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? Depending on the Robotic Ambitions’ Kickstarter funding level, we expect to fill the anthology with six to twelve original stories selected from an open reading period that will open in early March. The Robotic Ambitions Kickstarter launches on February 21st. Click ..read more

Apex Publications is pleased to announce the launch of our Reach Your Apex initiative to offer affordable workshop and seminars led by professionals in the field of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. This coming December we have four workshops available. Each are priced at less than $20. • Writing an Effective Short Story Opening led by Jason Sizemore • Writing an Effective Short Story Ending led by Jason Sizemore • Novel Pitch Practice led by Rebecca Treasure • Don't Sell Your Soul: Dissecting the Short Story Contract by Leah Ning and Rebecca Treasure All workshops/seminars are led over Zo ..read more

by guest author Tobias Buckell As someone with ADHD I tend to seek out novelty. As a reader, it leads me to wanting new books, and unlike many friends, I find that I don’t re-read books. There are so many, who has the time? Yet, because I didn’t have a lot of money growing up, I did re-read the books I collected a lot, and some of them I still come back to. Here are some of the titles that leap out at me: 1) A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge Vernor Vinge’s internet-inspired 90s science fiction novel blew my mind back in high school, and I must have re-read that book multiple dozens of times ..read more

by guest author Michael Wehunt   Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell If forced to choose a favorite book, I would weep and beg and swear I couldn’t do it but in the end choose this epic era-sweeping puzzle of a masterpiece. It’s a joy to revisit every few years just to admire how the story bleeds across its disparate but connected protagonists—beginning in the 1800s and ending in the far-flung future—through beautiful writing, inventive narrative structure, and a timeless mingling of fate and chance that still captures me every single time. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova A lot of my rer ..read more

We can't take credit for this one. Kameron Hurley's team put together a really cool book trailer for Future Artifacts: Stories. It's catchy, it's bright, and the music is appropriate. Preorders for Future Artifacts: Stories opens tomorrow ..read more

Apex Book Company is pleased to share that we have added new functionality to our website. Customers can leave reviews of books. Here is an example: https://www.apexbookcompany.com/collections/novellas/products/the-kraken-sea-dark-fantasy-novella To leave a review, all you need to do is scroll toward the bottom of page and hit the "Write a review" button. Customer reviews are a fantastic way of building reader trust and providing "social proof" that a book is of high quality. It also will help others decide whether the book is what they were expecting based on reading the synopsis. A win-win f ..read more

Apex Book Company is excited to share this preview of the cover art for Kameron's Hurley's coming collection Future Artifacts: Stories. Cover art and design by Mikio Murikami. Future Artifacts: Stories will contain the following works of short fiction: Sky Boys Overdark The Judgement of Gods and Monsters Broker of Souls The One We Feed Corpse Soldier Levianthan Unblooded The Skulls of Our Fathers Body Politic We Burn Antibodies The Traiter Lords Wonder Maul Doll Our Prisoners, the Stars The Body Remembers Moontide Citizens of Elsewhen Preorders will launch next Wednesday at 10am. Bookmark our ..read more

It's February and in the genre literary award scene that means it is awards season. Hugo Awards Hugo Award voting is currently open. The deadline to vote is March 15th. Plague Birds is eligible in the Best Novel category. https://chicon.org/home/whats-happening/hugo-awards/ Nebula Awards Nebula Award voting is currently open. The deadline to vote is February 28th, so hurry and place your votes! Plague Birds is eligible in the Best Novel category. https://nebulas.sfwa.org/about-the-nebulas/how-to-vote-rules/ Locus Awards The Locus Award voting is currently open. Voting is open to everyone. The ..read more

Apex congratulates Jason Sanford for an amazing achievement. His debut novel, Plague Birds, has been named a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award. First prize and any special citations will be announced on Friday, April 15, 2022 at Norwescon 44. The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States during the previous calendar year. The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust and the award ceremony is sponsored by ..read more

I enjoy reading with musical accompaniment. I do this more with books, but a list of short fiction provides even more excitement, because I get to pick a song per story. What happens is that I end up enjoying each work as an experience of words and waves, of sound and story. So when I learnt the Apex Book of World SF Volume 5 was forthcoming, I took a peek into the TOC Jason spoke to Cristina (this volume's co-editor) about creating a playlist in anticipation. Today, I'm sharing Cristina's playlist with you all. It means that when you get your copy of ABWSF5, not only do yo ..read more