Eligibility for Awards and Stuff

So. Here’s the thing. I seem to have accidentally written something last year.

When that happens, it sets off this whole weird chain of events. First the thing you write (maybe) gets published. Then (hopefully) people buy and/or read it.

And then, the next year, the thing you wrote becomes eligible for awards.

This is the life cycle of books.

Part of this process traditionally involves me making some sort of announcement to the world about my stuff being eligible for nomination. I say *traditionally* because it’s something that is commonly done among authors. Me personally? I’ve never done it.

This is mostly because it never occurs to me. When The Princess and Mr. Whiffle came out, I didn’t realize it could have been nominated for Best Graphic Story. When I did Storyboard for Geek and Sundry, I didn’t know it was eligible for Best Related Work.

The best example of my not remembering to mention my work is back in 2012 when I wrote a blog asking people to consider nominating Betsy Wollheim (my editor) for Best Long Form Editor.

The good news is that Betsy won that year. The stupid news is that when I wrote that blog post, I didn’t think to mention that The Wise Man’s Fear had been published in the previous year, and folks could have nominated it for Best Novel while they were at it.

So… yeah. As I mentioned in that blog: I’m the king of not having my shit together.

rothfuss-king

Also, to be honest, the thought of writing a blog where I ask people to vote for me… it makes me uncomfortable. Not for any good reason. I like reading other author’s posts where they talk about their work. But writing one myself… it’s never been that appealing….

So why am I writing a blog like that now? (In case you hadn’t guessed, that’s what this blog is about. Or it’s what the blog *will* be about, once I get to the point.)

Well, about half a year ago, I was chatting with someone who pays better attention to the publishing world than I do. He mentioned that The Wise Man’s Fear almost made it onto the list of nominated novels that year. I think he said it was something like 8 votes short.

So this year, when I saw people start to make their Hugo eligibility posts, I thought maybe I should mention, in a casual, low-key sort of way, that The Slow Regard of Silent things is eligible for a Hugo award this year.

Slow Regard Cover Art

Here’s the thing. It’s not eligible for Best Novel. For the Hugos and Nebulas and such, a story has to be over 40,000 words to be considered a novel, this book falls short of that.

Also, while it’s full of pictures, I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t nominate it for Best Graphic Story, either.

It’s a novella. So if you’re the sort of person who votes in these sorts of things, and if you liked the book, you could nominate it for something like Best Novella.

But wait, there’s more.

I also had a story come out in Rogues anthology last year. It was the story about Bast called “The Lightning Tree.”

But that wasn’t a short story. (Like I was trying to write.) It ended up being a novella too, just barely.

I kinda wish I could do what I’ve seen other people do, post up a list of things I think y’all should consider for your Hugo nominations in all the categories, but the sad truth is, I’m woefully out of date with a lot of my reading. Any of y’all who follow me on Goodreads know that I’m constantly reading and talking about books on there.

The problem is this, most of those books came out years ago. Sometimes decades ago. Only rarely do I end up reading books that came out recently.

For example, it was only last week that I finally got around to reading Raising Steam. Yeah. A book by Terry Pratchett, one of my all-time favorite authors, and I’m only reading it 18 months after it came out.

Wait. I would recommend one thing. Box Trolls should get a nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form). That movie was brilliant, and if you haven’t watched it, you’re missing out on one of the good things in life. The folks at Laika are my kind of crazy, and I love them with a passionate love.

Seriously. I just checked, and Box Trolls is out on DVD. You have no excuse. Go watch it.

So… yeah. That’s all I’ve got.

Anyway, there you go. My eligibility blog. Yay. Woo.

For those of you who aren’t able to vote, or who don’t care to vote, or who didn’t like what I wrote last year. He’s a picture of Auri, just so you have something to enjoy in this blog.

auri_above_the_city_by_athenapallas87-d893u5g

(Credit where credit is due.)

Sorry this blog is pretty limp. I’ve been writing it off and on all day, but my heart really hasn’t been in it. I’ll write something fun in the blog soon, but now I should go to bed…

Goodnight all,

pat

Update: Because folks in the comments have been asking how they can nominate/vote in the Hugos, I’m posting up a link here.

The brief version is this: If you’re attending Worldcon this year (or if you attended Worldcon last year) you can nominate works and vote in the awards. Alternately, you can buy a supporting membership, and that also gives you the right to vote.

This entry was posted in awards. By Pat19 Responses

19 Comments

  1. chaelek
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 1:09 AM | Permalink

    Slow Regard certainly deserves nomination! I share your midwestern abhorrence of putting yourself forward, but c’mon, Pat! There’s midwestern and then there’s Canadian!

  2. Pandarve
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 6:05 AM | Permalink

    Absolutely loved the wiseman’s fear. I read it when I went to Sri lanka to teach English and just wandered around New Zealand after that. Which was cool because Kvothe started to travel as well! Left it at a Backpackers in Hanmer Springs because the guy who ran the place reminded me of Kvothe in the waystone inn =D

  3. Kimberlyand
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 7:18 AM | Permalink

    So I don’t know much about these awards and all, but should someone wish to nominate a certain book, how would they go about it?

    • Warhound Ulrik Ezickial
      Posted February 13, 2015 at 7:30 AM | Permalink

      look up Hugo awards

  4. katherineofyork
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 7:22 AM | Permalink

    Good on you for saying something about the awards, though. I know it’s awkward and uncomfortable, but you do deserve the attention you get and it would be a shame to just let these moments pass without trying.

    Last weekend I did finally watch The Boxtrolls at your behest, and you were not wrong. It’s the best animated film I’ve seen in a good while, and one of the best films as well.

