For Your Consideration: Best Fanzine & Best Fan Writer
The deadline to buy a Hugo Supporting Membership in order to nominate for this year's Hugo's is fast approaching: Thursday, January 31st is the deadline if you want to get three-for-one awesomeness: the ability to nominate for THIS year's Hugo's, the ability to VOTE for this year's Hugo's, and the ability to nominate for next year's Hugo's. It's a sweet deal (that went up ten bucks to $60, unfortunately), so if you want to have your voice heard in the nomination process, now's the time.
But of course, nominations themselves aren't due until March. There's plenty of time to decide who's deserving of what, and in that vein, I want to highlight some of my favorite categories and ask that you consider the following potential nominees. I'm not going to tell you to vote for these, nor am I necessarily going to vote for everything I'm promoting. But I am seriously considering it, and I ask that if you're going to nominate this year, that you do the same.
Today, I want to talk about Best Fanzine and Best Fan Writer. Why both in one post? Because it's damn confusing if you want to nominate bloggers, that's why.
Let's look at what the official site says about these categories, before I talk about who I'm seriously going to consider nominating:
Best Fanzine: This Award is for anything that is neither professional nor semi-professional and that does not qualify as a Fancast. The publication must also satisfy the rule of a minimum of 4 issues, at least one of which must have appeared in the year of eligibility.
Best Fan Writer: This is another person category. Note that it does not just apply to writing done in fanzines. Work published in semiprozines, and even on mailing lists, blogs, BBSs, and similar electronic fora, can be including when judging people for this Award. Only work in professional publications should not be considered.
Now, one clarification from the official site regarding the method of distribution:
Works published electronically rather than on paper have always been accepted as nominees. A decision of the 2009 WSFS Business Meeting formally acknowledged this by ratifying a Constitutional Amendment that added the words “or the equivalent in other media” to various category definitions. There is no requirement that a work be published on paper (for written/graphic fiction and non fiction), on film or video tape (for dramatic presentations), or that it be distributed through any traditional methods such as bookstores, movie theatres, etc. In other words, publishing and distributing your work on a web site is exactly the same as having copies of your book in a bookstore or your movie shown in a movie theatre. Aside from the fundamental distinctions between written, graphic, and dramatic works, medium of distribution has nothing to do with a work’s eligibility.
So, what does all this official language even mean? I did a little research, talking to people who've voted in the Hugos for many years, to ask where blogs and bloggers fit into the above categories. I've seen the same sites nominated as both best fanzine and the authors of those sites nominated as best fan writer. Originally, I was told the distinction was a very specific thing: issues. Blogs don't have issues of something. They just post. That made great sense to me, and my plan was to nominate the authors of those blogs under Best Fan Writer instead. However, it was astutely pointed out to me that last year, SF Signal won the Hugo for Best Fanzine, and that's a website. Like a blog, they have a regular posting schedule, and there's no such thing as issues. So while the advice I got was sound, past winners have negated it.
Then there's the question of contributors: I figure if a blog has multiple contributors, it should be a considered a fanzine, because it's a combined effort made by a team, you know? If there's one person running the show, then really, that person isn't running a zine of any sort: they're fan writing.
That's how I'm distinguishing the two in my mind currently. But my mind is weak and very malleable, so I'm open to interpretation and clarification of these categories. I really wish the Hugo powers-that-be would start to either clarify these categories or change them to make sure it's easy to know where bloggers and their sites belong. Blogging isn't a trendy thing in recent yore. Hell, Scalzi's been doing it for two decades, so you'd think the Hugos would've gotten on board, but when it comes to change, things tend to happen slowly, so we'll see. But I do hope that if any blog or blogger gets nominated in the wrong category, that the Hugo powers-that-be are kind enough to shift them into the RIGHT category, as they did last year when nearly every Game of Thrones episode was nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form, so they decided the season as a whole was one big THING, and it was nominated and won for Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form.
