Insert Witty Journal Title Here

The Flaming Geeks Book of Geeky Trivia - http://amzn.to/geekytrivia1 - is totally eligible for a Hugo for Best Related Work.

And I totally just told you so!

Also, if you'd like a free copy in whatever format for your awards-consideration, just let me know.

Congratulations to the Hugo nominees! In particular, N. K. Jemisin and Ann VanderMeer!

Full list here.

I have to say, I hope Star Trek wins, because the other movies are crap. (Caveat: I know nothing about Moon. But the _other_ movies are definitely crap!)

And I have to go for a Dr. Who ep winning as well, because.. well, crap! Though there have certainly been stronger Dr. Who eps in past years.

Looking forward to reading some of those Best Related Books.

The Locus Awards Finalists are posted right on over here.

Go Cory!

Some books there I definitely need to read. I was eyeing Powers at the library today.

Here's the list of 2008 Hugo Nominees. Some good names, of course. The "Best Related Book" category looks like it has some interesting reads in it. I haven't read anything on the entire list, I don't believe.

So, due to my illiteracy, the list that stood out the most to me was "Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form"; like all the other rabid fanbeings. "Blink" is an absolutely awesome Dr. Who episode and I wouldn't be surprised if it won. But it's up against another Dr. Who episode and a Torchwood episode. The really awesome thing though is that there's a Star Trek: New Voyages episode nominated. (Which is apparently now called Star Trek: Phase II. Oookay.)

I think I only watched one episode, though I may have watched two. I haven't been to that website in a long time. Catching up will be something to do on a rainy weekend.

Keyan said in a comment on my last post that she heard awards don't make a difference to book sales anymore. I think that was said at Clarion, Keyan. I just can't remember who said it. It may have been editor, agent, or one of our instructors.

I've been thinking about awards. Awhile ago, I start compiling a list of award winners so that I could work my way through the list and, hopefully, find some great books. The lists included the Hugo Awards, the Nebula Awards, the James Tiptree Jr. Awards, and even the Newbery Medals. I also just added the Spectrum Awards and the Lambda Awards. (I thought about adding the Carl Brandon Society Awards (Parallax and Kindred), but could only find one year's worth.)

Considering all of these lists, I think I'm less likely to seek out books from the Newbery Awards or even from the Hugo and Nebula Awards than from the others. The Newbery Awards are too full of mainstream stories. I prefer genre. Yet the Hugos and Nebulas are also pretty broad. Any sort of science fiction or fantasy work might show up there, from military sf to epic fantasy to space opera to hard sf. And while there are works in each of those subgenres that I like, I can't be sure I'll like a particular one, not even just because it won an award.

I've been reading The Long Tail by Chris Anderson and I think it comes down to niches. Science fiction and fantasy exploring gender themes? I'm there. Science fiction and fantasy stories with gay themes or lesbian protagonists? Odds are pretty good I'll like it, or at least find it interesting. Do I have other interests and themes I like? Of course I do. I just haven't found awards for them yet. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Story Featuring Kids at a School published in 2007. Where's that award?

The Long Tail says that editors and publishers are pre-filters, and with the advent of print-on-demand and even e-books, those pre-filters are becoming less important. Not that I think they'll go away entirely. It means we need more post-filters. How do you sort out the good stuff from all the crap that's being generated now? One of the answers is Award Lists.

But I think the Award Lists need to go more niche. One wonders why it took so long to come up with the Carl Brandon Society Awards, but I think the Tiptree and Carl Brandon are just the vanguard of niche science fiction and fantasy awards. And I look forward to it. It'll help me find the good stuff with the themes I'm interested in.

I just think awards are going to help the midlist more than those books that are already rising to the top. So, hurrah for the midlist!

Just saw this on the Carl Brandon Society blog. They're taking nominations for the 2007 Parallax and Kindred Awards. The deadline is July 31st, so if you're thinking about nominating something, do it NOW.

The following is taken straight from their Awards page:

The Carl Brandon Parallax Award is given to works of speculative fiction created by a person of color. Nominees must provide a brief statement self-identifying as a person of color; creators unwilling to do so will not be considered for this award.

The Carl Brandon Kindred Award is given to any work of speculative fiction dealing with issues of race and ethnicity; nominees may be of any racial or ethnic group.


So go do it already. As far as I know, anyone can nominate a work. It has to have been published in 2006 though.