2023 is well underway now. We’re busy behind the scenes prepping for Issue 136, our special Asian and Pacific Islanders Issue (Issue 137), the upcoming release of Tobias Buckell’s Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories, and managing our ongoing Kickstarter for Robotic Ambitions! We hope you are thriving and finding this year a restorative and exciting time. We’ve got a lot going on this month!

Issue 136

Issue 136 releases March 7! With cover art by Lenka Šimečková, original fiction by Coda Audeguy-Pegon, Beth Dawkins, Lavie Tidhar, Claire Humphrey, Sara Tantlinger, and S.L. Harris, flash fiction by Taryn Frazier and Rich Larson, reprints from Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Joy Baglio, and essays by Paul Weimer and Emmy Jackson, this issue is packed with amazing content. 

Robotic Ambitions

Our new anthology Kickstarter project launched February 21: Robotic Ambitions edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner. Whether striving to protect the family they’ve chosen, searching for meaning amid the chaos of the world, or questioning what it is that makes one alive, robotic ambition can mean many different things. From robots and AI to sentient mechanical devices, this anthology will explore what it means to be sentient and mechanical. Join Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner as they peel back the metal and find out what lies at the center of Robotic Ambitions.

Our submissions call for Robotic Ambitions will open in early March. Half of the stories in the anthology will come out of this call, so get your stories ready! Editors Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner are looking for stories that examine the concept of “robotic ambitions.” Using philosophical, moral, and practical points-of-view, what does it mean to be sentient and mechanical? What challenges will mechanical beings face from a fearful and chaotic world? What are their goals and ambitions?

As part of our celebration of Robotic Ambitions, we’re hosting an AMA with anchor author Renan Bernardo at 4pm eastern on March 16th. Join us on our Discord to ask the author all your burning questions!

Renan Bernardo is a science fiction and fantasy writer from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His fiction appeared in Apex Magazine, Podcastle, Escape Pod, Daily Science Fiction, Future Science Fiction, Translunar Travelers Lounge, Solarpunk Magazine, and others. He was one of the authors selected for the 2021 Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest with his story When It’s Time to Harvest. In Brazil, he was a finalist for two important SFF awards and published multiple stories. His fiction has also appeared in multiple languages, including German, Italian, Japanese, and Portuguese.

He can be found at Twitter (@RenanBernardo) and his website: www.renanbernardo.com.

Snap Judgment

Apex Magazine is excited to present SNAP JUDGMENT Episode 6 (The Slush Reader Episode!) of our rapid-fire, live-streaming critique series.

Every quarter, industry professionals Jason Sizemore, Lesley Conner, and a special guest offer live feedback on the first page (up to 250 words) of genre short stories or novels. These first pages are read aloud by our talented host and narrator, Aly Grauer.

We are pleased to announce that our special guest editor for this event is author and Apex Magazine slush reader Kai Delmas! 

Kai Delmas is a slush reader for Apex Magazine and a writer of many short short stories. He is a winner of the monthly Apex Microfiction Contest and he has a story forthcoming in Apex’s Strange Libations: Dark Cocktails. More of his fiction can be found in Martian, Etherea, Tree And Stone, Black Hare Press, Wyldblood, Flash in a Flash, Troopers, and several Shacklebound anthologies. Find him on Twitter @KaiDelmas.

Snap Judgment #6 will be livestreamed on Friday, March 10 at 1pm ET (10 am, PT 12 pm CT, 6 pm UTC).

Happy Hour with Jason and Lesley

We’re hosting extra Happy Hours this month to celebrate the Robotic Ambitions Kickstarter! 

First up, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekepi, one of our anchor authors for Robotic Ambitions, will join Jason and Lesley for a livestreamed Happy Hour chat on March 2 at 7pm eastern time.

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is an African speculative fiction writer and editor in Nigeria. He studied Law at the University of Lagos and the Nigerian Law School, Lagos campus. He is disabled and, in addition to procastination, struggles daily with chronic sinusitis, the aftereffects of pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other maladies asides the respiratory. His works have appeared and are forthcoming in Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, Tordotcom, and other venues. He has won the Otherwise, British Fantasy, and Nommo award twice, and been a finalist in the Nebula, Locus, BSFA, and Sturgeon awards. You can find him on Twitter @penprince_.

