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The Inevitable Awards Post

Cover for A Seed on the Wind, painting by Mats Minnhagen
Tiny things floated through the air all around him. He stretched out his palm and kept it motionless long enough that one drifted to be trapped in his palm. A seed, a brown seed. Attached to one end a tuft of hairs, fine and feathery, to carry it along. Carefully he raised his hand, examined it more closely. So small. As it neared his eye, it became no longer brown, ridges and swirls marked its surface in grays and greens and reds that somehow blended together to create the impression of brown from just a few inches farther away.
It’s that time of year when people are stepping up their reading for the various awards and their best of the year lists. I’m making my own, and if you’ve got something I should be paying attention to, please feel free to point me to it in the comments here or mail it to me at catrambo at gmail.com. I prefer .rtf for short stories, and .mobi for longer stuff. Please put “FOR AWARD CONSIDERATION” in the header so I can spot it more easily in the seething morass that is my inbox. I’m eligible to nominate for the Hugos, the Nebulas, and WFC.

If you are interested, I’ve got two pieces that I consider my best of the year, and I’m happy to send copies for your consideration. One is “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” a short story which appeared in my collection, NEAR + FAR. I’m still pretty proud of the audience gasps that piece got when I read it at World Fantasy this year. It’s an odd piece, but I like it a lot. The other piece is a novella, A SEED ON THE WIND, which appeared in stand-alone form from Athans Associates.

Other eligible pieces include “Grandmother,” which appeared on Escape Pod, and “Bus Ride to Mars,” which appeared in Daily Science Fiction.

2 Responses

  1. Speaking as one of the people who gasped at your WFC reading, you *should* be proud. I haven’t read Near+Far yet, but I doubt that reading that story will provoke nearly the same impact as hearing it did.

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Round-up of Awards Posts by F&SF Writers, Editors, and Publishers for 2021

It’s that time again! Once again I have created this post for consolidating fantasy and science fiction award eligibility round-ups. If you are an F&SF writer, editor, podcast, or publisher working in comics, fiction or games, I hope you’ll let people know what you have that they should be reading.

Past things I have written about why writers should do this include On Awards: To Be Pushy Or Not To Be Pushy (2014), The Spontaneous Knotting of an Agitated Awards Process (2015), and To Eligibility Post or Not to Eligibility Post? (2016).

Want a sample post? Here’s mine for this year.

Here are the previous such round-up posts from 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Here are the guidelines that save us both work. It’s best if you e-mail me to add your name and link. I need to know your name, what categories you fit in, and the single URL that lets people find the works. Fair warning: If I have to click through multiple links in order to figure out your name and which category you should be put in, it will slow me down and make me cranky.

I strongly suggest that you do this in a blog post rather than on social media, for multiple reasons, including: it’s hard for people to find stuff on social media sometimes; not everyone has a social media account; it affects search engine optimization; and the fact that it’ll be easier for you to find it yourself later on. I can and do point at Twitter or FB posts if that’s all that people have, but I think they are shortchanging themselves when they do it.

If you tweet yours and tag me, there’s a good chance I’ll miss it somehow. Feel free to remind me in e-mail so I don’t miss it a second time. I also reiterate since we’re in another paragraph that tweeting your award eligibility is, in my opinion, doing yourself a disservice. If you don’t have a blog, I am willing to host your award eligibility post on this one as a guest post. Okay, I’ll stop being so pedantic about this, but I’m not saying it for my own benefit.

Places to find similar lists:
A.C. Wise maintains a similar list here.

Here are the SFWA recommended reading lists. These lists are the suggestions made by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and represent pieces they found particularly read-worthy over the course of the year. Appearance on the list is NOT the same thing as a Nebula nomination.

Novel
Novella
Novelette
Short Story
Games
Bradbury Award
Norton (Young adult/middle grade novels)

Here is the Coyotl Award Recommended List.
Here is the Hugo Award Nominees Wiki.
Astounding Award Eligibility

Not on the list? Feel free to give me the information via this webform. Please allow 24 hours for the form to be updated.

