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Ask a Question

Do you have a question about the Hugos that is not covered in our FAQ? If so, please ask it here and we will endeavor to answer it for you.

90 Comments to ‘Ask a Question’:

  1. Andrea Vasilo on 5 Oct 2007 at 08:39: 1

    What is the current/tentative entry deadline for the 2008 Hugo Awards?
    Thank you!

  2. admin on 5 Oct 2007 at 09:17: 2

    Andrea: You do not “enter” works for the Hugo Awards. Read our FAQ List under the question “How do I submit my book (or story or movie) for nomination?” for more information about this.

    Generally, the nominating ballot is published around January 1, and members of the current and previous Worldcon have until sometime in March to make nominations. The final ballot is generally published in April, and final ballots are usually due in July. These dates change each year, based on specific requirements of each Worldcon and the dates on which the Worldcon is held. For example, the 2007 and 2008 Worldcons will be the first full weekend of August, and therefore the deadlines for both the nominating and final ballots will probably be several weeks earlier than when the convention is in early September.

    – Kevin Standlee

  3. Victoria on 13 Oct 2007 at 07:52: 3

    I was told that only novels that are published with a publishers advance (hence not via independent publishers)can qualify for Hugo consideration.

    Some small publishers are fairly constrained in the amount of money they can advance for published works — is there a lower limit in the amount of the advance, so the book can qualify? I assume the minimum print run requirement holds, even for small presses?

    Victoria
    los angeles, CA

  4. admin on 13 Oct 2007 at 18:34: 4

    Victoria:

    I’m don’t know who told you this, but whoever it was was wrong. There is nothing at all in the rules for the Hugo Award that say anything whatsoever about how much is paid for the work. Actually, you don’t have to be paid anything for a work to be considered eligible for a Hugo Awards. The work simply has to be published and enough members of the Worldcon have to nominate it.

    Also, there is no minimum print run requirement for the Hugo Award. There are word-length rules that place works in various categories. Indeed, there is not actually a requirement that the work be printed on pieces of paper and distributed in book form. You could be published online (which has no obvious print-run size), for instance. Of course, in practice, if nobody sees your novel, nobody will nominate it.

    Although it doesn’t directly answer your specific question, I would urge you to read the FAQ list, where I hope you will see that the Hugo Awards are open to any published work, regardless of how much is paid for it, as long as the members of WSFS think it’s award-worthy.

    Please pass this on to whoever told you an “advance” was necessary to make a work eligible, and feel free to refer that person to us here for additional clarification if necessary.

    – Kevin Standlee

  5. -- Mark Olson on 13 Oct 2007 at 18:46: 5

    No, the Best Novel Hugo is for the best novel which first appeared in the previous year. There is nothing in the rules which limits the award to works which received a large advance, or any advance, or even to professional works. Any novel which appeared for the first time in 2007 is eligible for the Best Novel Hugo next year at Denvention.

    (As a practical matter, of course, professionally published works have a much better chance at being seen by enough voters to get on the ballot, but that is practical reality, not a WSFS rule.)

    There is now only one category for which professional publication is a requirement (Best Professional Artist), while there are several categories which are limited to non-professional works. (The Campbell Award, which is not a Hugo, but is voted on with them, also requires professional publication.)

  6. Rich Lynch on 24 Oct 2007 at 13:44: 6

    The photo of the 1970 Hugo Award you have posted here: http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=104 is not the actual award that was presented in Germany in 1970. Kelly Freas was unhappy with the appearance of the base on the trophy he received and had a new one specially made to replace it. Kelly’s 1970 trophy, the one you have shown in the photo, is therefore unique. For more background on this, I refer you to Mike Glyer’s article in Mimosa #14: http://www.jophan.org/mimosa/m14/glyer.htm

  7. Will on 3 Nov 2007 at 15:52: 7

    Idle curiosity – why wasn’t there a Hugo awarded originally back in ‘54?

  8. Kevin Standlee on 3 Nov 2007 at 16:32: 8

    Will:

    Because the awards presented in 1953 were initially conceived as “one-off” awards, and the 1954 Worldcon decided not to present them again. The 1955 Worldcon decided that they should present them, and thereafter it became traditional. Later, after WSFS got written rules, the Hugo Awards were codified into the WSFS Constitution, and became one of the things a Worldcon must do.

