Chicon 7 has exercised its right under the WSFS Constitution to add a Special Category for 2012. The additional award category is Best Fancast, defined as “Any non-professional audio- or video-casting with at least four (4) episodes that had at least one (1) episode released in 2011.” (There is an amendment to the WSFS Constitution pending ratification at Chicon 7 that would make Best Fancast a permanent category.)

If you are eligible to nominate, you may cast a nominating ballot through the Chicon Hugo Nominating Website or by paper ballot by mail. No matter which method you use to vote, Chicon 7 must receive your ballot (postmarks/timestamps do not count) by Sunday, March 11, 2012, 23:59 Pacific Daylight Time. (Convert to your local time here.)

If you have questions about specific procedures for the 2012 Hugo Awards, address them to the Chicon 7 Hugo Awards Administrators. TheHugoAwards.org cannot answer specific questions about eligibility or procedures for a given election, since each Hugo Award election is administered by that year’s Worldcon.

Update, Jan 4: According to a statement posted by Jeff Orth on the File 770 web site, voter PINs (the code number required to cast your ballot online) “are being emailed to current members now. PR3 will be in the mail directly. You can also request a PIN at hugoadmin@chicon.org.”

Note: While this is a “nominating ballot,” and we say that you “nominate” people or works for a Hugo Award when you write them on the nominating ballot, only those people or works that appear on the final Hugo Award ballot later in the year are the actual “Hugo Award Nominees.” Merely writing a work in on your nominating ballot does not make that work a “Hugo Award Nominee” unless the work receives enough nominations from other Worldcon members to make the final ballot.

See the Chicon 7 web site for the official press release announcement.

BEST NOVEL

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)

BEST NOVELLA

The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)

BEST NOVELETTE

“The Emperor of Mars” by Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010)

BEST SHORT STORY

“For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010)

BEST RELATED WORK

Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea (Mad Norwegian)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse,
written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by
Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM

Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM

Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang,” written by Steven
Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)

BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM

Sheila Williams

BEST EDITOR, LONG FORM

Lou Anders

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST

Shaun Tan

BEST SEMIPROZINE

Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace;
podcast directed by Kate Baker

BEST FANZINE

The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon

BEST FAN WRITER

Claire Brialey

BEST FAN ARTIST

Brad W. Foster

JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER

Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer
of 2009 or 2010, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo Award).

Lev Grossman

The 2011 Hugo Award winners were announced on Saturday evening, August 20, at the Peppermill Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada. Jay Lake and Ken Scholes presided as masters of ceremony, with additional presenters including Renovation Guests of Honor Tim Powers, Boris Vallejo, and Ellen Asher, along with leading genre writers George R.R. Martin and Robert Silverberg.

The unique 2011 Hugo trophy base design was revealed at the ceremony by designer and Hugo base design contest winner Marina Gelineau.

See the Final Ballot Details for a full breakdown of votes, subsequent placements, and nomination counts.

A record total of 2100 valid final ballots were cast, a 46.1% turnout, from voters in 33 countries. (The previous record set in 1980 was 1788 ballots cast.) Renovation also broke a record earlier this year when it received 1006 valid nominating ballots.

The 2011 Hugo Award winners will be announced on Saturday evening, August 20, at the Peppermill Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada. Jay Lake and Ken Scholes will preside as masters of ceremony, with additional presenters to include Renovation Guests of Honor Tim Powers, Boris Vallejo, and Ellen Asher, along with leading genre writers George R. R. Martin and Robert Silverberg.

The unique 2011 Hugo trophy base design will also be revealed at the ceremony by designer and Hugo base contest winner Marina Gelineau.

For more information about Renovation or attending the 2011 Hugo Awards ceremony, please visit http://www.renovationsf.org/.

Bookmark our 2011 Hugo Award Live Coverage page for the gateway to the event coverage on CoverItLive.

Kevin Standlee and Mur Lafferty will cover the event from the Tuscany Ballroom at the Peppermill Hotel in Reno and we’ll incorporate the official @Renovationsf and @TheHugoAwards Twitter feeds, as well as Twitter posts using the #hugos, #hugoaward, and #hugoawards hashtags.

Our coverage is text-only. Renovation intends to provide live streaming coverage of the ceremony on UStream. We’ll include a link to the live-stream from within our coverage.

We’ll be “on the air” shortly before the scheduled 8 PM PDT start. Join us to watch, read, and discuss the results as the Worldcon presents our field’s top honors.

Our thanks to Renovation, the 2011 Worldcon, for their cooperation in providing live coverage of the 2011 Hugo Awards ceremony.

Attending, Supporting, and Young Adult members of Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention, are eligible to vote.

More information can be found at Renovation’s website.

To help you make an informed vote, the 2011 Hugo Voter Packet, an electronic package of nominated works and samples graciously made available to voters by nominees and their publishers, has also recently been expanded.

For more information about Worldcon and participating in the 2011 Hugo Awards, please visit Renovation’s website.

The 2011 Hugo Voter Packet is available to Supporting, Attending, and Young Adult members of Renovation to help inform them about the works under consideration before voting. The packet is available until voting closes on Sunday, July 31, 2011 11:59pm PDT.

Members may access the packet on the Renovation Worldcon web site or email hugopacket@renovationsf.org for voter information. If you are not yet a member of the 2011 Worldcon, you can register online. You do not need to attend the convention to participate in the Hugo Awards.

Supporting, Attending, and Young Adult members of Renovation, the 2011 World Science Fiction Convention, are eligible to vote in the finals. For more information, please visit Renovation’s website.

The winners will be announced Saturday, August 20th, 2011, during the Hugo Awards Ceremony at Renovation in Reno, Nevada.