SFWA Watching
My favorite spectator sport is about to get into swing again. No, not baseball, though I’m looking forward to that, too. I’m talking about SFWA Stuff! Yes, a new SFWA election season is rolling toward us and I, for one, am excited beyond words.
Why? Because Andrew Burt has announced his candidacy for President. Not in public so all of us non-members could see, but in the private newsgroups.
I am excited beyond words.
And actually, I kinda figured this would happen, or something a lot like it. The election is likely to be a referendum-perhaps as much as the one this fall for the US in general-on the division between old and young. Not that the divisions within SFWA map that neatly (nor do they in the US, of course), but there is a definite sense that the faction countering Burt is largely young, largely internet savvy, and relatively early in their fiction-publishing careers. Not entirely true, of course; in the comment thread to Scalzi’s post on the topic, Elizabeth Moon weighs in in favor of John’s disassembly of Burt, and she’s no neo-pro. In fact, she’s running for VP which is heartening, and apparently there are two good candidates up for Secretary, including Mary Robinette Kowal, a fellow Codexian, who seems to have an outstanding grasp on the issues.
So, aside from Burt in the Prez slot, it looks like a great election. There’s even a great candidate opposing him, Russell Davis, who seems to be in good shape platform-wise (though I don’t have a handy link to it).
And while it is looking to be a sort of referendum on direction and ideology, there’s a lot recommending against Burt besides, and I think Scalzi nails it early on: no publishing record to speak of. Not that I have anything on him at all-I haven’t even made the requisite half dozen sales to 4theLuv markets-but then… I’m not running for President of SFWA.
Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out. The advice of Charlie Stross, et al., to stay in and work for change from within might not survive a Burt Presidency, which would be a great sadness.
Crossposted with klech.net