The 2011 Award Pimpage Post
Posted on January 3, 2011 Posted by John Scalzi 18 Comments
It’s that time of year again in which people start thinking about nominations for the various awards available in science fiction and fantasy. If you’re one of those people, a) I think you look fantastic, and I’m not just saying that, and b) here’s what I got going on, fictionwise, for you to consider.
Best Short Story:
- “The President’s Brain is Missing,” Tor.com, July 2010
- “When the Yogurt Took Over,” Whatever, October 2010
- “An Election,” Subterranean Press, November 2010
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form:
- “Morning Announcements at the Lucas Interspecies School for Troubled Youth,” a live performance at w00tstock 2.3, Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN, June 2010
Best Anthology:
- Clash of the Geeks, ed., John Scalzi, Subterranean Press, September 2010
And now, notes on these:
* Let me start with “Morning Announcements,” which is a comedy piece I wrote specifically for my w00tstock appearance. Naturally, for the Hugo category of Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, there’s going to be some tough competition in the form of Doctor Who, Torchwood, Fringe and all those other science fiction television shows, not omitting my own sentimental favorite, Stargate: Universe.
Two things here. One, I think it’s good to remember that the category doesn’t have to be for television shows only; it’s for “a dramatized production in any medium, including film, television, radio, live theater, computer games or music. The work must last less than 90 minutes (excluding commercials).” The piece was written specifically for live theater, featured acting (me, as an assistant principal of a future high school) and at eight minutes and change, is substantially less than ninety minutes.
Two, I think it’s pretty funny, very science fictional, and performed for a packed house of science fiction and fantasy nerds. It’s right in the sweet spot for this category.
So, no, this isn’t just stunt suggesting on my part. Give “Morning Announcements” a shot, and if you enjoy it, think about whether it merits a nod. And while you’re at it, give some thought to other short dramatic presentations, not related to television, which are worthy of consideration in this category. Surprises are fun. You’ll still have a few other slots for TV shows (especially for SG:U, hint hint).
* In the short story category, you may note me pointing out “When the Yogurt Took Over,” which is a very short piece (exactly one thousand words) about a ridiculous subject (intelligent yogurt) which I self-published here. I wrote it as a trifle but I have to say since I’ve written it, it’s grown on me, no pun intended. I could explain why but that’s the equivalent of leading the witness. So I’ll just say: Trifle though it was intended to be, check it out.
* As regards Clash of the Geeks, as the editor of the project I am in fact very proud of it. Once again, an absolutely ridiculous subject, and I make no bones about that. But the contributors — all of them — outperformed, and at times extraordinarily so. If you’re someone thinking about nominations for an award which features anthologies, look beyond the silliness and check out the writing craft on display.
* Once again I will note that I am eligible for the Hugo Fan Writer category and once again I would urge nominators not to nominate me and to look through the (crowded) field of potential candidates for this award. One of the things I feel very happy about is that in the last four years, there have been four different winners of this Hugo, which is a nice change from the 20 years previous to that. Let’s keep that up and get that rocket to people who deserve it and haven’t won it yet.
Thus endeth my award pimpage for 2011. And for those of you who are wondering, per this post, I wrote this last night and scheduled it for this morning.
Update, 11:22 am, 1/3: Was asked in e-mail if I’m eligible for Best Editor consideration, re: Clash of the Geeks. For the Hugo Best Editor, Short Form category, the answer is “no,” I’m one editing credit short of being qualified (you need four editing credits over a career plus at least one editing credit for the year in question). So don’t waste a vote on me; there are numerous other rather more qualified candidates for the category in any event. As for other awards with an editing category, I don’t know; you’d have to check the rules in question.
I must say that Clash of the Geeks is one of the funniest things I have ever read. Rediculous, yes. Astoundingly rediculous. But then, when the story has to be based on that picture, it can’t be anything but rediculous. I would nominate it in a flash except for one tiny detail: I am not a worldcon member.
You know there is is something absurdly phallic about that image, don’t you? Just sayin’.
Rockets are rockets. They can’t help being what they are.
Well I think the Hugo pictured was referred to as the toilet Hugo becuase of the green disk part. I also seem to hear that the winner of that years award saying the planets kept falling off. Please correct if I am wrong.
I meant to say winners in the second sentence.
