Updated Redshirts Cover

Which is being added to the ebook versions as we speak, and will be on the print versions with the next edition:

Can’t complain about that. Also, “Hugo Award Winning Author” or some variation of it is likely to be added to the covers of the other books as they go to reprint.

Those of you aware of my history may ask, as the Redshirts win was actually my third Hugo, why we haven’t mentioned Hugos on book covers before. The short answer is that the other Hugos, while awesome, were in non-fiction categories, and neither I nor Patrick, my editor, felt it would have been appropriate to use them as cover page marketing for my fiction work (we did note the Hugo for Hate Mail in the bio material, which is usually inside copy).

This is not to cast aspersion on anyone else who does or would, mind you; with so many things, this is a personal judgment call. Now that I have a Hugo for fiction, it’s full speed ahead. Can’t wait to see this cover on a printed copy.

26 Comments on “Updated Redshirts Cover”

  1. Revel in it, John.

    “Hugo-Award Winning Author
    John Scalzi.
    Hugo-Award Winning Author of Old Man’s War
    The Hugo-Award Winning New York Times Bestseller
    Redshirts
    Winner of the Hugo Award”

  2. It’s arguable that the cover, as re-designed, identifies “Redshirts” as “Winner of the Hugo Award”, not John Scalzi (who is identified as “Author of Old Man’s War”).

    In this context, that seems perfectly appropriate and more specific than calling out the author as a a Hugo winner. The next book can say “by Hugo Award-winning novelist John Scalzi” (before being updated to append “(twice now, he’s on a roll)”.

  3. Any news on if/whether there will be a mass market paperback? I’ve been waiting for one to read this for the admittedly pedantic reason that the “John Scalzi” section of my bookcase only has MMPBs and putting a larger-size paperback there WOULD JUST LOOK WRONG!

  4. Heck yeah. Ride that rocket ship all the way to the moon.

    At least you’re not going with a font size for that statement that dwarfs the rest of the text on the book. Then I might have said it was a bit much.

  5. I’m surprised it doesn’t say “Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel” or something to that effect. For folks like me, who are not “all-in” science fiction fans, the current wording is somewhat vague (if I didn’t read this blog, I wouldn’t know what a Hugo Award was). “Best Novel” means the same thing to everyone…

    Congrats on all your success, John…

  6. We’re not perfect, but we generally try to make it clear when we’re saying “This is a book by someone who’s a Winner of the Huge and Nobbly”, and when we’re saying “This book won the Huge and Nobbly.”

  7. As for whether it should say “Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel” (or perhaps “Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Presented at LoneStarCon 3, the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention, August 29 – September 2, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas, Toward the End of an Award Ceremony That Ran From About 8 PM to around 11 PM on Sunday, September 1”) … there are probably enough words on that cover already.

  8. Obviously, it should be “Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel of 2012, As Nominated and Voted Upon By the Members of the World Science Fiction Society, Presented at LoneStarCon 3, the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention, August 29th-September 2, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas, Toward the End of an Award Ceremony That Ran From About 8 PM to around 11 pm on Sunday, September 1, 2013”.

    Just to eliminate confusion for any potential buyers of the book who might be unfamiliar with the Hugo Awards, Wikipedia, or Google.

  9. Tch! You forgot to mention the failure of the live stream. Obviously that should go on the cover too.

  10. >> didn’t think it would be appropriate to market fiction work by noting Hugos in nonfiction.

    Yeah, it’s a bit like (though not quite as bad as) Transformers claiming to be an 3-time Academy Award Nominee (Sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects)

    Congrats on having a more legitimate Hugo to advertise your fiction.

  11. I’d really like to retrofit the dust cover of my pre-Hugo edition…

    Congratulations John. Very well-deserved.

  12. The hugo win should be in a larger case, then it won’t look out of place in an airport newsagents. Congratulations on the win by the way, Redshirts was a weird premise, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

  13. I just finished and enjoyed Red Shirts. While I was reading it, I found myself wondering whether you’d read At Swim-Two-Birds, which is also a good book. Congratulations on the Hugo!

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