Issue 154 released August 4!

We have original fiction by Anj Baker, Rob Cameron, A.M. Maris, Alia Ai-Ming Shahzad, Stefan Alcalá Slater, and C.M. Sullivan, flash from David R. Hoffman, RJ Aurand, and S.C. Pires, reprints from Shingai Njeri Kagunda and Justin C. Key, plus our usual essays and reviews.

Check out the cover, "Dark Thoughts", by Jeleynai.

Apex Magazine Submissions

We will be closed to submissions in August, October, and December of this year to allow us to catch up and return work to authors. We will be open in September and November. The flash fiction contest remains open monthly.

Check our submission guidelines here.

News from Violet Lichen Books

The Violet Lichen bog is buzzing with life right now. We have a book giveaway, presales, new ARCs, and upcoming releases in the works.

The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction!

ECO25: The Year's Best Speculative Ecofiction (out on November 17, 2026) is now available for preorder with 30% off both digital and paperback. Every preorder gives a bioluminescent algae its sparkle back. 

We also have ARCs available for ECO25, so if you’re a book reviewer who would love a copy, please let us know, and we’ll do our best to accommodate!

Did you miss the inaugural volume, ECO24? Enter our Storygraph Giveaway from 16 Aug 2026 - 14 Sep 2026 We are giving away 10 print copies (US and Canada only) and 100 ebook copies to the lucky winners.

More Free Books

Did you know that if you help to spread the Violet Lichen spores by asking your local library to order one of our titles for their shelves, we’ll send you a FREE ebook? Just email us proof of your request and let us know which ebook from the Violet Lichen or Apex Books catalog you’d like. Thank you for sharing our books and supporting small independent publishers!

Upcoming Releases

Our next novella release, Rae Mariz’s uniquely magical They Call the Place Wild, is slated for release Feb 18, 2027! Pitched as Richard Powers' The Overstory meets the Brothers Grimm and Slavic folklore, this is a lush dark fantasy about the stories we're told and the stories we make for ourselves. Add it to your Goodreads now!  

Apex Book Company

Check out the incredible cover by Marcela Bolivar for this release:

Released May 12th from Apex Book Company, Multitude by Marie Vibbert!

We float to the surface, and we see that there is more to the world than the ocean. We see stars.

Then one day, we hear a song from far away.

It could be nothing, a new dance of energies made by stars muttering to themselves... but it could be everything. We pull tight to your direction in the hope that the universe may gift us a conversation. A banquet.

In Australia, a SETI Technician asks her colleague, "A fake from 44 parsecs?"

In Nevada, a soldier flinches as unidentified craft fly overhead.

In Beirut, a mathematician pets her cat and thinks about language.

We are coming. For the hospice orderly with open arms, the seamstress in her alleyway shop, the lawyer angry at her neighbor's sloppy garden. For you are many, and cannot speak as one.

And yet we see you communicate without words. We see you organize and build.

We see you killing us.

For fans of Ray Nayler, Ann Leckie, and Martin MacInnes, follow the hivemind of cephalopod aliens and explore the power of language, community, and hope.

Apex Flash Fiction

The Flash Fiction Contest Theme for the August submission window is ELEGY.

The theme for September 7-31 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. First responses will be sent no later than the 15th of each month. If the portal closes before midnight in your local time zone, email rebecca.treasure@apexbookcompany.com and we'll get your story submitted. 

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?) We recently added opt-in private channels for LGBTQ+, BIPOC, ESL/International, and neurodivergent communities! Join us by subscribing or backing the Patreon.

Patreon Exclusives

On our Patreon, we have an exciting lineup of exclusives for our Patrons from the Authors of Issue 154. We'll have our usual interviews, alongside some recipes and critique opportunities, and some fun photo tours. 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

To submit anonymous feedback to Apex Magazine's editorial team, please visit this link: https://forms.gle/7B9TcFxB5V3zTS5o7