  9. Pamela Davis on 13 Dec 2007 at 17:31: 9

    I have tried to find the recipients of your fanzine awards but cannot find websites for them or any way to contact them, get a subscription, etc. I’m mystified! We publish the revived THRILLING WONDER STORIES as a quarterly anthology — a hybrid featuring old stories from iconic science fiction writers and new original stories from top contemporary writers. Comes out as a trade paperback, great illustrations, etc. I want to make these fanzines aware of it but can’t even locate a decent database, etc. Please help.

  10. Sarah on 20 Feb 2008 at 16:42: 10

    Ok this a completely random question but I would really love an answer on it and can’t fine one anywhere else. I was wondering if some one could explain the controversy surrounding “The Watchmen” by Alan Moore in 1988. I know it has been the only graphic novel to ever win a Hugo Award and a heard a rumor that it was because the rules were changed after it won. I was wondering if this was true.

  11. admin on 23 Feb 2008 at 13:35: 11

    Sarah:

    The confusion here is probably because Watchmen probably wouldn’t have been in the Hugo Awards in 1988 at all had the 1988 Worldcon not created a one-shot, catch-all category for it and other works that do not obviously qualify in one of the other categories.

    It is true that Watchman won a Hugo Award in 1988. It did NOT win the Best Novel Hugo Award or any of the other written-fiction category awards. What it won was a special one-off category called “Other Forms.” Every Worldcon is allowed, at their own discretion, to create a Special Category just for their year. The 1988 Worldcon decided to create a category whose definition was “anything that doesn’t qualify for one of the other categories.” Watchmen was nominated and won. (You can see the rest of the nominees for that year at .)

    No subsequent Worldcon has repeated the “Other Forms” category. WSFS has not added such a catch-all category as a permanent category.

    This is not a case of “changing the rules” after Watchmen won; it’s more of a case of a special category having been carved out on a one-shot basis into which Watchman happened to fall. It’s not even a case that graphic novels are explicitly ineligible for a Hugo Award in one of the current categories. They currently qualify qualify under the accepted interpretation of the Best Related Book category. Neil Gaiman’s illustrated story, Sandman: The Dream Hunters was a nominee in this category, and other graphic novels have featured in the “also rans.” This is not because of any prejudice against comics, but rather because a nomination in Best Related Book recognizes both the writer and the artist, whereas a nomination in a fiction category can only recognize the author under current interpretations. (The written-fiction categories measure works based on number of words, and take no notice of other elements, including artwork, in the works. And no, a picture is not actually worth a thousand words.)

    Another potential source of confusion may be the fact that an issue of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”) won a World Fantasy Award in 1991. There is a story circulating that the WFA rules were changed immediately afterwards to prevent this happening again. We understand that the World Fantasy Board denies having changed the rules, but the story does pop up from time to time and that may be the source of the rumor you heard.

    - Kevin Standlee & Cheryl Morgan

  12. Norm Wigington on 14 Apr 2008 at 01:19: 12

    What is the definition of a novella as opposed to a novel or a novelette?

  13. admin on 14 Apr 2008 at 06:39: 13

    Norm:

    The works are defined by word length in the WSFS Constitution:

    Novel: 40,000 words or longer
    Novella: 15,000 – 40,000 words
    Novelette: 7,500 – 15,000 words
    Short Story: Under 7,500 words

    - Kevin Standlee

  14. Rachel on 29 Apr 2008 at 11:19: 14

    Is there anyplace to get book copies of past Hugo award winners? A friend had them and I’ve been hunting after them ever sense.

  15. Wikipedian on 14 Jul 2008 at 22:34: 15

    The locus magazine lists one of the winners for semiprozine as:
    ” The New York Review of Science Fiction, David G. Hartwell, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Susan Palwick & Kathryn Cramer ”
    http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Hugo1989.html

    But the listing on this site is:
    “The New York Review of Science Fiction ed. by Kathryn Cramer, David G. Hartwell and Gordon Van Gelder”
    http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=31

    There is some confusion on which editors the attribution should go to, as citing one site or the other would exclude credit to some editors, but the decision to cite both might not be consistent with wikipedia rules on original research

    If there is a mistake, could you publish a modification in your listing? Or is the current publication considered official?

  16. admin on 15 Jul 2008 at 00:10: 16

    Wikipedian:

    We’re researching the apparent anomaly and will post a clarification soon.

  17. Wikipedian on 15 Jul 2008 at 02:14: 17

    Great, Thanks!

  18. Kathryn Cramer on 17 Jul 2008 at 07:05: 18

    I have sent in a correction via this site’s email address.

    The 1989 ballot was for publications in the calendar year 1988.

