An anthology series exploring the vast horizons of human possibility, from the great plains to the great galaxies, from the grubby hands to the clenched fists to the grasping claws, from slashing swords to sparkling starships, from the grime and muck of the stable to the splendor and desolation of alien worlds. The human story is one of pressure and tragedy and triumph in our pursuit of Open Vistas.
We are now taking submissions for the first of four anthologies we’ll be doing in 2022 (announcements for the other three will follow shortly). No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you think, we want to hear from you. We’re looking for daring, well-told stories to delight, discomfit, provoke, and thrill the reader.
And what, you may ask, is this first anthology?
After the Peak
Economic growth. Population explosions. World trade. Scientific progress. Geopolitical stability. All of it depends on one thing that has always been true as long as anyone can remember: Population grows. Every generation will be larger than the one that came before.
That fact translates to greater prosperity (on average) from one generation to the next. It means greater complexity and more possibilities (political, social, economic, and religious) from one generation to the next.
Every political and economic philosophy—fascism, capitalism, communism, democratic socialism—is built around this one, basic fact.
When the Allies planned the post-War peace at Breton Woods in 1944, they built this fact into their calculations. Every geopolitical, economic, social welfare, educational, and infrastructure institution has been built around the assumption that growth will continue, more or less without limit, indefinitely.
Now things are different. Due to rising wealth, rising equality between the sexes, and easy access to birth control, global birth rates are on the decline. Global population is about to follow. Japan was the first nation to enter the post-growth world, but it’s done so in the context of a world economy that was still growing.
The world of the 2030s will be unlike anything anyone has ever seen. Every world economy will be on the decline in terms of raw GDP. Retirees will make up nearly half of the population. Succeeding generations will continue to get smaller.
What possible futures will humans chart through such waters? What technological solutions might we invent for this post-growth world, and how will they effect society? What new kinds of political economy might we invent? What will debt look like when today’s income and tax revenue won’t necessarily be smaller than tomorrow’s? Will we see the return of fertility cults? Polygamy? Religious communitatrianism? Will the Amish get into politics?
One of the social functions of Science Fiction is to explore possible futures. In this anthology, I want your ideas and visions: comedic, tragic, triumphant, and terrifying. I want stories that take the premise seriously and explore how it effects the characters and their world—and what it might mean for ours. Show me what happens After the Peak.
To submit your story, email editor @ everydaynovelist.com (be sure to use the phrase “After the Peak” in the subject line), or use the form on this page.
For payment and other business details, see this page.
jdsawyer
After a childhood in academia, J. Daniel Sawyer declared his independence by dropping out of high school and setting off on a series of adventures in the bowels of the film industry, the venture capital culture of silicon valley, surfing safaris, bohemians, burners, historians, theologians, adventurers, climbers, drug dealers, gangbangers, and inventors before his past finally caught up to him.
Trapped in a world bookended by one wall falling in Berlin and other walls going up around suburbia and along national borders throughout the world, he rediscovered his deep love of history and, with it, and obsession with predicting the future as it grew aggressively out of the past.
To date, this obsession has yielded over thirty books and innumerable short stories, the occasional short film, nearly a dozen podcasts stretching over a decade and a half, and a career creating novels and audiobooks exploring the world through the lens of his own peculiar madness, in the depths of his own private forest in a rural exile, where he uses the quiet to write, walk on the beach, and manage a production company that brings innovative stories to the ears of audiences across the world.
For news and free stories, sign up for his occasional newsletter. Or find his contact info, podcasts, and more on his home page at http://www.jdsawyer.net
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