Hugo reminder!

The deadline for the first tier of Hugo Award nominations is fast approaching!

Why should I?

Well, first of all you should nominate to support your favorite authors. There are good arguments against the award but the fact of the matter is that as it stands, Hugos are probably the best known awards for science fiction and fantasy. Winning an award, for numerous reasons is important, not least because it’s likely to lead to a bump in sales.

Secondly, you should nominate because being eligible to nominate means that you get the Hugo voter package which includes all of the final nominee works, not including the movies. For free! Or rather, the cost of membership to the con. But the packet is an amazing collection of the best stories every year has to offer so it’s well worth the money. You’ll be making out the membership cost on the novels alone!

Alright, how much?

Attending membership – that’s where you actually go there and hang out – is of course the more expensive option. That’ll set you back £125 (or 160€/$210). I’ve never actually been, so I can’t tell you yet if it’s going to be worth it (I suspect it will, but I’ll let you know in August). The more wallet-friendly option is the supporting membership which means that you still get right to nominate and vote on the Hugos as well as the full Hugo voter package. The going rate for that is £25 (or 35€/$45). But again, you get 5 wonderful stories in each of the voting categories in an ebook-format.

Fine, how do I do it?

You can purchase a membership here after which you’ll get an email thanking you for your support and another to let you know about nominating the Hugos. After that you just fill out the nominating ballot and smile. But remember to sign up well before the end of the month. The ballots close on April Fool’s Day and then you’ll just have to live with not having had a say in who gets nominated.

Full disclosure: I don’t have a horse in this race. I haven’t done anything that’s eligible for a Hugo nor am I affiliated with the organizers in any way. This is going to be my first year attending WorldCon. I have met some of the organizers at World Fantasy last year but I doubt they will remember me even enough to say hi. In this I am just a fan among other fans. Which is arguably what I am everyday everywhere.