Reminder: Vote for the Hugos!
Posted on July 19, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 17 Comments
Allow me to put on my Toastmaster of Chicon 7 hat here for a moment and just say:
Hey! You! Don’t forget to vote for the Hugos this year! Here’s the online ballot!
Want to vote but haven’t become a member of Chicon 7? Here’s the online membership form! Remember that Supporting Members (the $50, not attending option) get to vote on the Hugos.
Want to vote but haven’t read everything? The Hugo voter packet has a ton of the nominees in it and comes as part of membership.
If you don’t vote, dozens of Hugo nominees will have a sad. Think about that, why don’t you.
Voting continues until the end of the month, but don’t put it off until the last minute. Do it now. NOW NOW NOW.
Thank you.
Ok, ok. But the voting deadline isn’t for over a week! I’ve already read the novels and most of the novellas, and I’m sure I’ll have finished everything by the deadline.
I’m scrambling to finish the short fiction; I’ve read the short stories, and started on the novellas, but will be moving over to the novelettes shortly. I also need to see Source Code and one of the short form Dramatic Presentation entries. I’m getting there, just not fast enough, I think. Oh yeah, I’ve read 4 of the 5 novels, but since I haven’t read the first four Song of Ice and Fire books I’m not going to be able to read all those AND the 5th one. That I’ll pass on.
They really need a more recent picture of you
I voted. Does that mean dozens of Hugo nominees have a happy?
(Strangely, they sent me a reminder to vote, even though I had voted a while ago.)
But I haven’t read it all YET YET YET.
ps: just found this red shirt on the net and wanted to pass it on:
http://www.snorgtees.com/t-shirts/live-fast-die-red
I’ve read as much as I’m going to read. I’m not going to get through 2.5 more of the Song of Ice & Fire. I’m prepared to vote in 6 or 7 categories.
Even for those categories, I read a bunch of stuff just because I’m voting this year. Most years, my consumption of SF novelettes is zero. I suspect that may be true for many voters. It shows in the numbers for nominations. A large majority of those who cast a nominating ballot nominated a novel. Fewer than half nominated a novelette.
Most of the novels I read are well past their year of eligibility. It’s July and I think I’ve read one 2012 novel, Red Shirts.
I’m trying to get the stuff read, but I won’t make it through the novels either.
On the upside, due to the generosity of a good friend, I will be at ChiCon after all! *dances with glee*
I still have two novels to read before I can vote.
Totally not forgetting. I just haven’t finished reading things yet.
Marcos and Thomas stood on the wall, their spears slack, watching the clouds settle in as the storm approached, signaling its intentions with a slightly golden grey light as twilight approached, and the sharp humidity not of spring rains but summer thunderstorms, oozing great gobs of water and bright flashes down upon the unsuspecting fans in the castle of Fandomia.
“I hear there is no such thing as the Lightning Dragon,” said Marcos, twiddling his thumb along the dull blade of his spear, wondering where the spear-sharpening budget had been spent this week, and on whom, and if she was pretty.
“Oh, there is,” said Thomas, eagerly. His eyes brightened as the clouds moved entirely in front of the sun. “And that’s why I voted.”
“Voted?”
“I sent the letter off today,” Thomas insisted. “I have voted! My voice will be heard in the Hugo voting,” he concluded.
“Oh, that. It doesn’t matter,” Marcos shrugged. “Nobody pays attention. The fans in the city below will have a brief sing-song about the results and then will go their merry ways next year.”
“Oh, but it does,” Thomas insisted again. “Every time I vote, the Hugos Dragon spares a puppy.”
Marcos looked over at Thomas. “There’s no such thing as a Hugos Dragon.”
“There is, my mother told me there was, she said it’s what got my Uncle Thrombulus. Ate him right up.”
Marcos sighed. “That was a perfectly normal Lightning Dragon,” he replied. “It ate him because he went outside in a thunderstorm wrapped all in Bacon, daring the gods to punish him. It had nothing to do with his refusal to vote.”
“That’s not true,” Thomas replied, sulking. “It was sausages, anyways.”
“Sausages, then,” Marcos continued. “But nothing to do with not voting, not in the least. I have not voted at all, for example,” he said. “And here comes a great thunderstorm. I bet you that neither of us gets attacked by a Lightning Dragon.”
“We’re standing under a wooden roof,” Thomas pointed out. “Just so that the Lightning Dragons have no path to ground. That was what that silly wizard said, at least. Besides, that’s not a reasonable demonstration at all.”
“Oh?”
“No,” Thomas insisted. “We need a proper test. You didn’t vote, right? Well, I’ll go get wrapped in sausage. If one of us gets eaten, we know who’s right.”
Marcos turned to him with an appalled look on his face. “You want one of us to get eaten?”
“Well, No, not really,” Thomas said, cringing a little bit. “But it would prove the point.”
“What point? That we’re tasty?”
“No, about the Hugos. And the sausages. Here, I have some sausage anyways. I brought it for dinner.”
Marcos turned back to the approaching storm, shaking his head. The rain started, and the lightning. Thomas ate his sausage, then stood silently watching the rain pouring down.
After a while, Marcos shook his head. “Nope,” he said. “Neither of us have been eaten.”
Thomas shrugged. “They’re all busy over in Phobos, eating people who don’t believe in Cake.”
Marcos nodded. “I believe in Cake,” he said. “I really do. But I prefer Pie. My wife baked me a small pie for Dessert.” Marcos pulled it out. “Mmm. Berry Pie.”
Thomas nodded. “I like Pie,” he replied. “Apple Pie, Meat Pie, Bacon Pie. Mmm.”
“I PREFER CAKE,” said the Hugos Dragon, behind them.
I’m attending WorldCon but not voting. I’ve not read any of the nominated entries in any category so don’t feel it’s fair for me to pick ’em at random. I’ve downloaded the packet but doubt I’ll get a chance (or, to be honest inclination) to read any of them.
Is this woeful of me or at least honest? Or should I instead vote anyway?
Holy smokes! If I were to get a Supporting Membership, I would obviously get to vote, but would I really get a big box o’ books as well? I am totally joining.
You’d get a big box o’ ebooks that you ought to read in the next week or so. I know I won’t be reading the Martin novel, but I may vote in that category anyway.
It’s not looking like I’ll get enough reading done by then … and it doesn’t help that so many entries were only provided in PDF format. Last year had a higher percentage of epub, which I can read on my phone. But read _and_ enjoy novels in PDF on the phone? Not happening. And my little Sprint Evo has been the only way I’ve been able to do any leisure reading in the past two years …
I believe the Hugo packet suggests that you be familiar with most or all of the works. I’m feeling a bit guilty about the Martin novel but I’m not reading the series out of order just to vote,and I don’t feel that bad about assuming I’ll like it about as well as the previous Song of Ice & Fire novels that I have read.
There are other categories besides the written ones. For example, the packet includes samples of art by the nominated artists.
Well … I’m now having this “problem”, though I’ve got already read most of the short stories and novellettes available somewhere on the net. And the issue gets aggravated by the fact that English isn’t my first language. My plan is to skim through the stuff, at least reading the first pages each, and not to vote in categories where I’m thinking that I cannot make a justified decision.
In my opinion the Voter Package stands as a good deal for itself, by getting a preselected, “best-of” (and DRM-free!) SF/Fantasy “bookshelf” for a reasonable price.