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To Eligibility Post or Not to Eligibility Post?

Photo of speculative fiction writer Cat Rambo with Cinderella's Wicked Stepmother at Disneyworld.
In my position as SFWA President, sometimes I have to confer with fictional characters.
Let us begin by acknowledging that this is a rancorous period, full of clashing agendas, bewildered onlookers, and all too many innocents caught in the crossfire (although it is not the first time we’ve seen these storms, nor will it be the last.). And that right now making an eligibility post particularly mentioning Hugo Award categories like Related Work is something that some of us are circling and wondering about.

And my answer is yes. Yes, you should. Why?

Because it helps people discover the work that you’re proud of. You know what you wrote. You know what you want to make sure they see. It’s okay to say, “Hey, if you’re looking to read something by me, I would try this.”

Because it helps people read widely. Every writer in F&SF should — well, I don’t want to make it seem mandatory so I won’t say that you must do this, but you should at least feel free to make eligibility posts. So when someone’s poking around, they can find your stuff and read it.

Because you shouldn’t self-censor out of modesty when talking about your work. You are its best champion. Go ahead and help people find the best examples of it. Be humble and lovable in some other way. (Thank you to Erin M. Hartshorn for the link to the piece of self-effacement.)

And so, I’ve finally been prodded by a Twitter conversation into doing my own in part because I want to say to you, no matter where you are sited in the bizarre and incredibly wordy conflicts, that you should do it. Let’s have lots of wonderful reading lists, the more the merrier, and part of creating those is making readers aware of what you (and others, sure) have done. Please feel free to post a link if you’ve made an eligibility post. Yup, even if you think you’re not welcome. You are.

I published a bunch in 2015. You can find the full list elsewhere, but here are my best of recommendations:

  • Related work: I co-edited Ad Astra: The SFWA 50th Anniversary Cookbook with Fran Wilde. (Hard copies are available here.) I remain inordinately proud of the work, which contains recipes like Charles Brown’s Turkey Turkey Turkey and Octavia Butler’s Pineapple Fried Rice. (I think these two essays #PurpleSF and On Reading the Classics are also eligible.
  • Novel: Kevin J. Anderson’s excellent Wordfire Press published my first novel, Beasts of Tabat, the first in a fantasy quartet. SFWA members can find a copy of it up in the 2015 Fiction forum. There have been some nice Amazon reviews, but I know the book isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and there’s been some awesome awesome novels published in 2015. *goes back to read that self-deprecating piece again and quickly moves on*
  • Novella: Nothing this year, but wait till you see the one Bud Sparhawk and I have coming up in Abyss & Apex!
  • Novelette: Also nothing this year.
  • Short story: As always, plenty of stuff here. The pieces that I am proudest of are Primaflora’s Journey, which appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, “The Subtler Art”, which appeared in Blackguards: Tales of Assassin,s Mercenaries, and Rogues, edited by J.M. Martin, and “Marvelous Contrivances of the Heart,” which appeared in Fiction River: Recycled Pulp, edited by John Helfers. I am glad to send a copy of the latter two to any requester.

Please feel free to comment and include a link to your own eligibility post. In this coming week, I’ll also be posting a list of my favorites from 2015, but there are so many it may take a while, plus I’m still reading a few.

Peace out,

Cat

P.S. Here are some additional eligibility posts. I’ll add more as I get them. Please note that A.C. Wise has a great post here where she’s collecting these as well as book recommendation posts.

John Joseph Adams
Mike Allen
Robin Wayne Bailey
Nicolette Barischoff
Helena Bell
Brooke Bolander
A.C. Buchanan
Beth Cato
Nino Cipri
Gwendolyn Clare
Clarkesworld
Fred Coppersmith
A.M.Dellamonica
Seth Dickinson
Andy Dudak
Scott Edelman
FantasyLiterature.com
A.J. Fitzwater
Sam Fleming
T. Frohock
Nin Harris
Maria Dahvana Headley
Kate Heartfield
Jim C. Hines
M.C.A. Hogarth
Annalee Flower Horne
Alexis A. Hunter
José Pablo Iriarte
Heather Rose Jones
Jason Kimble
Mur Lafferty
Rose Lemberg
Natalie Luhrs
J.M. McDermott
Seanan McGuire
Kris Millering
Lia Swope Mitchell
Sunny Moraine
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Linda Nagata
Mari Ness
Daniel José Older
Carrie Patel
Sunil Patel
Laura Pearlman
Andrea Phillips
Sarah Pinsker
Adam Rakunas
Jessica Reisman
Kelly Robson
Sean R. Robinson
Merc Rustad
SF Signal
Shimmer
Skiffy and Fanty podcast
David Steffen
Penny Stirling
Bogi Takacs
Shveta Thakrar
E. Catherine Tobler
Tor.com
Uncanny Magazine
Unlikely Story
Ursula Vernon
Marlee Jane Ward
M. Darusha Wehm
Martha Wells
Fran Wilde
A.C. Wise
Alyssa Wong
Isabel Yap
Caroline M. Yoachim

75 Responses

  1. Pingback: Pixel Scroll 1/25/16 The Depixellated Man | File 770

  2. Since you ask: First Do No Harm, Strange Horizons, November 16. It’s a novelette by about 70 words.

    Not sure it deserves a Hugo, but on the other hand, I’ve always dreamed of being a Hugo Loser and getting invited to one of GRRM’s parties.

    Reply
  5. Pingback: The eligible past, the tedious present, the exciting future | Lia Swope Mitchell
  8. Pingback: Obligatory Awards Eligibility Post | Janine A. Southard – Writer & Editor

  11. For consideration: THE SYNOPSIS TREASURY. Published by WordFirePress on Feb 2015, it took me ten years to compile never-before-seen actual synopses submitted by major SF-Fantasy authors to industry, to show fans and writers how they got published. Including: H.G. Wells, Frank Herbert, Robert Heinlein, Terry Brooks, Orson Scott Card, Andre Norton, Joe Haldeman, David Brin, Connie Willis, Margaret Weis, Robert J. Sawyer, Sara Douglass, Julie E. Czerneda, Jack Williamson, Ben Bova, Kevin J. Anderson, and many others. Very diverse styles, careers, genders and tastes. Includes a foreword by former VP and Editor-in-Chief of Del Rey, Betsy Mitchell.

    Reply

    1. I think THE SYNOPSIS TREASURY would be eligible for Best Related Work. It’s a shot in the dark, considering such powerful competition, but I’m very proud of this unique book and this is probably my only shot. 🙂

      Reply
  12. Pingback: What I Wrote in 2016 and The List of Award Eligibility Posts I’ve Found | The World Remains Mysterious
  13. Pingback: Pixel Scroll 12/5/16 And They Will Know Us By The Trail Of Pixels | File 770
  16. Pingback: What I wrote in 2016 | kirabug's idea files
  17. Pingback: What I wrote in 2018 – kirabug's idea files
  18. Pingback: Round-up of Awards Posts by F&SF Writers, Editors, and Publishers for 2018 | The World Remains Mysterious
  19. Pingback: Round-up of Awards Posts by F&SF Writers, Editors, and Publishers for 2021 | The World Remains Mysterious

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