In order to access the Hugo Voter Packet, you will need your name (as recorded in the LoneStarCon 3 membership database) and your unique Hugo PIN. LoneStarCon3 will sent PIN reminders at regular intervals during the final ballot period, and you can recover lost or forgotten PINs on the download page. If you are not yet a member of LoneStarCon 3, you can join this year’s Worldcon in order to be eligible to vote on this year’s Hugo Awards and to receive the Hugo Voter Packet. Only members of the 2013 Worldcon are eligible to vote on the 2013 final Hugo Awards ballot.

The works in the Hugo Voter Packet have been made available to the members of LoneStarCon 3 as a courtesy by the publishers, editors, artists and authors of the works nominated for a Hugo or John W. Campbell Award.

Direct questions about the 2013 Hugo Voter Packet to LSC3′s Hugo Packet Administration, not to TheHugoAwards.org. Administration of each year’s Hugo Awards and the Hugo Award Voter Packet is done by individual Worldcon committees, not by the marketing team at TheHugoAwards.org.

A Hugo Voter Packet, featuring electronic versions of nominated works, is also expected to be released in late May.

1,343 valid nominating ballots (1,329 electronic and 14 paper) were received and counted from the members of Chicon 7, LoneStarCon 3 and Loncon 3.

See the 2013 Hugo Awards page for the full list of nominations.

The 2013 Hugo Award and John W. Campbell Award winners will be announced Sunday, September 1, 2013, during the Hugo Awards Ceremony at LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, Texas.

We will be hosting online coverage of the announcement via CoverItLive here at TheHugoAwards.org. We’ll be “on the air” shortly before 1 PM PDT Saturday. Join us there as the results come in and to hear others’ reactions to the announcements.

The nominations will be announced at these conventions and sites:

• Online coverage at TheHugoAwards.org (Coverage begins shortly before 1 PM PDT)
• Norwescon 36, one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier science fiction and fantasy conventions, in Seatac, WA (1 PM PDT)
• Minicon 48, Minnesota’s longest-running science fiction convention, in Bloomington, MN (3 PM CDT)
• Marcon 48, the Midwest’s largest annual convention, in Columbus, OH (4 PM EDT)
• EightSquaredCon, the British National Science Fiction Convention (Eastercon), in Bradford, England (8 PM GMT)

Nominations will also be released category by category via the LoneStarCon 3 Facebook page and the LoneStarCon 3 Twitter feed.

Participation in the Hugo Awards nominating process is at an all-time high, with 1,343 valid nominating ballots cast this year, substantially exceeding the previous record of 1,101 set in 2012 by Chicon 7.

Once the nominees are announced, the final ballot voting will commence. Attending, Young Adult, Military, and Supporting members of LoneStarCon 3 will be able to cast final ballots until Wednesday, July 31, 2013, 11:59 PM EDT. The winners will be announced on Sunday, September 1, 2013, during the Hugo Awards Ceremony at LoneStarCon 3.

More information is available in the full LoneStarCon 3 announcement.

CoverItLive coverage of the 2013 Hugo Awards Announcement is made possible through a grant from Chicon 7 to cover event hosting costs.

If you have not yet received your PIN for voting online and believe that you should have one, contact LoneStarCon 3 at hugopin@lonestarcon3.org. Do not write to us at the Hugo Awards Web Site with questions about your PIN, because we here at the web site do not administer the awards or keep the list of PINs. We will forward any messages we get about Hugo PINs to LoneStarCon 3, but sending your query to us will delay processing of your request.

The 2013 Hugo Awards are administered by LoneStarCon 3, the 2013 Worldcon. Direct any specific questions about the 2013 Hugo Awards to LoneStarCon 3. See the 2013 Hugo Awards page on the LoneStarCon 3 web site for further information about 2013 Hugo Awards.

3.2.11: A Professional Publication is one which meets at least one of the following two criteria:

(1) it provided at least a quarter the income of any one person or,
(2) was owned or published by any entity which provided at least a quarter the income of any of its staff and/or owner.

This is one of the 12 “general provisions” listed in section 3.2 of the Constitution, which means it’s not part of the rules for any particular category, but applies generally except when there is a specific provision to the contrary in a given category. The “professional” definition affects the following categories:

• Best Professional Artist: qualifying work must appear in a professional publication
• Best Semiprozine: Semprozines must be non-professional publications
• Best Fanzine: Fanzines must be non-professional publications
• Best Fancast: Fancasts must be non-professional in nature
• Best Fan Writer: Fan writing must appear in semiprozines, fanzines, or in generally available electronic media
• Best Fan Artist: Fan art must appear in semiprozines, fanzines, or through other public display

Note that the “professional” definition does not affect the other categories on the Hugo Awards ballot. WSFS does not require that written fiction, related works, or dramatic presentations be “professionally” published, nor do the Best Editor categories mention “professional” in their descriptions.

On this year’s Hugo Awards ballot, the first category affected by the “professional” definition, Best Professional Artist, gives the full explanation of what “professional” means, but does not repeat that definition for the remaining categories thereafter such as Best Semiprozine. This inadvertently created some confusion over whether the “professional” definition applies to any category other than Best Professional Artist. Rest assured that this definition of “professional” does apply to all of the categories beyond and including Best Professional Artist, and bear it in mind when making your nominations in those categories.

Anyone who is a member of one of those three Worldcons by the end of January may cast a nomination ballot for the 2013 Hugo Awards. Ballots must be received by Sunday, March 10, 2013, 11:59 p.m. EDT (Sunday, March 10, 2013, 8:59 p.m. PDT; Monday, March 11, 2013, 3:59 a.m. UTC/GMT).

After the finalists are announced later this year, all Supporting, Attending, and Young Adult members of LoneStarCon 3 (including all members who join prior to the closing date of the final ballot) will be invited to submit ballots to select the Hugo winners. LoneStarCon 3 members will also be eligible to nominate for the 2014 Hugo Awards, to be hosted next year by Loncon 3, the 72nd Worldcon, in London, UK.