If what goes on?
Looking at the state of the world today, we are clearly at a nexus of inflection points. Global relations and power structures are changing more rapidly than they have since the cold war. The divide between the haves and have nots is broadening and we are at the start of a new gilded age of robber barons and crippling poverty. Racial, social, and class relations are stretched to a point of breaking. Global climate change threatens to remake our planet.
The choices we make today; the policies of our governments and the values that we, as people, embrace are going to shape our world for decades to come. Or break it.
IF THIS GOES ON asks a very straightforward question - what happens if things continue to be like this and what happens next?
We asked thirty writers to put their minds to it and show us what the future may hold a generation or more from today. To show us the promise of a better world if we embrace our better angels or the cost of our failures if we give in to the demons of divisiveness, if we allow politicians and pundits to redefine truth, and if we continue to ignore the warnings all around us.
And we can't wait to share their stories.
Stretch Goals (Updated 13 June)
Since we are rapidly approaching our funding level, we wanted to take a moment and share our stretch goals with you.
$13,000 - We were fortunate to have a number of submission readers for this project who volunteered their time and expertise. If we reach the $13K mark, we'll be able to pay them for their time. And we'll throw in bookmarks featuring Bernard Lee's amazing ITGO cover art for all you paperback backers (For your backpacks, you backers of paperbacks).
$20,000 - If we can double our goal, we'll be able to print a copy of IF THIS GOES ON for each member of the Senate and deliver them to the Senate office building in Washington, DC.
$25,000 - At this level, we can increase the pay to all of our contributors by 20%. Our contributors have put forth some amazing work and we'd love to be able to reward them more for that effort.
$30,000 - If we can triple our goal, we can print copies of the anthology for every delegation to the House of Representatives (Including our non-voting friends from Puerto Rico, American Somoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, The US Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia).
About the Book:
IF THIS GOES ON is a collection of 30 original short stories from writers across the spectrum of experience. We have both longtime pros and debut writers whose names you'll be seeing for years to come. The book will be available in eBook and Paperback to the general public on 16 October but our backers will be able to get their hands on the book early. If hardcovers are more your thing, there is a hardcover edition of the book that is available only here on Kickstarter.
This collection is 91,000 words of original political SF that speaks truth to power and shows the long-term consequences of our short-term weaknesses. We'd love your support.
Who are we?
We are Parvus Press, a small publisher of science fiction and fantasy, with four novel releases under our belts. Our driving goal is to help bring compelling stories to our readers and publish books so good you won't be able to put them down.
This anthology, curated by the amazing Cat Rambo, is our first short fiction collection.
Find out more about us and explore our other titles at www.ParvusPress.com or engange with us on Twitter (@ParvusPress)
Why does this project matter?
It matters because like you, we're watching the world change on a daily basis: breaking news interrupted by more breaking news; children dying and our leaders respond with thoughts and prayers instead of action; our rivers poison the most vulnerable people in our society; and the wealth of our world gets concentrated more and more into the hands of fewer and fewer oligarchs without a single moral compass to share between them.
As publishers of fiction and producers of art, we feel a need to speak up and out through our platform. We want to call for a better future. A more equitable society. A world that realizes the brightest dreams of the best minds our genre has to offer. A world where children can live without fear of their neighbors or their government. Without worrying where their next meal will come. A world where a teenager can step into school without wondering whether today is the day they get asked to prom or they day lose their life to a mass shooting.
Where you come in
Your support makes not only this anthology but also allows us make sure we spread the word of this anthology to your Governors, Representatives, Senators and other elected officials. We're going to use your support to send copies of this anthology to America's political leaders and to be sure that the message is clear: America is on a dark path and if they don't stand up for the people they serve, we will be living not in the brilliant democracy dreamt of long ago but in the dystopias which have recently dominated the zeigeist.
All of the stories for this anthology are completed and we are already assembling the final book. With your help, we can amplify the voices of thirty gifted authors and spread a message of warning and a promise of hope for a better world.
Truth matters, stories matter.
The full Table of Contents, organized alphabetically by the author's last name is:
- Cyd Athens - Welcome to Gray
- Steven Barnes - The Dayveil Gambit
- Rachel Chimits - Dead Wings
- Paul Crenshaw - Bulletproof Tattoos
- Beth Dawkins - Tasting Bleach and Decay in the City of Dust
- Andy Duncan - Mr. Percy's Shortcut
- Chris Kluwe – The Machine
- Kitty-Lydia Dye - Three Data Units
- Scott Edelman - The Stranded Time Traveler Embraces the Inevitable
- Judy Helfrich - A Pocketful of Dolphins
- Langley Hyde - Call and Answer
- Gregory Jeffers - All the Good Dogs Have Been Eaten
- Jamie Lackey - Fine
- Jack Lothian - Good Pupils
- Nick Mamatas - Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than The Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness
- Lynette Mejía - A Gardener's Guide to the Apocalypse
- Aimee Ogden - Twelve Histories Scrawled in the Sky
- Sarah Pinsker - That Our Flag Was Still There
- Conor Powers-Smith - The Sinking Tide
- Zandra Renwick - Making Happy
- Kathy Schilbach - Counting the Days
- Nisi Shawl - King Harvest Will Surely Come
- Priya Sridhar - Mustard Seeds and the Elephants Foot
- Marie L Vibbert - Free Wi-Fi
- Calie Voorhis - The Editor's Eyes
- Tiffany E. Wilson - One Shot
- James Wood - Discobolos
- Sylvia Spruck Wrigley - Choose Your Own Adventure
- E. Lily Yu - Green Glass: A Love Story
- Hal Y. Zhang - But for Grace
Cover art by Bernard Lee. Design by Michael Altmann.
Risks and challenges
Publishing any product always carries with it the potential for delays, errors, or unforeseeable costs. Part of the development schedule and rigorous planning for this anthology has been specifically done to account for the "We didn't think this was going to happen" situations, so that every point in the chain of production - from editing to layout to deliverables is well aware of what could go wrong and what to do if it does.
We have the experience of releasing four novels so far with a proven track record of success and three others in production at current, so this is far from our first project as a team. We also have a very experienced editor in Cat Rambo who is familiar with the anthology process.
At the time of this crowdfunding effort, the anthology is well into its production, and the money raised here helps us to bring a larger audience to the important message of this collection. Your help will get us through the last leg of production sooner and ensure a release before this year's mid-terms.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterQuestions about this project? Check out the FAQ
Support
Funding period
- (30 days)