Vote vote vote--and rec rec rec rec

[ellen_datlow]

Ok. Here's my impassioned plea/push/nag for anyone who reads this blog and is eligible to recommend stories and or novels for the various peer group science fiction, fantasy, and horror awards.
I know that some people feel that awards themselves are a bad thing and that they should all be abolished. I'm not talking to you. I don't believe that and I know I'm not going to change your minds.

Awards are NOT going to go away but they could become less visible (which I think is a bad thing). As an editor I really appreciate it when the stories/books I edit make final award ballots and win awards. And I think most writers are even more appreciative of this. It gives a sense of validation for what you're doing by your peers (for the Nebula and Stoker).

Right now is "award rec season" and there are discussions on both the SFWA Bulletin Board and the HWA Bulletin Board about how their respective awards are dying --not enough members are recommending works to even make a preliminary ballot.

Now some people think that this might be because no one likes the work being published.
Others that no one is reading enough short fiction to be interested in recommending works in those categories.
I have a really difficult time believing the first reason. I've been reading sf/f/h short fiction for twenty five years and have found no drop off in quality in any of those fields.

I can't answer for the second but I hope it's not true because if so my profession will die and I love editing short fiction.

If you care at ALL for the genre short story then I urge you to recommend the stories that you think are worth bringing to the attention of your peers.

This is totally off the cuff and I know if I thought about it more I'd have more to write--but I'd also probably just delete the whole post...

Comments welcome!

Comments

[doc-lemming.livejournal.com]

(Got here through James Nicoll's post.)

I have to admit that of the magazines, the only one that I actually read almost all the way through is Black Gate. This seems to indicate a shift away from what I want to read.

On the other hand, I've liked the various "year's best" anthologies that I've read, yours and others. They're certainly of a higher degree of quality than I see in the magazines. I don't have access to anything other than the aforementioned Black Gate (and that by subscription), F&SF, and Analog, though I know that there are other magazines out there, I might like them. Don't know. Can't spend the money to try them if I don't see them/know about them.

I realize distribution is a separate problem, but I thought I'd give one (non-member's) take on the issue.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Thanks for coming by. I think a big problem is that the perception is that contemporary sf/f is defined by "the big three"--and that's wrong. The field consists of many magazines plus original anthologies) that are publishing all types of fantastic fiction. I like some of the stories in the "big three" but do I think the stories in those magazines are more deserving of awards than those in other venues? Often not. I think it's crucial for readers to see what else is going on outside the usual places they read.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Magazine distribution in our area got consolidated in the 1990s. The company that absorbed Kitchener News was significantly less flexible than KN when I dealt with them and I don't recall that they had as wide a range of titles on offer.

One habit they had which was quite endearing was the use of software to adjust the number of copies of a particular magazine to the level that they felt the retailer should be selling. This was generally in the form of an unrequested increase. One could only accept the shipment or not accept it. One could not reject the extra copies, althogh you could return them for credit when the next issue came in (The number of copies of that issue would, of course, be higher than the previous one). Also, it was apparently impossible to disable this automatic service.