And now, I'd like to submit the following for your consideration:
The Book Smugglers. Ana Grilo and Thea James have created an absolutely wonderful site chock full of book reviews, guest bloggers, giveaways, sneak peaks, and all kinds of goodies. But most book blogs do that, and what makes the Book Smugglers special is their focus on celebrating diverse fiction, especially in SF/F, as well as their promotion of young adult and middle grade books. They'll read everything and anything, for any age, and it's wonderful to have daily reviews of books that I wouldn't hear of otherwise, or books that I've been really wanting to try, books that are up my wheelhouse, and to see if they're really worth the time and money. They have a marvelous rating system (one I dissected carefully when I decided to add numbers to my own system). They're also not shy about calling bullshit in the industry, especially when covers get white-washed. Every year, they celebrate with Smugglivus, and in 2012, they started a monthly newsletter (I'm collecting my copies!) and started reviewing over at Kirkus, which is really spiffy. I think they should be a lock for Best Fanzine.
Kristin @ Fantasy Book Cafe: this blog and blogger landed on my radar last year when she invited me to participate in her first-ever Women in SF & F. I wrote a guest-blog talking about why I read women writing science fiction, but what was more wonderful was reading everyone else's posts: I discovered several new bloggers (all women, thank you very much!) and learned why even women will discriminate against women writing in the genre. N.K. Jemisin's was eye-opening and wonderful. Kristin herself also writes good reviews (I wish she'd write more!), and I can always rely on her blog for interesting upcoming releases. I suspect, especially given all the wonderful collaboration that went into Women of SF&F, that Fantasy Book Cafe should be nominated as Best Fanzine.
Sarah @ Bookworm Blues: Sarah has astounded me with her coverage of disability in SF/F, which is something we don't frankly hear a lot about. She's helped edit the anthology Triumph Over Tragedy and part of her promotion of this anthology were guest posts by contributing authors. But Sarah, too, has cancer, so her blog is a mix of life and love of books, and sometimes, life takes over. Which makes her reviews all the more precious when they're available. This one could go either way: Best Fanzine (for all the collaborated effort promoting Triumph Over Tragedy with guest posts on her blog) or Best Fan Writer.
Now here's a few that I'm not sure about, and I'll talk about why:
I'd love to see The Mary Sue get nominated for Best Fanzine. Trouble is, they don't talk often about books in the genre. They do, however, talk about SF/F film & television, and they talk about SCIENCE, historical accuracy in fantasy, and a host of other wonderful things. The best part is, they talk about where women fit into all of this. It's a great website, and I can't go a day without checking it.
Brit Mandelo has written some awesome posts on Tor.com, but because that is a professional website, Mandelo is getting paid, and that doesn't quite count as fan writing. However, she does have an LJ! So if you want to consider her for Best Fan Writer, her blog is a great place to start. Actually, a better place to start may be her website, so you can see everything she's doing and where.
I have some reservations about nominating professionally published novelists for Best Fan Writer, even if the writings nominated are not from professional sites and come from a blog. I shouldn't be so reserved: authors are fans too, and I've supported both John Scalzi and Jim Hines in their recent Hugo wins in this category. But… there seems to me a distinct disadvantage when professionally published novelists are pitted against regular fan writers, the latter defined as having no book deals, who may or may not get paid sometimes for their articles, who write for the sheer love of the fandom and art. After all, professional authors are going to have far more published and polished pieces, no?
Yet authors are fans too, and it's up to the author in question to decide if they want to accept the nomination or decline (or recuse themselves once they win so that others get a chance). And really, some authors have done some fantastic writing about their genre, so if you really want to consider a big name novelist, consider the following (I'm linking to sites/blogs: it's up to you to find something you think is award-worthy): N.K. Jemisin, Seanan McGuire, and Catherynne M. Valente.
