My favorite part of this piece on the Hugos and How You Can Change Them is that it completely elides over the whole issue of money and how that plays into folks ability to vote. Cheryl does acknowledge that it costs a chunk of change ($50 at least) to become a voting member, but then goes on to say still, it’s less than how much it costs to join SFWA so you can vote on the Nebulas, and voting for Locus awards is free except your vote has less weight.
Um.
First, just because $50 is less than the annual membership for SFWA that allows you to vote does not mean it’s a better value. Nor does the comparison swipe aside the basic consideration of paying $50 to vote. Is voting in the Hugos worth one week of food for me? I can’t say that it is. Does that mean that I just don’t care about changing the Hugos? No, it does not.
This is a serious consideration and I don’t often see people talking about it. God damn, where is Will Shetterly when you need him?
I don’t think that Hugo voting should be opened up to non-members of WorldCon per say, but I would really enjoy it if people didn’t act like this consideration wasn’t a big damn deal, because it IS.
As to the rest of her points, I’m in agreement. If you have the ability to vote because you had the money to attend or have the money to be a non-attending member, do it!
This is a serious consideration and I don’t often see people talking about it. God damn, where is Will Shetterly when you need him?
LOL! But the Champagne Socialists seldom notice economic inequities which amount to petty cash, for them personally. (Unless it’s politically expedient, as in the oft-seen “How dare you suggest that people ought to try to buy environmentally-friendly products? You have no regard for the low-wage worker, you privileged snob!” and never mind that some of us saying so ARE low-wage workers who nevertheless *do* try to Go Green…)
Well, I discovered I could nominate and vote for the Hugo last year, and I jumped on the occasion.
Strictly speaking, you only need to pay one suppoting membership every two year: you then can vote in the current year and the next (as a member of Denvention 2008, you’re authorized to nominate and vote at Anticipation 2009), so the real cost is around $25 per year. The price of one hardcover. If you can afford it, it would be a shame not to do it:
And I have a little suggestion for the anthology editors: mention in the TOC the story category (It’s sometimes not easy to decide if a story is a short story or a novelette…).
PS: your vote can make a difference. Last year the fifth nominated novella got 34 nomination, the fifth novelette 21 nominations and the fifths short story 17 nomionations. Yes! 17 nominations were enough to make the short story final ballot!