Re: “not me for fan writer”: While you might not be up for giving a list with your own stamp of approval (or maybe you would be) is there a good short/long list of people who are eligible? For example, somebody I owe a lot to, fan writing wise, is Mur Lafferty for her I Should Be Writing podcast. Of course, Cory Doctorow’s blog, Charles Stross’s blog, Jeff VanderMeer’s blog, Wil Wheaton, all have a lot of great stuff as well, and they haven’t been finalists, either. I like the Nielsen Hayden “Making Light” blog as well, where Jim Macdonald has some great stuff; Brandon Sanderson’s Writing Excuses; on and on. I don’t know if, like you, Doctorow, Stross, VanderMeer, etc. would prefer not to be nominated. (And that’s just non-fiction, off the top of my head, let alone the folks who have published great fiction in semiprozines and fanzines in 2010, which includes a long list of amazing writers, from Cat Rambo to Mary Robinette Kowal to Natania Barron to Lavie Tidhar to …)
(Sorry for following up immediately; but, even though the Fan Writer category doesn’t explicitly say that it’s for non-fiction, the winner has historically almost always been for non-fiction fan writing rather than fiction; in fiction, for further example, Jay Lake and Tobias Buckell would be eligible this year, as would anybody else published in Clarkesworld, Interzone, Weird Tales, LCRW, etc.)
@Sam M-B: Fiction – regardless of where it is published – should be nominated in the fiction categories. But you are correct in observing that the Fan Writing Hugo has historically been for those who write non-fiction.
Right, the stories themselves should be nominated in the appropriate categories for length; what I was trying to say was, by the rules as I read them, the overall year’s worth of work appearing in various fanzines and semiprozines by a single writer is what makes that writer eligible for the “fan writer” category, and there’s no official exclusion for fiction vs. non-fiction, so while history would be against it, there’s nothing in the rules *per say* that rule out, say, somebody’s fiction running rampant awesome across several of the fanzines and semiprozines this year.
I’m sorry, John, but “When the Yogurt Took Over” could only be a trifle if it was “When the Custard Took Over” and involved jam and ladyfingers.
::running and hiding now::
@–E
Oh. My. God. You nailed it.
I’m afraid that I may have to put on my old man spectacles (I attended my first convention in 1968 and first Worldcon in 1973) but, with all due respect, I believe that Sam M-B fails to realize the traditional purpose of the “Best Fanwriter Hugo. Almost all the individuals mentioned in his comments appear to have one thing in common, they are all PROFESSIONAL science fiction and/or fantasy authors or editors. I think very few of the individuals named are traditional fans and have done what is considered to be traditional fan writing (the Nielsen Haydens are an exception). In my opinion, a FAN writing award should not be used as a marketing tool so that a professional writer can put “Hugo Winner” on her or his books (I also do not think that people should campaign for the Fan Hugos, but that “rule” seems to have fallen by the wayside).
While many professionals have won this award (Tucker, Langford and Pohl come to mind), they were honored for that the type of writing that can be seen at http://efanzines.com, to which I direct those who are interested in traditional fan writing.
I definitely agree with the correction, JoelZ — I was talking about the Hugo rules as they are written in the constitution, which mention nothing about “traditional fans” or “traditional fan writing”. That is a glorious phenomenon which has emerged from the voting public, and with which I whole-heartedly agree. (Pohl’s blog has indeed been wonderful.) Here we have Mr Scalzi (another one of the professional writers which have won the award) anti-campaigning for the award, and I was just trying to ask the question of who was indeed formally eligible, not attempting to campaign for anyone by any means. Being aware of the past winners (mostly Dave Langford, whose Ansible Ink remains indispensable) and the historic use of the award by fans, for fans, is a very important point, but is beside the one I was trying to ask about.
That said, I’d definitely be all ears for private suggestions as to who should be considered for the Fan Writer award this year, at sam at bullspec dot com, and I wouldn’t consider a public list of people you or others think should be considered, as campaigning.
I hope that CotG is high profile enough to garner a nomination at least. I can’t say it’s the best thing out there (I haven’t sampled widely enough), but the quality of the collection and the story behind it should merit something. Good luck to you.
Hmm, maybe a general award pimpage thread is in order for people to mention things they like and are nominating, other authors to mention what they have that is eligible for this year’s award season.
As an FYI, there was no new Torchwood in 2009 on TV to be nominated (there were likely some audiobooks, but those ususally don’t get the notice that TV episodes do.
I’ll do a general pimpage thread later in the season, as I always do.
One of the things I feel very happy about is that in the last four years, there have been four different winners of this Hugo, which is a nice change from the 20 years previous to that.
I understand where you’re coming from on this, but this really feels like a slam on Dave Langford, which is unfortunate.
Where does an anthology fit into the Hugos? “Best Related Work” maybe?