Now. I know this isn't EVERYONE who does amazing work and needs to be recognized. Frankly, I still don't know who I'll put on the ballot and where, which means that while I'm offering things for YOUR consideration, I'll ask YOU to do the same for me: who deserves to be nominated for a Hugo in Best Fanzine and Best Fan Writer? Comment, give me links, and let's get a discussion started! Remember, even if you have no intention of nominating for the Hugos, you can always share with me and others who you'd like to see get recognition. You never know: I might discover someone new and nominate them!
But of course, nominations themselves aren't due until March. There's plenty of time to decide who's deserving of what, and in that vein, I want to highlight some of my favorite categories and ask that you consider the following potential nominees. I'm not going to tell you to vote for these, nor am I necessarily going to vote for everything I'm promoting. But I am seriously considering it, and I ask that if you're going to nominate this year, that you do the same.
Today, I want to talk about Best Fanzine and Best Fan Writer. Why both in one post? Because it's damn confusing if you want to nominate bloggers, that's why.
Let's look at what the official site says about these categories, before I talk about who I'm seriously going to consider nominating:
Best Fanzine: This Award is for anything that is neither professional nor semi-professional and that does not qualify as a Fancast. The publication must also satisfy the rule of a minimum of 4 issues, at least one of which must have appeared in the year of eligibility.
Best Fan Writer: This is another person category. Note that it does not just apply to writing done in fanzines. Work published in semiprozines, and even on mailing lists, blogs, BBSs, and similar electronic fora, can be including when judging people for this Award. Only work in professional publications should not be considered.
Now, one clarification from the official site regarding the method of distribution:
Works published electronically rather than on paper have always been accepted as nominees. A decision of the 2009 WSFS Business Meeting formally acknowledged this by ratifying a Constitutional Amendment that added the words “or the equivalent in other media” to various category definitions. There is no requirement that a work be published on paper (for written/graphic fiction and non fiction), on film or video tape (for dramatic presentations), or that it be distributed through any traditional methods such as bookstores, movie theatres, etc. In other words, publishing and distributing your work on a web site is exactly the same as having copies of your book in a bookstore or your movie shown in a movie theatre. Aside from the fundamental distinctions between written, graphic, and dramatic works, medium of distribution has nothing to do with a work’s eligibility.
So, what does all this official language even mean? I did a little research, talking to people who've voted in the Hugos for many years, to ask where blogs and bloggers fit into the above categories. I've seen the same sites nominated as both best fanzine and the authors of those sites nominated as best fan writer. Originally, I was told the distinction was a very specific thing: issues. Blogs don't have issues of something. They just post. That made great sense to me, and my plan was to nominate the authors of those blogs under Best Fan Writer instead. However, it was astutely pointed out to me that last year, SF Signal won the Hugo for Best Fanzine, and that's a website. Like a blog, they have a regular posting schedule, and there's no such thing as issues. So while the advice I got was sound, past winners have negated it.
Then there's the question of contributors: I figure if a blog has multiple contributors, it should be a considered a fanzine, because it's a combined effort made by a team, you know? If there's one person running the show, then really, that person isn't running a zine of any sort: they're fan writing.
That's how I'm distinguishing the two in my mind currently. But my mind is weak and very malleable, so I'm open to interpretation and clarification of these categories. I really wish the Hugo powers-that-be would start to either clarify these categories or change them to make sure it's easy to know where bloggers and their sites belong. Blogging isn't a trendy thing in recent yore. Hell, Scalzi's been doing it for two decades, so you'd think the Hugos would've gotten on board, but when it comes to change, things tend to happen slowly, so we'll see. But I do hope that if any blog or blogger gets nominated in the wrong category, that the Hugo powers-that-be are kind enough to shift them into the RIGHT category, as they did last year when nearly every Game of Thrones episode was nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form, so they decided the season as a whole was one big THING, and it was nominated and won for Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form.
