A brief note on the Hugos before I return to staring at the walls.

[seanan_mcguire]

Hey, guys. Just a quick reminder that tomorrow, January 31st, 2012, is your last chance to obtain a Chicon 7 supporting membership with full Hugo nomination and voting rights. You will be able to obtain a voting membership after this, but you won't have the opportunity to nominate. You can find details here, on the Chicon 7 website. Supporting memberships are $50 USD.

Why is this a good deal?

$50 is a lot of money, right? So why is this a good deal? Two reasons, really.

Everybody likes books.

The Hugo Awards now come with an electronic voting packet that contains all the nominated fiction, and a lot of the nominated non-fiction. So that's between four and six novels good enough to make the ballot, four and six novellas, novelettes, short stories...it's like a giant Kinderegg of fictional goodness. No matter how you cut it, $50 for that much reading material is a pretty damn good deal, and that's just the fiction. It's a great way to see what the community considered worthy of recognition in any given year, like a really super-sized version of the Hugo nominee anthologies I used to read when I was a kid.

Be part of the process.

The Hugos are nominated, and voted, by a relatively small percentage of the overall community, and every year, people complain about how the winners aren't their choices. Okay. So change it. By putting in a nominating ballot, you shape the final ballot. By voting, you shape the winners. If we want this award to represent our whole community, we need to participate.

It has never been easier to read all the nominated material. It has never been easier to be a part of the process. If you want the Hugos to reflect the material you believe should be winning, you need to participate.

$50 ain't cheap. But what you get for it isn't cheap, either. You get books; you get a voice; and you get to shape what our community recognizes.

It's pretty damn cool.

Comments

[mithriltabby]

I’m having trouble finding details on the electronic voting packet on their web site— if it’s “everything is DRM-free ePubs via Baen”, count me in!

[mrs-norris-mous.livejournal.com]

Supporting membership is well worth it.

And I will re-post the following:

So given that you have so many eligible items I have created a few doodles so those who can nominate can coordinate if they wish to so that we don't all nominate different works and none have a chance of being on the list. Please ignore this if you find it distasteful :)

Best Novel:
http://www.doodle.com/3xav2v6tgw9bp7cu

Best Short Story.
http://www.doodle.com/pe667ggxzq4wtfa7

[ohari.livejournal.com]

OK, you talked me into it. Done.

[ebartley.livejournal.com]

Sold.

[natmerc.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reminder. Been meaning to get it.

[lejays17.livejournal.com]

I did my nominations the other night - trying to remember what I had read that was eligible was the problem!

$50 for the chance to nominate & then vote is a pretty great deal - last year I "discovered" both Connie Willis & Lois McMaster Bujold because of it (not slow on the uptake at all, no sirree... ;) )

I like the chance to have a say in what is nominated & who wins, at least in the categories I know something about (or can inform myself by watching / reading).

[rhodielady-47.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads-up AND for giving it far enough in advance that I can plan for it. This is one Con that's doable this year!
:D

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Got my membership in Reno. Almost done with reading MY Hugo nominees and yes, Seanan will be on it. I loved "One Salt Sea".