    With its very first nomination, the NYRSF editors list was as the LOCUS list reports, with the editors listed on the ballot being NYRSF’s founding editors. After about 4 issues, Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden left the staff after an argument over whether NYRSF should remain a monthly publication or should go quarterly. The focus in this had to do with the possibility of maintaining a high standard of copyediting and proofreading at the monthly rate of publication. As I recall, that was Gordon Van Gelder’s first NYRSF work weekend (we lay out the mag at monthly weekend-long meetings in Pleasantville, NY). Issue 0 of the magazine was hand-distributed at Nolacon in New Orleans in 1988. Issue 1 was published the next month, which I think was September 1988. (I’m in upstate NY, not at home so I don’t have back issues in hand.)

    As a courtesy, Patrick Nielsen Hayden was carried for a while on the masthead because he had designed the magazine; after a few months he asked to have his name removed since he had in fact resigned. There was almost no overlap between the Nielsen Hayden’s participation an Gordon Van Gelders. Given the sequence of events, the earliest I think Van Gelder could have been on the staff was, maybe, December 1988.

    In any case, though, the Nielsen Haydens, and not Gordon Van Gelder, should be listed as editors for the magazine’s very first nomination. You can confirm this with my husband, David Hartwell, if you like, but I think a check of the records should clear this up.

  19. admin on 17 Jul 2008 at 07:46: 19

    Thank you, Kathryn. Much appreciated.

  20. Isaac Alexander on 31 Aug 2008 at 11:40: 20

    Thanks for creating such an incredible resource. I really appreciate it.

    I was wondering to seek permission to use an image of a trophy from your site to use on a Worldcon bid site? Who would you credit to use the image?

  21. admin on 31 Aug 2008 at 17:20: 21

    Isaac:

    The photos on this site are used with the permission of the individual photographers (all or most of whom are credited with their individual photos).

    Generally speaking, non-commercial use of the photos on this site has been permitted as long as the photographer (and this web site) are credited. However, you do need to contact the photographer for permission. If you could let us know which photo or photos you’re interested in using, we’ll contact the photographer(s) in question for you.

    – Kevin Standlee

  22. Mike on 24 Oct 2008 at 08:04: 22

    I understand that for the 1965 Best All-Time Series Hugo, Asimov’s Foundation series beat out Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Can you tell me what additional series were nominated?

  23. admin on 24 Oct 2008 at 08:26: 23

    Mike:

    It was 1966, actually. The nominees are listed on the 1966 Hugo History page

    – Kevin Standlee

  24. Kenneth on 8 Nov 2008 at 18:21: 24

    It has been more than ten years since the last collection of Hugo-winning short fiction was published (The New Hugo Winners Vol IV.) Will the stories from the years 1995 – up ever be collected into book form? If not, what is preventing this?

  25. bruce weber on 13 Nov 2008 at 13:13: 25

    how many hugos has forrest j ackerman won?

  26. admin on 13 Nov 2008 at 23:42: 26

    Kenneth:

    We have no word of any editor/publisher putting together a new Hugo Winners collections. What is preventing it is an editor willing to do the work and a publisher willing to publish it. WSFS isn’t a publisher and doesn’t control any of the associated rights. It’s up to publishers to undertake the project.

    - Kevin Standlee

  27. Kevin Standlee on 13 Nov 2008 at 23:48: 27

    Bruce:

    4E won two 1946 Retro Hugos (presented in 1996 by L.A.con III). He also received a Special Award 1953 Hugo Award for “#1 Fan Personality.” This Special Committee Award is not considered to be a Hugo Award, although it was presented at the first Hugo Awards Ceremony.

    Update, 30 Jul 2009: We’ve corrected the information above about Ackerman’s first Hugo after clarification from the appropriate WSFS Committee on the subject, but left our original answer intact (but struck out).

    - Kevin Standlee

  28. Kenneth on 14 Nov 2008 at 15:54: 28

    Kevin – thanks for the information.

  29. Jordan Kinney on 18 Nov 2008 at 09:51: 29

    I am doing a school project on the Hugo Award. I was wondering who started the award, and is there a monetary prize for the winner(s)?

  30. admin on 18 Nov 2008 at 10:55: 30

    Jordan:

    The Hugo Awards do not have a monetary prize. The winner receives a Hugo Award trophy.

