Updates:

• Our August 2008 reading period for short fiction and flash is now CLOSED.
  • We are responding to submissions as quickly as possible.
  • We have cleared short fiction/flash fiction submissions through May 2008. If you submitted before May 1, 2008, you should have heard from us.
  • Most submissions for May 2008 have been read and received a response. We're currently working through our second opinion file.
• NEW! We will now consider flash fiction stories up to 1,500 words.
  • Please be sure to use the header: FLASH SUBMISSION for your flash submission email. Flash stories are considered separately (and sooner) from full-length stories.
• Our POETRY SUBMISSIONS are OPEN for the month of September 2008.
  • Please review the new poetry guidelines.

• What we're looking for
• General information on sending manuscripts
• Fiction
• Poetry
• 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We will consider dark speculative fiction, but we do not publish horror.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.

GENERAL INFORMATION

• We accept submissions via e-mail only.

• E-mail submissions must be saved in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf).

• 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

We will read 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.

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Reading Periods:

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.

• August 2008 for the 4th Quarter 2008 Issue 28 (published October)
• November 2008 for the 1st Quarter 2009 Issue 29 (published January 2009.)

Short fiction and flash received outside of these designated reading periods will be deleted without acknowledgment.

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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/.

Flash fiction (fewer than 1,500 words) may 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.

Attach your submission to an e-mail message in Microsoft Word or .rtf (Rich Text Format) and submit it to: editor@abyssandapex.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.

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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 to query if you have not received a response in two months.

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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.

POETRY

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!

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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

• September 2008 for the 4th Quarter Issue 28 (published October 2008)
• December 2008 for the 1st Quarter Issue 29 (published January 2009)

Poetry received outside these designated reading periods will be deleted without acknowledgement.

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Format:

Please use this subject header for your submission email:

POETRY SUB: "Your title here"

Submit your poetry either in the body of an e-mail message or as an attachment (Word, RTF, and txt are fine) to aandapoetry@gmail.com.

• You may submit up to three poems at one time.
• An exception is haiku or other extremely short forms; if you have four or five related short pieces. You may submit those together.

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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.

QUERIES

For Short Fiction and Flash Fiction:

Send queries to us at editor@abyssandapex.com.

Query the poetry editor at aandapoetry@gmail.com with any questions.

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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.

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