Public Service Announcement
Some may call this Hugo Award pimpage, and maybe it is, but I'd like to suggest that I'm doing the SF community a service.
It's that time of year when nominations for Hugos are made, and I want to ask people who are able to vote - people who attended last year's WorldCon in Montreal, and supporting and attending members of this year's WorldCon in Melbourne - to vote for one of my novels. You see, I've never been on the short list for a fiction Hugo. Oh, my pal Kim Newman and I were shortlisted for the Hugo for best dramatic presentation, short-form, for our presentation of the Hugo ceremony in 2005, but none of my fiction has ever been shortlisted for a Hugo. And that's a shame.
Not for me, you understand. I can live with it. But listen: the fact that I haven't been shortlisted for a fiction award reflects badly on all the great authors who've never been shortlisted for a fiction Hugo either. People like J.G. Ballard, Ray Bradbury, Lester Del Rey, M. John Harrison, Michael Moorcock, Tim Powers, Peter Straub, AE van Vogt. I mean, think about it. I really don't deserve to be in their company.
So listen up. Here's what can be done to remedy this terribly embarrassing situation. I have it on good authority that because it wasn't published in the USA until 2009 and because it didn't make the short list last year, the eligibility extension bylaw of the Hugo Awards allows my novel The Quiet War to be eligible for nomination for best novel in this year's Hugo Awards. So if you liked it enough to nominate it last year, please, think about doing so again. And if you've read it and liked it, but haven't yet nominated it, why not give it a shot? You could also nominate Gardens of the Sun, too, of course. Just in case.
I know that my continued failure to be shortlisted is an amazing honour. But really, I'm not worthy.
PS This novella is eligible too.
It's that time of year when nominations for Hugos are made, and I want to ask people who are able to vote - people who attended last year's WorldCon in Montreal, and supporting and attending members of this year's WorldCon in Melbourne - to vote for one of my novels. You see, I've never been on the short list for a fiction Hugo. Oh, my pal Kim Newman and I were shortlisted for the Hugo for best dramatic presentation, short-form, for our presentation of the Hugo ceremony in 2005, but none of my fiction has ever been shortlisted for a Hugo. And that's a shame.
Not for me, you understand. I can live with it. But listen: the fact that I haven't been shortlisted for a fiction award reflects badly on all the great authors who've never been shortlisted for a fiction Hugo either. People like J.G. Ballard, Ray Bradbury, Lester Del Rey, M. John Harrison, Michael Moorcock, Tim Powers, Peter Straub, AE van Vogt. I mean, think about it. I really don't deserve to be in their company.
So listen up. Here's what can be done to remedy this terribly embarrassing situation. I have it on good authority that because it wasn't published in the USA until 2009 and because it didn't make the short list last year, the eligibility extension bylaw of the Hugo Awards allows my novel The Quiet War to be eligible for nomination for best novel in this year's Hugo Awards. So if you liked it enough to nominate it last year, please, think about doing so again. And if you've read it and liked it, but haven't yet nominated it, why not give it a shot? You could also nominate Gardens of the Sun, too, of course. Just in case.
I know that my continued failure to be shortlisted is an amazing honour. But really, I'm not worthy.
PS This novella is eligible too.
posted by Paul McAuley at 7:49 pm
12 Comments:
"But listen: the fact that I haven't been shortlisted for a fiction award"
But, Paul...you've not only been shortlisted for a fiction award (I think you probably wanted to insert Hugo in there), you've won a Campbell Memorial Award, Clarke, Philip K. Dick Award, British Fantasy Award, and Sidewise award.
Shocking omissions on that list Paul, particularly yourself and Bradbury. How did he miss out?
The beginning of the sentence was about Hugos, Steven, which (I thought) kind of implied the end of it was about them too. But I've disambiguated it just for you. The fact that I've won other stuff, removing myself from the list of great writers who didn't, only makes my failure to do the same with the Hugos even more embarrassing.
Rob, they're all shocking (apart from me). Bradbury - was he considered a fantasy/horror writer back when the Hugos were all about SF? But what about the Martian Chronicles stories?
The Hugos didn't come until a few years after the Martian Chronicles had already been published, I think.
Not eligible, I'm afraid.
Al and Pete - you're right: Martian Chronicles predated the first Hugo Awards. And Farenheit 451 was published in 1953, and there were no Hugos in 1954, when it would have been eligible...
By the way, here's another shocking omission: Al Reynolds belongs to the illustrious company of great writers whose fiction has never been shortlisted for a Hugo. He didn't publish a novel last year, but there are a couple of short stories...
Well, as you say, illustrious company to be in...
Paul, about 10 minutes ago I ordered "Gardens of the Sun" from an excellent Swedish online source. I am looking forward to reading it.
Thanks George. Hope you like it!
Judging from the quality of The Quiet War (which I finished this very night), I find it inconceivable that you have never made the Hugo shortlist. I will most certainly be nominating it!
Friends of Paul (or at least readers) please click on the link below and nominate Paul there. The link is Scalzi's blog, regular reading for me, and I am sure for some of you. Anyway, he has a VERY large following and it would do The Quiet War no harm to get a mention on this page.
PS. Paul did NOT pay me to do this, honest. I just think a Brit author who's written a good book should have a chance.
Here's the link: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/02/09/your-science-fiction-award-nomination-suggestions/
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