    The Awards were first presented at the 1953 Worldcon in Philadelphia, so credit for starting the award goes to the committee that organized that convention, including chairman Milton A. Rothman, who replaced James A. Williams (Williams died during the run-up to the convention), and vice chairman Tom Clairson, but there were other members of the committee, of course. Isaac Asimov was the Toastmaster, and therefore was the person hosting the awards ceremony.

    The Awards were originally conceived as a one-off event, and the following year’s Worldcon did not present them; however, the 1955 Worldcon revived the practice and each year’s Worldcon committee has presented the Hugo Awards annually ever since.

    If there are other questions about the Awards that are not answered elsewhere on our web site, please fell free to ask.

    – Kevin Standlee

  31. allison on 18 Nov 2008 at 13:39: 31

    I was on this site earlier and I found the man that the Hugo Award was named after but know I can’t find it. could you tell me what his name is

  32. admin on 18 Nov 2008 at 14:40: 32

    Allison:

    Your question is answered on the Frequently Asked Questions page.

    - Kevin Standlee

  33. Kyrstin Albertus on 19 Nov 2008 at 13:22: 33

    How much emphasis is placed on the quality of the literary work(s)?

  34. Mark L. Olson on 20 Nov 2008 at 21:27: 34

    Quite a lot of emphasis is placed on quality — you can see this by how well the Hugo winners have stood the test of time and by and large are still very well-regarded pieces even a half-century later. But because the Hugos are awarded by vote of around a thousand members of the World Science Fiction Society, and since each member makes his or her own judgment as to which works are “best”, and since different people frequently have different opinions about what constitutes quality, it’s unlikely that anyone will agree with every winner.

  35. Hugo Szaz Guimarães on 27 Nov 2008 at 14:54: 35

    Hello there, WSFS group
    As you can see, my name is Hugo. I’m really curious about knowing why the name Hugo was chosen for this Award.
    I’m from Brazil and the Hugo Award is kind of unknown here.
    Thanks for the attention.

  36. admin on 27 Nov 2008 at 20:56: 36

    Hugo:

    See our Frequently Asked Questions page under the heading “Why are they called Hugos?”

    The awards are named for Hugo Gernsback, an important figure in the early days of modern science fiction.

    – Kevin Standlee

  37. Kevin Q. on 14 Dec 2008 at 13:06: 37

    When does the short list come out for the best novel?

  38. admin on 14 Dec 2008 at 17:28: 38

    Kevin Q:

    The short list (Hugo Awards final ballot) doesn’t come out until after the Hugo Awards nomination period ends, and it hasn’t even started yet. The nominating ballot should come up around the first of January, at which time all of the members of this year and last year’s Worldcon can start nominating works from 2008 for the 2009 Hugo Awards. Shortly after the nominating period ends, the final ballot will be announced with those works/people who received sufficient nominations.

    See our page about the voting process for the longer version of how the Hugo Awards work. Generally speaking, you can expect the nominating period to open around January 1 and the final ballot to be announced in April. The specific schedule each year is up to the individual Worldcon committee administering that year’s awards.

    Also note that the Hugo Awards do not have an initial ballot or “preliminary list” as the Nebula Awards do. The only list of nominees announced in advance are those nominees (usually five) that appear on the final ballot.

    –Kevin Standlee

  39. Michael Walsh on 3 Jan 2009 at 16:24: 39

    “The Awards were originally conceived as a one-off event”

    Interestingly, the 3rd Progress Report for the 1953 Worldcon in announcing the award describes it as “the First Annual Science Fiction Achievement Awards”, see: http://fanac.org/fanzines/Philcon/Philcon2r3-03.jpeg

    And in PR 4 (here: http://fanac.org/fanzines/Philcon/Philcon2r4-03.html) the vote leaders are announced! No, not the final ballot … but who is in the lead. Also notes there still time to do some campaigning …

  40. Jenny Rae Rappaport on 6 Jan 2009 at 13:00: 40

    How short can a work be, and still be considered a short story? For example, if something was published in Thaumatrope (a Twitter magazine specializing in microfiction), would it be eligible for the Best Short Story category?

    And if it was eligible, what do you call it, if the work has no title?

  41. admin on 6 Jan 2009 at 13:45: 41

    Jenny Rae:

    The requirement for a Short Story is that is must be less than 7,500 words in length. If it is only one word long, that’s OK.

    The problem is going to be identifying the story on your ballot. If you can provide a direct URL to the story that makes it easy, but otherwise you’ll need to be creative about explaining exactly what you are nominating.

    If the work gets as far as being nominated, I expect that the Hugo Administrator will ask the author for a title by which it can be known.

