story is on the borderline of flash length, consider trimming those extra words and making your short-short story even tighter and stronger.
The submissions editors at Abyss & Apex read short fiction and flash during designated reading periods ONLY, four times a year. The four one-month reading periods are
- February
- May
- August
- November (Closed for 2010!) .
- February 2011
- May 2011
- August 2011
- November 2011
Short fiction and flash received outside of these designated reading periods will be deleted without acknowledgment.
Format:
All short fiction submissions of more than 1,500 words must be in Standard Manuscript Format. That means 12-point type, double-spaced, black on white, ragged right margins; author's name and contact information on the TOP of the first page; and name, page number, and story name as a header every page thereafter. Further details are available at http://sfwa.org/writing/.
For Fiction submissions of more than 1,500 words in length, please attach your .rtf or .doc or .txt file to your email. We cannot at this time open .docx files.
Please note: Flash fiction (fewer than 1,500 words) must be submitted within the body of your e-mail message. If you wish to send a cover letter, please include it in the body of your e-mail message as well.
Please be absolutely certain to include your name and contact information on the manuscript itself. We would appreciate it if you would include a brief, two- to three-sentence bio either in the body of your e-mail message or somewhere within your attached manuscript.
Submit your work to: abyssandapex@gmail.com
with the email subject in the following format:
FICTION SUB: "Your title here"
or
FLASH FICTION SUB: "Your title here"
Please Note: We will not open or read any submissions that do not have an appropriate subject line. The subject line is important for sorting our mail; mail sent to the submissions address with an incorrect subject line may never reach us.
Response:
Our editors try their best to provide feedback on stories that are declined, but may not be able to answer specific questions on the reasons a story was not accepted. We strive to keep our response times reasonable (currently running about two months), but this may change depending on a variety of factors. Feel free toquery if you have not received a response in two months.
Payment:
If we buy your story, payment is US $.05/word (five cents a word) up to 1,500 words, and a flat payment of $75.00 for longer stories. We pay 60 days after publication.
We prefer to make author payments via PayPal. If this is unacceptable please let us know and we will make other arrangements.
We like to see strong, emotionally resonant, literary-quality poetry with a clear speculative element, as well as scifaiku and what some call "science poetry" or "astronomy poetry." Both traditional and modern or nontraditional formats are encouraged, and we have no length restrictions for poetry. Wow us with a sestina, or stun us in free verse. We admire poetry that exceeds our expectations in scansion, imagery, emotional impact and creative wordplay. We love language, and we like to see it worked for all it's worth. Our love of poetry exceeds the space and funds we have to publish it, so we accept only the very best; amaze us!
Reading Periods:
The poetry editors at Abyss & Apex read poetry during designated reading periods ONLY, four times a year. The four one-month reading periods are:
- March
- June
- September
- December
- December 2010
- March 2011
- June 2011
- September 2011
Poetry received outside these designated reading periods will be deleted without acknowledgement.
Format:
Please use this subject header for your submission email:
POETRY SUB: "Your title here"
Submit your poetry in the body of your e-mail message to aandapoetry@gmail.com.
Please note:
- You may submit up to three poems at one time.
- Please paste your poetry into the body of your submission email.
- Let us know if you'd be happy with a standard rejection form or if you want a personalized rejection. Remember that personalized rejections mean your submission will be held much longer.
Payment is a flat fee of US $5.00. We pay 60 days after publication.
We prefer to make author payments via paypal. If this is unacceptable please let us know and we will make other arrangements.
Abyss & Apex is pleased to offer small press book reviews. While we cannot review everything that comes out--the sheer number of books published makes that impossible--we will acknowledge books received. The process for getting a review is as follows:
- In keeping with the types of short fiction we publish, we will only review Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. We do NOT publish or review Horror.
- We will only accept books from small press publishers: authors need not apply.
- We will NOT accept self-published, e-published, or vanity published works.
- We require our copy of your book approximately six months in advance of a review.
- Book review requests are subject to our regularly scheduled reading periods. Please do not send A&A review requests outside of our reading periods.
- We will only accept a maximum of three books per publisher per reading period.
- We understand that shipping and printing are expensive. Books can be in pdf format, sent to A&A's submissions address with the following text in the subject line: SMALL PRESS NOVEL: (TITLE, PUBLISHER).
- Actual printed Advance Reader Copies will be sent to various editors whospecialize in subgenres. Please query for the proper mailing address. Understand that your query may not be answered until after our reading period has closed, but counts as part of the six-month advance request.
- We prefer to a publish reviews at or just before a book's release date.
- If and only if your book is to be reviewed we will request a thumbnail-sized illustration of your book cover.
For Short Fiction and Flash Fiction:
Send queries to us at abyssandapex@gmail.com.
For Poetry:Query the poetry editor at aandapoetry@gmail.com with any questions.
We try very hard to keep our response time under two months.
Please read the updates at the top of this page for current information.
SUPPORT ABYSS & APEX
We run our spaceship as lean as possible. However, as we are not a subscription-based website, if you find that the stories we publish move you to support our efforts, consider clicking the button at left to donate via PayPal. Any monies so received go directly into the maintenance of the website and paying for content. Visit our Support Us! page for more information and options for donating. Thank you!
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