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Abyss & Apex

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Hugo-Nominated Magazine of Speculative Fiction

Important: The poetry editor may not respond to all submissions. After waiting a reasonable amount of time, assume your submission will not be accepted.
Want more insight into the editors' preferences? Read our interview with the editor(s).

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States Established in 2003

Publication Medium & Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic PublicationPublished 4 x per year.

Fiction Temp Closed

Our mission is to publish the finest in human-written (no AI!) 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. A&A wants to publish powerful stories that resonate in our minds and hearts long after a first reading, stories that make 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: we like slipstream, YA, hypertext fiction, dark fantasy, science fiction puzzle stories, magical realism, hard science fiction, soft science fiction, science fantasy, urban fantasy, military science fiction, ghost stories, space opera, cyberpunk, steampunk . . . there is very little we will not look at, although we have a severe allergy to zombies, elves, retold fairy tales, sports, westerns, werewolves, vampires, and gratuitous sex and violence. We also are not interested in severely political stories, whether slanted left or right. No politics. We have no subject/topic preference, beyond a requirement that the work have a speculative element. We are happy to read stories that don’t quite seem to fit elsewhere.

Dates:

Will be open to submissions from 01 February 2025 12:00 AM EST (in 145 days) through 07 February 2025. 3

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:
GenreSubgenres
Fantasy FantasyOpen to all/most Subgenres, including: Cross-Genre, Heroic Fantasy, Magic Realism, Sword & Sorcery.
Science Fiction Science FictionOpen to all/most Subgenres, including: Cross-Genre, Hard Science Fiction.
Lengths:
Flash Fiction Flash FictionUp to 1,000 words.
Short Story Short Story1,000 - 7,500 words.
Novelette Novelette7,500 - 10,000 words.
Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Dark, Literary, Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Semi-pro payment (1-4.9 US cents per word) to Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Pay ranges from Semi-pro payment to Professional payment. Details: USD $0.08/word up to 1,000 words; flat payment of $80 for longer works.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are NOT allowed.
Media: Text.


Poetry Temp Closed

Abyss & Apex likes to see strong, emotionally resonant, literary-quality poetry with a clear speculative element (fantasy, science fiction, or surrealism in any combination. Although dark poems are encouraged, we DO NOT publish horror). There are no format or length restrictions for poetry (but try to refrain from epic-length works. Our love of poetry exceeds the space and funds we have to publish it, so acceptances for publication are highly competitive. Chopped-up prose, forced rhymes, and work with no rhythm has little chance for acceptance. Humor is fine, but the piece should still have literary merit (in both length and literary depth). Clever, cutesy poems will have to offer much more to be published. We strongly encourage that you read work in recent past issues and our senior poetry editor’s editorial focus discussed in his introduction. Poetry from its wondrous diversity of poets is welcomed from anyone regardless of cultural, social, religious, political, or any other demographic difference, but in no way does anything but the crafting of the poem itself, consistent with our aesthetics and editorial focus, will be considered in any rubric implemented to determine acceptance.

Dates:

Will be open to submissions from 01 November 2024 12:00 AM EDT (in 53 days) through 30 November 2024. 2

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:
GenreSubgenres
Fantasy FantasyOpen to all/most Subgenres, including: Cross-Genre, Heroic Fantasy, Magic Realism, Sword & Sorcery.
Science Fiction Science FictionOpen to all/most Subgenres, including: Cross-Genre, Hard Science Fiction.
Lengths:
Poem PoemNo line limits known; Up to 3 pieces.
Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms, including: Formal verse, Free verse, Haiku (or related), Hybrid form, Invented/Nonce form, Sestina.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Dark, Literary, Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Semi-pro payment (US$5-49 per poem) Semi-pro payment. Details: USD $5.50 per poem.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are NOT allowed.
Media: Text.


Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

Abyss & Apex Submission Statistics — Free Preview!

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.
AccuracyWe have received 54 reports from 48 different members within the past 12 months, not including pending responses (see below). The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.
Days Reported0 min | 65.3 mean avg | 44.5 median | 248 max days (62.3 std dev)
Responses90.74 %
Acceptances14.81 % of submissions accepted (75.4 avg. days per acceptance) | 16.67 % of submitters accepted Rejections are often underreported, which skews the statistics in favor of acceptances. Most publishers have a lower acceptance rate than indicated here.
Rejections75.93 % (56.4 avg. days per rejection) | 46.3 % personal, 34.2 % form, 19.5 % unspecified | 7.4 % shortlisted
Non-Responses9.25 %
Lost/Returned3.70 % (82.0 avg. days before reporting submissions as lost or returned)
Never Responded1.85 % (248.0 avg. days before reporting submissions as never responded)
Withdrawals3.70 % (99.0 avg. days per withdrawal)
Pending3 responses are pending (111 min | 152.3 mean avg | 128.0 median | 218 max days waiting | 57.5 std dev) from 3 different members This only includes pending reports from users who have been active on Duotrope within the past 30 days

Other Information

The editors will try to make a decision within 90 days. (27.8 % of the responses reported to us for this listing have taken longer than 90 days.)
Do not query on the status of your submission before 180 days have passed.
Submissions are acknowledged within 13 days on average.
Most recent response reported was received on 04 Sep 2024.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 01 Jul 2024.

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Dates

Last Updated: 29 Jul 2024
Last Audited: 16 Jul 2024. (We audit each active listing twice a year. Learn more at link.)
Date Added: 29 Jul 2005

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