I don’t want to be left out of the trending commentary. Seriously, this seems to be what SF&F writers have to say about the announcement that the Nebula ballot is now open for nominations. I’m not sure how to take it. One possibility, as indicated by Anne Bellet, is that the Hugo Award process last year was so stressful that nobody really wants to go through that again, ever. Another possibility, it’s a way to suggest one’s work for awards without suggesting one’s work for awards. Last, John Scalzi has posted that he has enough awards and that people should look elsewhere for deserving candidates.

That’s an interesting comment. At face value, it’s very generous of Scalzi to say something like that. There are also nuances. The statement suggests his work is always award-worthy, and if he never, ever gets another award nomination, it’s because he requested it. It also suggests that his fans may have a kneejerk tendency to nominate his work regardless of what it is, a possible inconvenience for an author. Hm.

I’ve already commented on the fact that I see the same names over and over again, not only in fiction publications, but also in the award nominations. Of course, this may be because of the quality of a particular person’s work. It could also be because they have a loyal fan base. Whatever the reason, as Scalzi says, nominating the same people over and over again means there’s less diversity in SF&F. It also means nobody is reading outside their comfort zone.

P.S. Dang. WordPress has changed their editor. It looks like it will be a while before I can post photos again. You’re likely to see weird html artifacts, too.