Two more days to the Nebula rec deadline

[ellen_datlow]

It has been pointed out to me by a friend that I may not be permitted to post the below info--so I've modified it...sorry if I screwed up:

The preliminary ballot is finally shaping up. However...the fact that there are still categories that barely have enough recs to make the preliminary ballot is a travesty. I don't read all the many strictly sf stories any more as most of my anthos (and the YBFH) concentrate on fantasy and horror but I KNOW there are more sf/f stories out there worthy of your recommendations. So read and DO IT--now!!!!


Plus THE TERROR by Simmons has almost enough recs to make the preliminary ballot and its eligibility ends the 31st...I'm more than half way through it now and still loving it. Someone out there must love it as much as I and others who have blogged about it do.

Go go go go....

Comments

[cherylmmorgan.livejournal.com]

Well yeah, but as "short story" is the shortest of three different groups of short fiction it is comparatively very short.

I make no claim as to the reasonableness of the problem. Perhaps people ought to be able to judge short story quality better (although I note that you are something of an expert in this field - if you weren't so good at picking winners you wouldn't keep winning awards for your anthologies). But it does happen in the Hugos and it appears to be happening in the Nebulas too.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

The borderline between short story and novelette is very thin. There are a lot of short novelettes out there. In general, certainly when at SCIFI.COM I found myself publishing more novelettes than short stories.

If anything (and this seems to be borne out) --it's usually harder to get enough novellas on a ballot than short stories and novelettes. Because they're too long to read in one sitting and not long enough to totally immerse oneself in? (I don't have answers, just questions)

[vylar-kaftan.livejournal.com]

That's what happened to me. I was only able to make time for the ones close to qualifying. In the new year I'll try to read some more.

[cherylmmorgan.livejournal.com]

With novellas I had always assumed that it was because so few of them got written/published, but I have no hard data to back that up.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that's part of it but I think it's a combination of those two factors.