I was a member of the 2010 Worldcon in Melbourne and had rights for 2011. But I never bothered because the effort to find out if books qualify within the timeframe is HUGE esp if you read as much as I do, and I read everything from SF to Fantasy to Urban to Paranormal to YA and all variations in between.
I really liked what Seanan McGuire did this year when voting was open, she put all the relevant infon for what she was nominated for and what categories, and urged everyone to get a supporting membership and vote. I seriously considered it, but I would also want to do it the way you did and read EVERYBODY and vote fairly.
Maybe next year we should do a thing about making a point of nominating women authors, and make some noise about it? I also am less keen on the Hugos, because in my experience its been an award for the most hardcore and/or weirdshit novel. Or even more annoyingly, an obvious fanclub choice. My one vote has no chance against those odds :(
I really liked what Seanan McGuire did this year when voting was open, she put all the relevant infon for what she was nominated for and what categories, and urged everyone to get a supporting membership and vote.
A lot of authors have started doing this, which I really appreciate. Of course, one would have to go visit each author's blog and check in during the nomination period (the authors you care about, of course...). I'll need to keep that in mind next year...
Women authors have definitely gotten more representation in the past few years, especially since they reconfigured the eligibility period to be a calendar year, which makes so much more sense. I think, for my two cents, when I run across a book that should be nominated, I'll make a big point of saying so, that or start a column listing everything that should be, especially closer to said nomination period.
I do know that if you buy your membership early next year, you'll be able to nominate, vote, and the nominate for the FOLLOWING year's Hugos. Quite a deal!
Congratulations on all the reading and voting you've done! I've been impressed by your dedication to the process. I'm not sure I'd have it in me.
Do the Hugos invite feedback from the members on the categories and voting processes? You've got a lot of great stuff to say and I'd love it if they would take up your suggestion of a YA category.
I'm not sure if they invite feedback or not.... at least by mentioning it in my blogs, people will be bound to see the suggestions and start talking about them...
This is my third year voting on the Hugos, and all three years, I had read some of the nominees for novel. In 2010, I had read 2/6 (Boneshaker and Palimpsest). In 2011, I had read 2/5 (Cryoburn and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.) This year, I had read Among Others and Deadline, and decided not to read A Dance with Dragons, so I only had two novels to read. I would expect you would have a similar experience most years, given how many new books you read in a year.
My pace has varied, but improved this year. The first year, I did not get the novellas read. Like you, I did not quite realize on a visceral level how long it takes to read five or six novellas, and just ran out of time. Last year, I was in way too may bookclubs and got hardly any of the reading done. I didn't even finish the novels. This year, I was excited to see that I got all the fiction categories read and was even able to read for the Campbell award, which is a first for me.
I feel I could've done better pacing myself as a whole, but I'm still proud of what I was able to accomplish and I have a better idea of how to pace myself in the future.
I have in the past, but generally just in the novel category. I don't read much short fiction, so I don't nominate it unless I've happened to read something that I think is really excellent. I nominated Elizabeth Bear's Bone and Jewel Creatures in the novella category last year, for instance.
This year, I did not get any notification about access codes that would allow me to nominate and I did not manage to contact Chicon to figure out why not. So I did not nominate this year.
I think I should be able to nominate easily in the graphic novel category. And I'm with you on the short fiction: I don't read much of it, but if what I have read really rocks, I can nominate it.
Interesting about the access codes. I'll have to keep an eye out when I learn people are nominating next year!
Wow!! This is a large part of the reason that I don't fork out the $50. I LOVE to read, but I'm not a very fast reader. I'd want to give every candidate equal consideration, before placing my vote. But it sounds like there is a LOT of material to get through. I wouldn't know where to begin! And I highly doubt I'd ever get through all of the material.
I'm glad someone with your dedication & veracity for reading is in a position to vote for these awards. :D It sounds like you gave everyone you could a fair shake. Thank you for those of us that can't afford it & are much slower readers. :D
So. What IS the difference between novella, novelette, and short story?
You should still consider doing it, even if all you ever did was just read the nominated novels. Most people that's all they ever vote on, so you wouldn't be alone. :) And plus, for the material did you didn't have time for, you could always peruse through it during the year!
From Wikipedia:
Best Novel Stories of 40,000 words or more Best Novella Stories of between 17,500 and 40,000 words Best Novelette Stories of between 7,500 and 17,500 words Best Short Story Stories of less than 7,500 words
But you really, really feel the length of it when you're reading the categories at once. :)
You should still consider doing it, even if all you ever did was just read the nominated novels. Most people that's all they ever vote on, so you wouldn't be alone. :) And plus, for the material did you didn't have time for, you could always peruse through it during the year!
Very good points!! I'll think on it. :D How long before voting do you get the source material?
I know it depends year-by-year, because once the nominees are announced, the Hugo committee has to get permissions from all the publishers and copyright holders to put their work in the electronic voting packet. Ballots were due on 7/31 this year, and I started receiving the voter's packet on 5/18.
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I really liked what Seanan McGuire did this year when voting was open, she put all the relevant infon for what she was nominated for and what categories, and urged everyone to get a supporting membership and vote. I seriously considered it, but I would also want to do it the way you did and read EVERYBODY and vote fairly.
Maybe next year we should do a thing about making a point of nominating women authors, and make some noise about it? I also am less keen on the Hugos, because in my experience its been an award for the most hardcore and/or weirdshit novel. Or even more annoyingly, an obvious fanclub choice. My one vote has no chance against those odds :(
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A lot of authors have started doing this, which I really appreciate. Of course, one would have to go visit each author's blog and check in during the nomination period (the authors you care about, of course...). I'll need to keep that in mind next year...
Women authors have definitely gotten more representation in the past few years, especially since they reconfigured the eligibility period to be a calendar year, which makes so much more sense. I think, for my two cents, when I run across a book that should be nominated, I'll make a big point of saying so, that or start a column listing everything that should be, especially closer to said nomination period.
I do know that if you buy your membership early next year, you'll be able to nominate, vote, and the nominate for the FOLLOWING year's Hugos. Quite a deal!
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Do the Hugos invite feedback from the members on the categories and voting processes? You've got a lot of great stuff to say and I'd love it if they would take up your suggestion of a YA category.
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My pace has varied, but improved this year. The first year, I did not get the novellas read. Like you, I did not quite realize on a visceral level how long it takes to read five or six novellas, and just ran out of time. Last year, I was in way too may bookclubs and got hardly any of the reading done. I didn't even finish the novels. This year, I was excited to see that I got all the fiction categories read and was even able to read for the Campbell award, which is a first for me.
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Do you nominate for the Hugos as well?
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This year, I did not get any notification about access codes that would allow me to nominate and I did not manage to contact Chicon to figure out why not. So I did not nominate this year.
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Interesting about the access codes. I'll have to keep an eye out when I learn people are nominating next year!
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I'm glad someone with your dedication & veracity for reading is in a position to vote for these awards. :D It sounds like you gave everyone you could a fair shake. Thank you for those of us that can't afford it & are much slower readers. :D
So. What IS the difference between novella, novelette, and short story?
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From Wikipedia:
Best Novel Stories of 40,000 words or more
Best Novella Stories of between 17,500 and 40,000 words
Best Novelette Stories of between 7,500 and 17,500 words
Best Short Story Stories of less than 7,500 words
But you really, really feel the length of it when you're reading the categories at once. :)
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Very good points!! I'll think on it. :D How long before voting do you get the source material?
Thanks for the specs!
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