Next will be Marie Vibbert, one of our anchor authors for Robotic Ambitions, joining Jason and Lesley for a Happy Hour chat on March 7th at 7pm eastern.

Marie Vibbert has sold over 80 short stories to top magazines like Nature, Analog, Amazing Stories, Clarkesworld, and Apex.  Her work has been reprinted in Czech, Chinese, and Vietnamese and appeared in The Best Science Fiction of the Year.  Her debut novel made the British Science Fiction Awards long list in 2021 and her latest novel, The Gods Awoke, is written in First Person Omniscient!  By day she is a computer programmer in Cleveland, Ohio.

After that, Elliot Wink, the author of “A Still Life”, which is our preview story for Robotic Ambitions, will be joining us for a Happy Hour on March 9th at 7pm eastern.

Elliott Wink is a science fiction and fantasy writer with a day job. They’ve been teaching English for nearly a decade, so they spend their days analyzing writing with their students and their nights putting their own pen to paper.

Elliott has a master’s in psychology and they find people fascinating, so they usually spend a lot of time in their characters’ heads. Whether that character is drifting through outer space, navigating through a dystopian future, or in another universe entirely, they are unlikely to escape the nature of the human condition when it comes to Elliott’s stories. We are human, even when we are forging through the unknown.

Elliott lives with their very supportive husband and tri-color collie-pit mix in Northern California. When they’re not writing or watching movies, you might find them on the golf course or cooking elaborate, celiac-friendly meals.

Next up, we’ll have Premee Mohamed on March 14th at 7pm eastern.

Premee Mohamed is a Nebula, World Fantasy, and Aurora award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She is an Assistant Editor at the short fiction audio venue Escape Pod and the author of the Beneath the Rising series of novels, as well as several novellas. Her short fiction has appeared in many venues and she can be found on Twitter at @premeesaurus and on her website at www.premeemohamed.com.

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories by Tobias Buckell

Coming April 18 from Apex Book Company!

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories is Tobias S. Buckell’s seventh short fiction collection and is comprised of 15 stories, several of which are original to the collection or were previously only available through his Patreon.

This collection ranges from galactic adventures to intimate explorations of humanity—sometimes in the same story—rich with a sense of wonder and deft storytelling.

Preorder Now!

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.

You can find our current list of classes here. Classes in March include Magic & Magic Systems for Authors with Monica Valentinelli, 9 Super-Charged Writing Tips in 90 Minutes with Jason Sanford, and Managing Pace and Tension in Fiction with Tim Waggoner.

Apex Flash Fiction

The March Flash Fiction Contest—themed swallow—window will close on February 28. The April Contest theme will be announced and will open to the public on April 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.

Podcast Episode 99

Our March Podcast will be “Over Moonlit Clouds,” by Coda Audeguy-Pegon, narrator TBA. Our February Podcast was “River Bargain Baby” by K.S. Walker, narrated by Tonia Ransom.

Discord Happenings

As always, we have fun and community on our Discord: our monthly game ‘night’ with Codenames AKA Weird Brain Yoga (on the second Tuesday of every month!), critique swaps, co-writing opportunities, and general community support for writers. (Rejectomancy, anyone?)

Paul Weimer will be on our Discord on Wednesday, March 22nd at 4pm eastern for an AMA!

An expat New Yorker who has inexplicably found himself living in Minnesota in the United States for the last 17 years, Paul Weimer counters the banal mundanity of his normal life with a love of science fiction and fantasy. He pairs this with a strong interest in photography.

He is a three-time nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer and a two-time nominee for Best Fancast (The Skiffy and Fanty Show) His work can be found in many venues across the internet. and he himself, as “Princejvstin”.

Patreon Exclusives

On our Patreon, we have an exciting lineup of exclusives for our Patrons from the Authors of Issue 136. We’ll have interviews, a photo tour of an Indian museum, 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