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- Novelists, Trust Me: You Can Really Learn a Lot About Storytelling From Video Games Like Elden Ring—LitHub essay by author, Nick Newman
- SOON! AUGUST 14: Playful Storytelling - Fresh Ideas From Other Genres, with award-winning authors Carlos Hernandez and C.S.E. Cooney—registration open
- Markets and contests with submissions open or opening soon
- Coming August 29: Elevate Your Stories Using The Art Of Pacing, with Editor-In-Chief of Utopia Science Fiction Magazine, Tristan Evarts—registration open
- Uncanny Magazine Is Looking For Submissions Editors.
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There's a reason that more and more video games are being adapted for film and television. Narrative video games demand tight storytelling with compelling and controversial themes. More and more authors, like Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead, are influenced by the video games they've played most of their lives. Author of The Garden (Putnam), Nick Newman, says in this essay, "Games, as much as other books, are always forcing me to re-examine my craft."
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Stand Out From The Slush Pile
Managing Editor of Apex Magazine, Rebecca E Treasure, says the most common reason stories get rejected is that they fail to do anything new. First readers share this insight time and time again: a story can be beautifully told and perfectly executed, but if it's predictable it'll still be rejected. Having a fresh insight is your greatest asset when it comes to storytelling.
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That's why our first workshop in August is Playful Storytelling - Fresh Ideas From Different Genres led by award-winning authors Carlos Hernandez and C.S.E. (Claire) Cooney. You can never have too many creativity tools in your writer's toolbox. Borrowing some from other genres is a fantastic way to shake up your writing and surprise yourself.
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Cooney and Hernandez walk you through writing strategies from poetry, graphic novels, roleplaying games, and more. Short exercises centering solid world-building and vigorous language provide delightful, playful tools for your writer's toolbox. The workshop is open to writers of all levels of experience.
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Claire and Carlos have over 50 years combined experience in fiction, poetry, comics, game writing, and drama. Carlos is a New York Times best-selling author, CRPG lead writer and a game designer. Claire is a two-time World Fantasy Award-winner, a playwright, and a voice actor. Together they co-designed a table-top roleplaying game called Negocios Infernales that crowdfunded on Kickstarter in under 12 hours.
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You’ll leave this workshop inspired, brimming with ideas and the spirit of play that is bound to feed your creative self. Get $10 off using coupon code PLAYNL10.
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Markets and Contests
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Many thanks to Scribophile for sponsoring this week's open submissions. Scribophile is a free welcoming community of writers where you're guaranteed to get solid critiques on your work. You can also get 20% off your first purchase using coupon code APEX20.
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- 🎶 Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is open to submissions of poetry on the theme of “Digging”. Send them up to three poems before August 15th. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🚀 Fusion Fragment is open to submissions of science fiction work. Send them stories between 2,000 and 15,000 words. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🥛 Milk Candy Review is looking for “beautifully weird, lyrical flash fiction” of up to 750 words. No submissions fee!
- 🌟 Star*Line is the magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association. Send them up to five speculative poems in any style. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- ⚡️ Brilliant Flash Fiction is open to submissions of short stories of up to 1,000 words. No submissions fee!
- 🤔 The Inflectionist Review is open to submissions of poetry that “carefully constructs ambiguity.” Send them between three and seven poems of any length. No submissions fee!
- 🧜🏼♀️ The Lorelei Signal is a feminist sci-fi and fantasy magazine currently open to submissions of poetry and short fiction. Submit short stories of up to 10,000 words or up to five poems before August 15th. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- ✒️ Sideways Poetry is open to submissions of up to five poems. They prefer poems which are no longer than five pages. No submissions fee!
- 🔥 Flame Tree Publishing is expanding their mythic anthology series with volumes about the Valkyries and Odysseus. Submit stories between 3,000 and 4,000 words (approximately) before August 24th. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 💦 The Lake is an online poetry journal looking for submissions of up to five poems, any length or style. No submissions fee!
- 📚 Subtle Body Press is open to submissions of novellas between 25,000 and 35,000 words. They’re particularly interested in weird and experimental fiction. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 📖Moonstruck Books is open to direct submissions of full-length speculative fiction. Send a cover letter along with the full manuscript. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
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Registration Open
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August 29 we're excited to bring Editor-In-Chief of Utopia Science Fiction Magazine, Tristan Evarts to the Reach Your Apex community. Register for his pacing workshop today and get $10 off using coupon code AOPNL10.
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A top reason stories get rejected is problematic pacing. Join Utopia Science Fiction's editor-in-chief, Tristan Evarts to explore the art of pacing. Break pacing into digestible pieces and learn effective ways to find and fix pacing problems in your fiction. Leave with a solid understanding of and approach to pacing that’ll help you take your stories to the next level.
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Uncanny Magazine is currently seeking to add more Submissions Editors (often called slush readers). Uncanny is an online magazine that publishes Science Fiction and Fantasy and pays $.10 per word for new fiction.
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Thank you so much for being a newsletter subscriber. We love our supportive, weird, and wonderful community. Don't hesitate to reply to this email if you have something to tell us. I read every email and will respond.
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