And now, I'd like to submit the following for your consideration:
The Book Smugglers. Ana Grilo and Thea James have created an absolutely wonderful site chock full of book reviews, guest bloggers, giveaways, sneak peaks, and all kinds of goodies. But most book blogs do that, and what makes the Book Smugglers special is their focus on celebrating diverse fiction, especially in SF/F, as well as their promotion of young adult and middle grade books. They'll read everything and anything, for any age, and it's wonderful to have daily reviews of books that I wouldn't hear of otherwise, or books that I've been really wanting to try, books that are up my wheelhouse, and to see if they're really worth the time and money. They have a marvelous rating system (one I dissected carefully when I decided to add numbers to my own system). They're also not shy about calling bullshit in the industry, especially when covers get white-washed. Every year, they celebrate with Smugglivus, and in 2012, they started a monthly newsletter (I'm collecting my copies!) and started reviewing over at Kirkus, which is really spiffy. I think they should be a lock for Best Fanzine.
Kristin @ Fantasy Book Cafe: this blog and blogger landed on my radar last year when she invited me to participate in her first-ever Women in SF & F. I wrote a guest-blog talking about why I read women writing science fiction, but what was more wonderful was reading everyone else's posts: I discovered several new bloggers (all women, thank you very much!) and learned why even women will discriminate against women writing in the genre. N.K. Jemisin's was eye-opening and wonderful. Kristin herself also writes good reviews (I wish she'd write more!), and I can always rely on her blog for interesting upcoming releases. I suspect, especially given all the wonderful collaboration that went into Women of SF&F, that Fantasy Book Cafe should be nominated as Best Fanzine.
Sarah @ Bookworm Blues: Sarah has astounded me with her coverage of disability in SF/F, which is something we don't frankly hear a lot about. She's helped edit the anthology Triumph Over Tragedy and part of her promotion of this anthology were guest posts by contributing authors. But Sarah, too, has cancer, so her blog is a mix of life and love of books, and sometimes, life takes over. Which makes her reviews all the more precious when they're available. This one could go either way: Best Fanzine (for all the collaborated effort promoting Triumph Over Tragedy with guest posts on her blog) or Best Fan Writer.
Now here's a few that I'm not sure about, and I'll talk about why:
I'd love to see The Mary Sue get nominated for Best Fanzine. Trouble is, they don't talk often about books in the genre. They do, however, talk about SF/F film & television, and they talk about SCIENCE, historical accuracy in fantasy, and a host of other wonderful things. The best part is, they talk about where women fit into all of this. It's a great website, and I can't go a day without checking it.
Brit Mandelo has written some awesome posts on Tor.com, but because that is a professional website, Mandelo is getting paid, and that doesn't quite count as fan writing. However, she does have an LJ! So if you want to consider her for Best Fan Writer, her blog is a great place to start. Actually, a better place to start may be her website, so you can see everything she's doing and where.
I have some reservations about nominating professionally published novelists for Best Fan Writer, even if the writings nominated are not from professional sites and come from a blog. I shouldn't be so reserved: authors are fans too, and I've supported both John Scalzi and Jim Hines in their recent Hugo wins in this category. But… there seems to me a distinct disadvantage when professionally published novelists are pitted against regular fan writers, the latter defined as having no book deals, who may or may not get paid sometimes for their articles, who write for the sheer love of the fandom and art. After all, professional authors are going to have far more published and polished pieces, no?
Yet authors are fans too, and it's up to the author in question to decide if they want to accept the nomination or decline (or recuse themselves once they win so that others get a chance). And really, some authors have done some fantastic writing about their genre, so if you really want to consider a big name novelist, consider the following (I'm linking to sites/blogs: it's up to you to find something you think is award-worthy): N.K. Jemisin, Seanan McGuire, and Catherynne M. Valente.
Now. I know this isn't EVERYONE who does amazing work and needs to be recognized. Frankly, I still don't know who I'll put on the ballot and where, which means that while I'm offering things for YOUR consideration, I'll ask YOU to do the same for me: who deserves to be nominated for a Hugo in Best Fanzine and Best Fan Writer? Comment, give me links, and let's get a discussion started! Remember, even if you have no intention of nominating for the Hugos, you can always share with me and others who you'd like to see get recognition. You never know: I might discover someone new and nominate them!