The mission of Abyss & Apex is to publish the finest in speculative and imaginative fiction, with special attention to character-driven stories that examine the depths and heights of human motivation. We are looking for stories that leave us gasping, dizzy, and perhaps momentarily changed. Stories with voice and presence--and power.

Stories that are about something.

This is not to say, however, that we wish to be preached to. We believe that the essential element of story is just that--story.

We want strong fantasy, magic realism, science fiction, and especially those genrebending stories that don't quite seem to fit anywhere. Our tastes span the gamut from classical, Golden-Age SF to modern nontraditional formats. We don't mind experimental styles. We are, however, discriminating. And opinionated.

And we read a lot, so it may be hard to surprise us.

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Submissions:

FICTION:

We are interested in lengths from flash fiction up to 10,000 words. Payment is US $.03 cents/word up to a maximum of $40.00 OP. Hopefully, someday we will be able to pay pro rates for longer stories as well.

We have no genre preference, beyond a requirement that the story have a speculative element. However, we admit to a certain dislike of stories that we feel we may have read before.

POETRY:

We are interested in strong, resonant, literary-quality poetry. Both traditional and modern formats are encouraged. However, poetry with little attention to scansion and imagery will stand little chance with us. There are other markets that encourage a prosy poetical style. We love language, and we like to see it worked for all it's worth.

Poetry to fifty lines; payment is US $.03 cents/line OP.

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GENERAL:

All submissions must be Standard Manuscript Format (that means fixed-width serif font, 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. Details are available at www.sfwa.org if you are confused) affixed to an email in .rtf (Rich Text Format) and submitted to:

with the email header in the following format:

FICTION (or) POETRY SUB: "Your title here"

If you desire, cover letters may be typed in the body of the email or attached as an additional .rtf file. We will not open or read any submissions not sent in .rtf format, nor will we open or read any submissions that do not have an appropriate title line.

Please be absolutely certain to include your name and contact information on the manuscript itself. We cannot be responsible for manuscripts that do not carry this information.

Please submit only to the address above. Submissions sent to the editorial addresses will not be read.

We strive to honor your time and effort and keep our return times under a month.

Unfortunately, we are not currently soliciting artists or editorial content.

Please, no multiple or simultaneous submissions.

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QUERIES:

May be addressed to

SUPPORT Abyss & Apex:

We're running a lean ship here (keeps the editors meaner if they're hungry, and we like that).

However, as we are *not* a subscription-based website, if you find that the stories we publish move you to support our efforts, consider contacting us at editor@klio.net with donations. Any monies so received go directly into the maintenance of the website and paying for content and editorial duties.

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Co-Published by ByrenLee & Sobbing Squonk Presses