For Your Voting Pleasure: The 2007 Locus Poll & Survey

Posted on February 8, 2007    Posted by John Scalzi

To vote for a Hugo, you have to be a member of that year’s Worldcon. To vote for a Nebula, you have to be a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. But to vote for a Locus Award? All you have to be is you. And you’re already you! Or were the last time I checked. So you can vote.

Here’s how to do it: Go to this site, enter your name and an e-mail address near the top of the form, and choose your selections for the various categories. Locus has drop-down menus so you can choose books from that magazine’s “Recommended Reading” list for 2006, or (and this will be important in the next paragraph), you can enter the name of another book and author in the blank line to the right of each drop down box. You can vote for up to five books/people in each category (but for each only once in its category). If I remember correctly, the numbers on the side of each form correspond to an actual ranking, so just in case, put your favorites in the top slots.

Some of you will notice that neither The Ghost Brigades nor The Android’s Dream, both published in 2006, got onto Locus‘ Recommended Reading list in the category of Best SF Novel, so you will find neither in Locus‘ handy drop-down lists. Yes, I know. I’m sure it was merely a clerical oversight. Twice. Naturally, both books will be at a disadvantage in the general voting because they’re not in the handy-dandy drop-down list. Nevertheless, if you feel in your wisdom that one or both (!) books should be considered for Locus‘ Best SF Novel award, simply enter my last name and the name of the book in one of the blank spaces in that category. Locus‘ preferred way of writing these out would look like this:

Scalzi, The Ghost Brigades

and/or

Scalzi, The Android’s Dream

Feel free to cut and paste those if it helps. I’m all about making it easy.

I note with some confusion that Locus also appears not have recommended any stories from Subterranean #4 for their Best Short Story category; another clerical error, I’m sure. Well, you can still nominate up to five of those stories as well, by adding them into the blanks. Here’s the pdf of Subterranean #4 to refresh your memory of the authors and titles. And don’t forget “Who Put the Bomp?” either!

Be sure to look through all the categories; notwithstanding the inexplicable clerical errors mentioned above, harumph harumph, there are some excellent suggestions in each category. After you’re done filling out the various categories, Locus also has a demographic survey at the bottom. Please do fill it out to your level of informational comfort, so that Locus can have a reasonably accurate model of what today’s science fiction readers look like.

One poll to a customer; don’t try to game the system by filling out multiple surveys. That’s just silly.

I think it’s pretty cool that Locus opens up this poll and survey to everyone, not just subscribers, so I do hope you take advantage of the opportunity to put in your vote on what’s the best SF of 2006. Have fun with it, folks.