CALL FOR ESSAYS - Changing of the Guards: Pluto on the Precipice

Seeking essays for an anthology on Pluto's shift from Capricorn to Aquarius

I am now seeking paid writers for Changing of the Guards: Pluto on the Precipice. The essay anthology format will be similar to Impossible Dreams: Hopes, Fears, and Expectations for Saturn in Pisces.

My inspiration for the title is Bob Dylan’s song “Changing of the Guards.” The lyrics begin, “Sixteen years, sixteen banners united over the field.” Of course, that’s roughly the length of Pluto’s current transit through Capricorn, 2008 to 2024.

This year, Pluto is completing its move from one sign ruled by Saturn to another sign ruled by Saturn. Pluto in Aquarius will be different from Pluto in Capricorn, but perhaps there will also be some overlap in trends and tendencies. I therefore want the collective work of Changing of the Guards to gaze in both directions like Janus, though some writers will focus on the Capricorn end and others on the Aquarius end.

I am not looking for overly broad survey pieces that provide an overview of the whole Pluto in Capricorn or Pluto in Aquarius era. I want each writer to dig deep into a unique, specific, relatable topic. Sharing personal experiences is welcome but not mandatory — no one alive today has personal memories of the last Pluto in Aquarius transit, which was in the 1700s, unless they are very good at past life regressions. Examples of what I’m looking for include:

• I served on the political campaign for Barack Obama/Bernie Sanders/Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump/same-sex marriage/whatever candidate/whatever cause, and here is how I think that campaign reflected the zeitgeist of Pluto in Capricorn.

• While Pluto in Capricorn transited my 6th house, I had some really interesting experiences with alternative medicine.

• Here is how Pluto’s transit through Capricorn played out in the visible activities of a specific celebrity or public figure.

• A particular issue started to develop during the Pluto in Capricorn transit now winding down, and here is how I think it will develop further during Pluto’s transit in Aquarius.

• Here is a writer who was prominent during the last Pluto in Aquarius transit in the 1700s, and here is how that writer’s work might be relevant to our circumstances over the next several years. 

• Here is a particular technology or trend that has been revisited over the course of multiple Pluto in Aquarius cycles, and here is how it might reappear this time around.

• Here’s something that happened when Uranus or Neptune was last in Aquarius, and here’s how I think it might be revisited when Pluto enters Aquarius.

I am looking for a writing voice that is not too technical. I want enough astrology to keep astrologers interested, but I also want enough English to pull readers with less astrological knowledge along. I look at these anthologies as a way to introduce people to astrology in the context of current cultural affairs.

Writers will be paid $200 for an essay of 2,000 to 4,000 words. This works out to $0.10 to $0.05 per word. 4,000 words is not a hard upper limit — you can go a little longer if you’re really on a roll, but that will make your payment per word lower, and I’m okay with that if you are.

Payment will take place by PayPal or an equivalent service that allows me to pay you by credit card. I am not going to be able to write checks because Impossible Dreams has not sold enough copies and my crypto investments have not taken off either. Fortunately, Changing of the Guards is possible because I got a new credit card with a very generous offer of 0% APR for more than a year. Impossible Dreams was similarly funded with a credit card promotional offer, and that has at least been paid off at this point.

I don’t care what font you submit the essay in. However, we will be using the Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago is the style that omits spaces on the sides of the em dash and writes out numbers — those are the most obvious differences between Chicago and Associated Press style, and the latter is what I use in my blog posts. The 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style will be released during August 2024, and I have preordered my copy.

Although Impossible Dreams had color graphics, I don’t want to do color graphics for Changing of the Guards because it just got too complicated and made the printing costs too high. Black and white astrological charts, data tables, or other graphics can be included, though.

I may also have an opening for a cover artist on this book. Email astrologybooks@proton.me if interested.

Deadlines:

August 6: Email proposed essay topics to astrologybooks@proton.me for approval. (This may be a new email address for some correspondents.) Writers should start with one proposed topic, but if I do not receive ten approved essay topics by this date, I will give approved writers the option to submit a second essay. I will also have paperwork regarding rights ready for writers by this date.

September 9: Essays submitted to astrologybooks@proton.me.

October 4: Edits to essays approved and writers paid.

Mid-November: Book published in e-book and paperback formats on at least Amazon.com (using Kindle Direct Publishing) and hopefully IngramSpark too.