Some news about the Hugo voters packet.

[seanan_mcguire]

A joint statement:It has become customary in recent years for authors of Hugo-nominated works to provide the members of the World Science Fiction convention who get to vote for the awards with electronic copies of their stories. The ball started rolling a few years ago when John Scalzi kindly took the initiative in preparing the first Hugo voters

Comments

[kay_gmd]

We love getting the packet, but it's really just a bonus. I hope you and your people don't catch too much flack on this.

[serge_lj]

Darn right.

[seanan_mcguire]

I wish. :(

[museclio]

So not your fault. I already own two of them, yours and Ann's. That said, reading their statement it looks very strongly like Orbit is trying to kill the Packet moving forward which is perhaps short-sighted.

I feel bad for all of you, I think you were previously handicapped by only having a pdf copy, and now this.

Ann Leckie, being less established, but with a fantastic novel is also going to be hurt by this. I *already* buy all of your books, but I only ended up hearing about her's from I think Scalzi's big idea.

[seanan_mcguire]

I don't know whether Orbit is trying to kill the packet moving forward, I honestly don't. I do know that statements like "I think you were previously handicapped by only having a pdf copy" are why they might decide to do just that. Not that you, specifically, have done anything wrong: just that the overall attitude of "we are owed free stuff, we should have free stuff, and it should be convenient and perfect" is starting to put publishers' backs up, especially as regards full-length novels.

We forget how recently the packet was created, I think.

[museclio]

So, I think I was perhaps a bit unclear. So, I don't in fact think we are owed it. I think that some peoplle do forget that it's not an entitlement and treat it badly. I think that people who hadn't read somethign might have been less likely to do so in a pdf. That is however on them, and I think that they are voting poorly if they are voting based on that.

What made me think that Orbit would like to kill it is the line in their release. "Going forward, we very much hope that awards administrators give careful consideration to voter packets, particularly in those categories in which shortlisted works are already widely available, and that they continue to look for new ways to encourage participation in awards."

[seanan_mcguire]

No, I didn't read that as you thinking you were owed anything (unclarity for everybody!). But "it was a PDF and that was difficult and so I didn't vote for the inconvenient free thing" translates very quickly to "and buying it would have been even less convenient, so screw you." I feel like it's less that individual people are being overly entitled; everyone has their reasons. It's more "the complaints have been legion."

[katyhh]

I am honestly baffled about how quickly something that was a special bonus for some years has become something that fen feel they are entitled to. I know, I sound harsh, but publishing is a business after all and while this is good marketing, it is still a voluntary thing. People used to vote for the Hugos in earlier years without getting anything for free. At least, excerpts are still provided! I do realize that I am probably very alone with my opinion... maybe it is also cultural, who knows.

[seanan_mcguire]

No, no, I am right there with you.

[naath]

mmm, the novels are at least *widely available* - sometimes the short stuff can be hard to track down, or you have to buy a huge anthology to get one story.

[maladaptive]

For sure. I always found the short stuff more important to have in the packets than books--if I intended to read the book I'd likely have it already, and if it looks interesting I can often snag it from the library. Tracking down short stories/novelettes and often novellas is a lot harder. Especially if they're in a big antho with only one or two stories that *might* interest you.

[seanan_mcguire]

Awesome answer, thank you.

[geekhyena]

I feel that this is a shortsighted move on Orbit's part, and I don't think it reflects well on them. However, all that means is I'll be hitting up the local library for copies of the books I haven't already read. Best of luck - Parasite is an excellent novel, and I hope it wins!

[rimrunner]

As a librarian, I heartily encourage this approach.

[geekhyena]

I'm lucky that the UC system is good at getting books via ILL ^_^

[kay_gmd]

Isn't ILL Great! I love the libraries!