This is a guest post by a fellow Fan who has asked to remain anonymous - I can't at all blame him, given the vitriol being flung around on the 'net recently. He did ask that I make sure you all knew he was proudly Canadian. So here is our friendly Blue Dragon, who recently stirred on his hoard of books and turned his gaze on the Hugo kerfluffle.
So I've been a fan of several of the authors in Sarah's Diner for years, and have watched their side of the Hugo fight with only passing interest. I know they've been fighting against the gatekeeper establishment in publishing for a long time and now with Indie have made progress, so this morning I decided to satisfy my curiosity and get the story on the Hugo's from the other side.
Oh wow.
I did this for both my curiosity and because I felt I should have a more complete picture of the war, so I put on some hip waders and jumped in. I should have worn a drysuit, I feel dirty now. I think the only pile of shit bigger than that is what the government shovels around.
The fact that they believe what they're saying is disturbing of itself, but to have others believing what they say is simply shocking (Though their camp would now say the same about me). Sarah Hoyt has said here and on her blog many time about how she, according to them, is a racist white male, and I took it as a figure of speech and exaggeration. I'm sorry Sarah. They really do think of you as a white male totally against any ethnicity/women winning the award. Ironic that.
What I took away from the experience however is the resounding success of the Sad Puppies campaign not only for the Hugos but the industry as a whole. They're scared now, you can see it in their reactions. You've shown them their thrown can be toppled and they are scared for their way of life. They're on a sinking ship and they've gone from drinking their kool-aid in the dark galley (which is now underwater) to drinking it on deck in plain view of the public where some people are starting to see them for what they really are. They're desperate and not thinking, slipping up and contradicting themselves. (Could be argued they were never thinking in the first place.)
Are there going to be blowbacks? Oh yes, but that's not a shock to anybody here. There are always reprisals and retaliation against a rebellion. They're already pushing for rule changes and No Award ballots, and of course painting you and anyone who supports you as complete lunatic fanatics out to destroy the industry, and it's only going to get worse. You may have won a battle, but not the war, not yet.
Viva la revolución!
I'd always been on your side of the "discussion" but what finally made me sit up and look closer was learning that KJA (good author), pubbed by Tor, had never received a nom before, and after that truly scary look at the other side; I think they're past spiking the kool-aid and drinking straight from the bottle.
And I don't care if you're left, right, up, down, charmed, or strange; I don't care if you're black, white, or purple, male or female, gay or straight. All I care about is being able to tune reality out and be lost in an alternate world for a few hours. As long as the author's world views aren't rammed down my throat and I can enjoy it, then that is all that matters, that is what makes a good book great.
Cedar here again. Remember, you too can take part in this process. The Hugo is a fan award open to any who support or attend the WorldCon. I'm passing on Byron Clark's primer to voting and nominating:
OK, a quick primer on Hugo nominating and voting and rule changes for those still confused.
Nominating: Under current rules, supporting or attending members of the immediately previous WorldCon, the current WC, and the next WC after that are eligible to NOMINATE. So this year those who were members of LonCon, Sasquan, or MidAmericon2 were eligible to nominate.
Voting: ONLY members of the current WC are eligible to VOTE on the final ballot. If you want to vote this year for the Hugo final ballot, you MUST be a supporting or attending member of Sasquan. And the voting window will be about a month or so, starting sometime In June. There is no on-site voting.
So people who joined LonCon last year as supporters for SP2 could nominate this year, but cannot VOTE this year without buying at least a supporting membership in Sasquan before the cut-off date. Those buying at least a supporting membership in Sasquan will also be able to nominate next year, but not vote the final ballot unless they buy at least a supporting membership in MAC2.
There has been a lot of rhetoric about the Hugos lately, but if you don't vote, IT'S JUST TALK.... It costs $40 to register to vote and some of the publishers give free copies of the nominated works to registered voters. So, Register, Read the books, stories, etc, and vote for what YOU like best....