Writers & Editors

  1. Ajeigbe, Oluwatomiwa
  2. Alexander, Phoenix
  3. Allen, B. Morris
  4. Allen, Skye
  5. Anasuya, Shreya Ila
  6. Anderson, G.V.
  7. Appel, John
  8. Argentino, Joe
  9. Arthurs, Bruce
  10. Bailton, Adria
  11. Bangs, Elly
  12. Barb, Patrick
  13. Barber, Jenny
  14. Barrant, Klein, Annika
  15. Bartles, Jason A.
  16. Becard, Avery
  17. Beckett, L.X.
  18. Bell, E.D.E.
  19. Bernardo, Renan
  20. Bhatia, Gautam
  21. Blackwell, Laura
  22. Bleu, Gabrielle
  23. Booth, Die
  24. Brewer, Steven D.
  25. Brothers, Laurence Raphael
  26. Buchanan, Andi C.
  27. Burton, Rebecca
  28. Cahill, Martin
  29. Calabria, Erin
  30. Campbell, Chris
  31. Campbell, Rebecca
  32. Chan, Grace
  33. Chan, L.
  34. Chand, Priya
  35. Chng, Joyce
  36. Cho, Jessica
  37. Chronister, Kay
  38. Chrostek, John
  39. Clark, C.L.
  40. Clarke, Jeannine
  41. Cleaveland, Kristin
  42. Cobbe, Elizabeth
  43. Coleman, Kel
  44. Cornetto, Holly
  45. Costello, Rob
  46. Crighton, Katherine
  47. Criley, Marc A.
  48. Crilly, Brandon
  49. Croal, Lyndsey
  50. Croke, Marie
  51. Czernada, Julie
  52. Daley, Ray
  53. Damken, Maggie
  54. Dandenell, Karl
  55. Das, Indrapramit
  56. Datlow, Ellen
  57. Day, Sarah
  58. De Anda, Victor
  59. Deeds, Marion
  60. de Haan, Laura
  61. de Winter, Gunnar
  62. Demchuk, David
  63. Dewes, J.S.
  64. Dheda, Shiksha
  65. Dila, Dilman
  66. Divya, S.B.
  67. Donohue, Jennifer R.
  68. Doocy, Maiga
  69. Dotson, J. Dianne
  70. Duckworth, Jonathan
  71. Duerr, Laura
  72. Duncan, R.K.
  73. Dunato, Jelena
  74. Ebenstein, Alex
  75. Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald
  76. Farrenkopf, Corey
  77. Feistner, Victoria
  78. Felapton, Camestros
  79. Feldman, Stephanie
  80. Fields, C.M.
  81. Fogg, Vanessa
  82. Forest, Elizabeth
  83. Forrest, Francesca
  84. Fox, Emily
  85. Francia, Kate
  86. Frohock, T.
  87. Fullerton, HL
  88. Garcia, R.S.A.
  89. Garcia, Rhonda J.
  90. Garcia Ley, K.
  91. Garcia-Rosas, Nelly Geraldine
  92. Gardner, Benjamin
  93. Genova, Barbara
  94. George, JL
  95. Goldfuss, A.L.
  96. Grauer, Alyson
  97. Gray, Lora
  98. Greenblatt, A.T.
  99. Ha, Thomas
  100. Haber, Elad
  101. Harn, Darby
  102. Haskins, Maria
  103. Haynes, Michael
  104. Heijndermans, Joachim
  105. Heike, Sylvia
  106. Henry, Veronica
  107. Hewitt, Alexander
  108. Hilton, Alicia
  109. Hoffman, Ada
  110. Houser, Chip
  111. Howell, A.P.
  112. Hudak, Jennifer
  113. Hughes, Louise
  114. Iriarte, José Pablo
  115. Ize-Iyamu, Osahon
  116. Jain, Sid
  117. Jiang, Ai
  118. Jones, Shelly
  119. Kasley, Vivian
  120. Katsuyama, Umiyuri
  121. Katz, Gwen C.
  122. Keane, Paula
  123. Key, Justin
  124. Khalid, Kehkashan
  125. Khanna, Rajan
  126. Kiggins, Mike
  127. Kim, Isabel J.
  128. Kimbriel, K. E.
  129. Kindred, L.P.
  130. King, Scott
  131. Kinney, Benjamin C.
  132. Kobb, Shawn
  133. Koch, Joanna
  134. Kornher-Stace, Nicole
  135. Kraner, Steph
  136. Krishnan, M.L.
  137. Kuhn, M.J.
  138. Kulski, K.P.
  139. Kurella, Jordan
  140. Laban, Monique
  141. LaFaro, Brennan
  142. Lasser, Jon
  143. Lavigne, C.J.
  144. LeBlanc, Ann
  145. Lee, Eileen Gunnell
  146. Lee, P.H.
  147. Leitch, Stina
  148. Lévai, Jessica
  149. Lewis, L.D.
  150. Ley, Katherine Garcia
  151. Lin, Monte
  152. Lingen, Marissa
  153. Louise, A.Z.
  154. Low, P.H.
  155. Lowd, Mary E.
  156. Lu, Lark Morgan
  157. Luiz, Dante
  158. Lundoff, Catherine
  159. Ma, Ewen
  160. Madden, Anna
  161. Madrigano, Clara
  162. Magariti, Avra
  163. Malik, Usman T.
  164. Mamatas, Nick
  165. Manney, PJ
  166. Manusos, Lyndsie