  5. zz
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 7:24 AM | Permalink

    Help us be as lazy as possible and throw up a link for getting to the nomination voting!

  6. Warhound Ulrik Ezickial
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 7:28 AM | Permalink

    I’ve been waiting sooo long for a blog, aaah it feels so good!

  7. thatmikelee
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 7:29 AM | Permalink

    Voting is done here: http://sasquan.org/hugo-awards/nominations/

    You may nominate for the 2015 Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer if, on or before January 31, 2015, 11:59 pm PST (7:59 am GMT on February 1, 2014):

    * you are an attending or supporting member of Sasquan (the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention), and/or
    * you are an attending or supporting member of MidAmeriCon II (the 2016 World Science Fiction Convention), and/or
    * you were an attending or supporting member of Loncon 3 (the 2014 World Science Fiction Convention).

    P.S. I miss Storyboard

  8. Posted February 13, 2015 at 9:09 AM | Permalink

    Ok, Pat, so, first of all, congratulations! I cannot vote for you (I’m from Spain and it seems that I have nothing like a Pin code which allows me to vote for my favourite book of the year) but, anyway, I wanted to thank you for writing The Slow Regard. It is extremelly beautiful, and heart-touching (I do not know if this word exists in English, but if it doesn’t, it should) and, as everything related to Kvothe’s world, has a healing dimension for the ones who feel broken, just like Auri (and me).
    Secondly, I would like to take my next words on the possitive side. You are an adorable man, an excellent writer, a literary genious. This means seems to mean that you are not exactly the kind of person who spends time looking for possible awards his novels could win. Unfortunately, as your personaly is one of the thins which make of your books such incredible pieces of art, it happens that most of your readers do not care either for book awards. We spend endless hours reading your books, wondering about your books, thinking about the way in which their characters behave… and things like that. Eventually, as most of us are compulsive readers, we continue with our lives and look for some other fantasy books to read. We may re-read some Terry Pratchett novels, rescue a couple or two of Dragonance or Forgotten Realms novels or, you know, waste some time writing our own stuff.
    So, unconfortable as it may make you feel, you must remind us that there is a real world out there and that it implies the existence of book awards in which we (well, the one swho attend to World Science Fiction conventions, at least) can vote for you. We are willing to do it, it is just that we are not the best fans in terms of voting and all that, we are more on the inconditional-love-and-admiration side.

  9. Kevin B.
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 9:34 AM | Permalink

    The positive spin on The Wise Man’s Fear not being nominated is that now, when book 3 gets released, the entire Kingkiller Chronicle should be eligible as a whole in that year, under the same rules that allowed the nomination of the Wheel of Time series.

    Personally I’m in favor of nominating series that are basically one big story chopped in pieces like that, rather than a middle or end book that by itself doesn’t make a lot of sense to read.

  10. Posted February 13, 2015 at 10:23 AM | Permalink

    The moment when Auri bent the world to her whim struck me sharper than most conventional climaxes. We knew the stakes, the significance, and were rewarded for not trying to force a formula on the novella. I named my cat Auri and wear Auri’s gear because I know what it’s like to be small, and want to be brave like Auri in those moments. Which is to say I hope the unconventional structure will be rewarded. There’s something very impressive about breaking rules and still maintaining the dream. I will absolutely make sure the novella gets in the hands of my friends who are eligible to vote.

    • Kimberlyand
      Posted February 16, 2015 at 10:32 AM | Permalink

      “The moment when Auri bent the world to her whim struck me sharper than most conventional climaxes. We knew the stakes, the significance…”

      This totally resounds with me.

  11. Posted February 13, 2015 at 12:15 PM | Permalink

    Shots of Auri sitting on the rooftops have become so iconic. Did you ever imagine while writing the books that those scenes would have such an impact, seemingly disproportionate to their role in the greater story?

  12. Fawn
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 12:49 PM | Permalink

    The Lightning Tree was so absolutely amazing; I wanted it to go on forever.

    • Little My
      Posted February 14, 2015 at 1:26 PM | Permalink

      Yeah, me too. Fun story. Love cleverly crafted plots. . .

  13. Athena
    Posted February 13, 2015 at 5:28 PM | Permalink

    I am so excited about the book being up for a Hugo! I feel like it’s the kind of book that deserves an award, because it shows an excellent use of the medium of writing to illustrate a character in a way that you just do not see as a standard in literature. It’s not really everyone’s cup of tea, but popularity isn’t always the best indication of a book’s significance. However, I’m biased because I obviously love Auri’s character, and the strangeness of her. The strangeness of the story only enhanced my appreciation of her character, and what it is like to be in her head.

    And, of course it bears mentioning: Thank you for including my fan art! It’s one of those “I don’t need coffee today because I’m riding the high of a favorite author taking notice of my artwork” days. I honestly and sincerely hope that writing is going well for you, and that your book takes home the Hugo this year.

    • Posted February 13, 2015 at 11:23 PM | Permalink

      It’s a beautiful piece of art. I was so delighted to find it. Thanks for brightening my day with it…

  14. Posted February 14, 2015 at 1:29 AM | Permalink

    “Where are the rivers of blood, and the mountains of bones? I was promised rivers of blood!”

    That was a great movie.

  15. TonberryLives
    Posted February 14, 2015 at 1:29 AM | Permalink

    I think I understand when you said writing a post like that makes you uncomfortable. It’s the whole deal of self-aggrandizing, which those kinds of posts I find can easily degenerate into. However you’re clearly not into doing that which is probably a very good thing.

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