Month: May 2015

2015 Hugo Voter Packet Available

~ Kevin ~ 3 Comments

The 2015 Hugo Voter Packet, containing works nominated as finalists for the 2015 Hugo Awards, is now available for download. Any voting member of Sasquan, the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention, can download the 2015 Hugo Voter Packet. To receive the packet, you must be a member and download the packet no later than 31 July 2015.

This free download of Hugo Award finalists is supplied free of charge as a courtesy by the creators and publishers of works that are nominated for the awards. The purpose of the Hugo Voter Packet is to allow those who are voting on the Hugo Awards to be able to make an informed choice among the nominated works.

All of the short fiction and graphic novels are included in their entirety. The packet contains the full text of three of the novels: The Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J. Anderson, The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, and The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu. Skin Game by Jim Butcher and Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie are represented by extensive excerpts. One of the five finalists in the Related Work category is represented by an excerpt: Letters from Gardner, by Lou Antonelli. There is some material in each of the other categories except the two Dramatic Presentation categories. Not all finalists/rights-holders agreed to include their shortlisted work in this packet, nor were they under any obligation to do so. Their participation in the Hugo Voter Packet is entirely voluntary, as is of of course all of the work done by Sasquan’s staff to organize the packet.

Voting on the Hugo Awards is open to all Supporting and Attending (including Young Adult and Military) members of Sasquan, the 2015 Worldcon. More information about voting and a ballot may be found at the 2015 Hugo Award Final Ballot. Voting closes at the end of July 2015. You must have your membership number and Hugo Award Voting PIN to vote electronically, or you can download, print, and mail a 2015 Hugo Award Final Ballot (PDF).

Direct all questions about the 2015 Hugo Voter Packet and the 2015 Hugo Awards to the 2015 Worldcon, not to the Hugo Awards web site. Administration of the 2015 Hugo Awards and organization of the 2015 Hugo Awards is in the hands of the 2015 Worldcon, Sasquan, and is not run by the Hugo Awards web site.

Voting Open for 2015 Hugo Awards

~ Kevin ~ 8 Comments

Voting for the 2015 Hugo Awards opened on May 1, 2015. Members of the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention (Sasquan) may vote until July 31, 2015 using the Online Hugo Awards Final Ballot or by using the paper ballot that will be sent to all members. Members who join Sasquan by July 31, 2015 (the close of voting) are eligible to vote. Members who registered an e-mail address with the 2015 Worldcon will receive instructions including a Personal Identification Number (PIN) for accessing the online ballot.

Finalists for the 2015 Hugo Award were selected by nominations received by the members of the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Worldcons. Only members of the 2015 Worldcon can vote on the final ballot. The ballot includes the finalists for the Hugo Award and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (sponsored by the publisher of Analog), which is not a Hugo Award but is administered and voted upon by the same system as the Hugo Award and is presented at the Hugo Award ceremony.

The Final Hugo Award ballot uses the “Instant Runoff Voting” (IRV) system. Voters rank their preferences among the nominated works (including “No Award,” which is always listed in each category; if it wins, no Hugo Award is presented in that category that year). Voters mark the work they want to win with a 1, the work they would prefer if their first choice was not on the ballot with a 2, and so forth. Voters need not rank all choices.

Sasquan is preparing the “Hugo Voter Packet,” a collection of shortlisted works or excepts of such works provided by the publishers and rights-holders to allow the voters to be better informed about their choices. Sasquan expects to release the Hugo Voter Packet in late May 2015. In addition, many publishers, authors, and artists have made full versions of their nominated works available on their websites.

The results of the 2015 Hugo Awards will be announced at a ceremony on August 22, 2015 at Sasquan in Spokane, Washington. The ceremony is planned to be shown live on streaming video and a text-only coverage of the event will be provided through the Hugo Awards web site. Details of the live streaming and text-based coverage will be announced in August.