On SF fandom participation
So I've been reading Jo Walton's An Informal History of the Hugos and, yes, I know it's just republished blog posts, but it was $2 and I like reading things in one big file. It goes through the nominees and winners, year by year, with occasional reviews and some of the blog comments. I'm up to the early 80s, which is good because now I am getting to Years Where I Have Read Multiple Nominees And Actually Remember Them. (My classic SF reading is patchy, for the most part, except I have inexplicably read a whole lot of Heinlein, because I liked the juveniles and then unfortunately didn't stop.)
Mostly what this book has done is put into my head the idea that I could actually vote for the Hugos. I mean, not this year's, obviously, because Worldcon is happening, like, right now, but... I could do it next year. Anyone can join and vote! I can be anyone! I could read things and have opinions on them. Mostly I have thought it sounded fun but like something I was unqualified to do, but I have been reading SF/F for about twenty-five years so, I mean, why not? I have opinions! My opinions are as valid as anyone else's, right?
As far as I can tell, basically you just show up to the website and buy a supporting membership to the next Worldcon (2020 is in New Zealand) for what looks like approximately US $50. You have to do it before the end of the year if you want to nominate for 2020 -- conveniently, there are Goodreads lists already of eligible novels and novellas. If you don't want to nominate, I assume there's a later cutoff for registration but I don't know what it is. And then at some point you probably get a packet of ebooks of most of the nominees. I think this is how it works. And then you vote. Right? Right?
(And, hey, I have actually read an eligible novella! And I own but have not read three of the eligible novels!)
So, like, that sounds like a fun thing to do, maybe. Even if I'm never going to be confident enough to try writing original science fiction, I could at least vote for the Hugos once in my life.
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Mostly what this book has done is put into my head the idea that I could actually vote for the Hugos. I mean, not this year's, obviously, because Worldcon is happening, like, right now, but... I could do it next year. Anyone can join and vote! I can be anyone! I could read things and have opinions on them. Mostly I have thought it sounded fun but like something I was unqualified to do, but I have been reading SF/F for about twenty-five years so, I mean, why not? I have opinions! My opinions are as valid as anyone else's, right?
As far as I can tell, basically you just show up to the website and buy a supporting membership to the next Worldcon (2020 is in New Zealand) for what looks like approximately US $50. You have to do it before the end of the year if you want to nominate for 2020 -- conveniently, there are Goodreads lists already of eligible novels and novellas. If you don't want to nominate, I assume there's a later cutoff for registration but I don't know what it is. And then at some point you probably get a packet of ebooks of most of the nominees. I think this is how it works. And then you vote. Right? Right?
(And, hey, I have actually read an eligible novella! And I own but have not read three of the eligible novels!)
So, like, that sounds like a fun thing to do, maybe. Even if I'm never going to be confident enough to try writing original science fiction, I could at least vote for the Hugos once in my life.
Read this entry on Dreamwidth ||
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