  167. Margariti, Avra
  168. Martino, Anna
  169. McCarthy, J.A.W.
  170. McConvey, J.R.
  171. McGill, C.E.
  172. McLeod, Lindz
  173. Mehrotra, Rati
  174. Melcer, M.V.
  175. Michel, Lincoln
  176. Miles, Jo
  177. Miller, Janna
  178. Mingault, Reed
  179. Mohamed, Premee
  180. Moher, Aidan
  181. Moore, L.H.
  182. Moore, Nancy Jane
  183. Mudie, Timothy
  184. Murray, Meg
  185. Napier, Kali
  186. Nason, Derek
  187. Navarette Diaz, Tato
  188. Nayler, Ray
  189. Neugebauer, Annie
  190. Nikel, Wendy
  191. Ning, Leah
  192. Nirav, Hannah A.
  193. Nogle, Christi
  194. Ogden, Aimee
  195. Ogundiran, Tobi
  196. Okungbowa, Suyi Davies
  197. Osawaru, Praise
  198. Othenin-Girard, Léon
  199. Palumbo, Suzan
  200. Pauling, Sarah
  201. Payseur, Charles
  202. Pearce, C.H.
  203. Pichette, Marisca
  204. Pinckard, Mikyuki Jane
  205. Pinsker, Sarah
  206. Piper, Hailey
  207. Povanda, Jared
  208. Psfetakis, Victor
  209. Ragland, Parker
  210. Rajotte, Mary
  211. Rambo, Cat
  212. Ratnakar, Arula
  213. Reynolds, Jeff
  214. Riddle, Aun-Juli
  215. Ring, Lauren
  216. Rose, Christopher Mark
  217. Sadiq, Abu Bakr
  218. Salcedo, Sarah
  219. Sand, R.P.
  220. Sayre, A.T.
  221. Sehgal, Divyansha
  222. Seidel, Alexandra
  223. Seiberg, Effie
  224. Serrano, Arturo
  225. Sharma, Iona Datt
  226. Shirey, Austin
  227. Shiveley, Jordan
  228. Singh, Amal
  229. Smith, Chloe
  230. Smith, Rosemary Claire
  231. Sommerberg, Katalina
  232. St. George, Carlie
  233. Stanley, Nelson
  234. Stemple, Adam
  235. Stephens, Elise
  236. Stewart, Andy
  237. Stuart, Julian
  238. Sutherland, K.A.
  239. Taft, Eve
  240. Takács, Bogi
  241. Talabi, Wole
  242. Taylor, Jordan
  243. Ten, Kristina
  244. Thayer, A.P.
  245. Thomas, Richard
  246. Ticknor, M. Elizabeth
  247. Tighe, Matt
  248. Toase, Steve
  249. Tobler, E. Catherine
  250. Treasure, Rebecca E.
  251. Treehouse Writers (multiple writers)
  252. Triantafyllou, Eugenia
  253. Tsamaase, Tlotlo
  254. Vaishnav, Minoti
  255. Van Alst, Jr., Theodore C.
  256. Victoria, Ricardo
  257. Wade, Juliette
  258. Wagner, Wendy
  259. Ward, Antonia Rachel
  260. Ward, Caias
  261. Wasserstein, Izzy
  262. Weimer, Paul
  263. Wellington, Joelle
  264. White, Gordon B.
  265. White, M. Douglas
  266. Wigmore, Rem
  267. Wilde, Fran
  268. Willsey, Kristina
  269. Wilson, Lorraine
  270. Wiswell, John
  271. Wolf, Risa
  272. Wolfmoor, Merc Fenn
  273. Wolverton, Nicole
  274. Yang, Hannah
  275. Yates, April
  276. Yates, Pauline
  277. Yeager Rodriguez, Karlo
  278. Yoachim, Caroline
  279. Young, Eris
  280. Zerby, Chris
  281. Zorko, Filip Hajdar Drnovšek

Publishers

  1. Cossmass Infinities
  2. Mermaids Monthly
  3. Queen of Swords Press
  4. Space Cowboy Books
  5. Speculatively Queer
  6. Stelliform Press
  7. Tales from the Trunk
  8. Uncanny Magazine
  9. Undertow Books

...

Round-up of Awards Posts by F&SF Writers, Editors, and Publishers for 2018

Image of a Christmas tree made out of books. Photo by Cat Rambo; all rights reserved.I urge my students and coaching clients to get in the habit of an eligibility post at the end of the year, listing what they wrote in the previous year, what they’re particularly proud of and hope people will consider for wards, what awards those pieces are eligible for, and including links to where readers can find the work. I’ve even blogged on the subject.

And now it’s that season again! Here’s a collection of awards-eligibility posts from fantasy and science fiction authors and publishing peeps:

Writers:

Editors:

Magazines/Podcasts:

...

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