    - Cheryl Morgan

  42. oakheart on 12 Jan 2009 at 09:31: 42

    Are magazine editors allowed to nominate stories that appeared in the magazine they edit?

    Even if it’s allowed, is it frowned upon?

  43. Mark Olson on 12 Jan 2009 at 20:59: 43

    Any fan who is a member of Worldcon is entitled to nominate — magazine editors are not disqualified! But we ask *everyone* (not just editors) to nominate the works they think are the best regardless of who published them.

    This isn’t simply a pious hope. The thousand or so fans who vote for the Hugos each year are pretty savvy and if an editor or author managed to put an unworthy work on the final ballot, it would be noticed and would probably receive embarrassingly few votes.

  44. admin on 13 Jan 2009 at 00:09: 44

    Oakheart:

    What Mark said. Besides, anyone can nominate anyone or anything. The Administrator only checks to see if the person voting is qualified to vote. People can and do nominate themselves, let alone works they edited.

    – Kevin Standlee

  45. Marcus Rowland on 22 Jan 2009 at 12:29: 45

    I’m trying to persuade a fanfic site that it would be a good idea to have a “no award” choice on their annual awards poll. This seems to work well for the Hugos, and I think it would improve the overall quality of the winners on the fanfic site.

    When was it first added as an option on the Hugo ballots?

  46. admin on 28 Jan 2009 at 12:11: 46

    Marcus:

    According to WSFS rules historian Ben Yalow, the Hugo Awards have included “No Award” in its current form (as an automatic nominee) since an amendment to the WSFS Constitution requiring it passed in 1969. Prior to that, the practice was for the administering committee to declare No Award “if a lack of votes in a specific category shows a marked lack of interest in that category on the part of the voters,…” (and that was also part of the WSFS Constitution from its first codification in 1963).

    I think that it is safe to say that WSFS has always wanted the ability to declare No Award when the voters make it clear by their actions that they don’t like any of the candidates in a category.

    – Kevin Standlee

  47. Marcus Rowland on 28 Jan 2009 at 18:17: 47

    Thanks – I’ll pass this on to the fanfic site.

  48. Charron Stoddart on 10 Feb 2009 at 10:47: 48

    The NAACP distributes an award for the “highest or Nobelist achievement by an African American during the preceding year or years.” Was the name of that award the Hugo Award?

  49. admin on 10 Feb 2009 at 11:26: 49

    Charron,

    We can’t find any NAACP award by that name but the NAACP does award the Spingarn Medal annually for outstanding achievement by a African American.
    See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spingarn_Medal

    The NAACP also runs the Image Awards for dramatic works: http://www.naacpimageawards.net/40/index.php

    - Vincent Docherty

  50. ian johnston on 14 Mar 2009 at 10:47: 50

    You are having a Forrest Ackerman tribute, am I right? At the Hugos….

    The man who received the first HUgo fan award, the man who did more to establish Worldcon than any other, the man who, as the Worldcon joke goes – It doesn’t matter where Worldcon is held, the first man you meet every time is Forrest Ackerman”…

    I’m sure you are having a mention

    I made a film in Canada. For TV. Called Famous Monster. About Forrest Ackerman. It was shown in Hollywood. At his tribute this month by American Cinematheque

    I’d love to show it at Worldcon, because that’s what Forrest loved. I know the Hugos aren’t necessarily associated directly with Worldcon, but it’s a very confusing Worldconweb site. and I have received no response, despite repeated attempts.

    If you know who to contact directly about showing it. It seems to me that a Canadian doc about the most important Worldcon fan EVER might be appropriate for the event. Being in Montreal and all….check us out on imdb if you must.

    Can you help? Who should I talk to…directly…i’m not leaving messages anymore….

    thanks guys. Go hugo

  51. Kevin Standlee on 14 Mar 2009 at 11:26: 51

    Ian:

    We cannot speak to the specific content of individual Worldcons. Each Worldcon is separately organized by independent committees. (Similar to how the Vancouver Olympic Committee for 2010 is not the same as the London Olympic Committee for 2012.) The Hugo Awards are directly associated with Worldcon (it’s each year’s Worldcon members who choose the recipients, and the Awards themselves are administered by each Worldcon committee), but those of us who manage the Hugo Awards web site are not the same people as those who organize the individual conventions.

    As you know, this year’s Worldcon is Anticipation in Montreal. I’m not sure what the confusing part of its web site is for you; however, I will pass along your message to the organizers of the convention’s programming division.

  52. Cheryl Morgan on 14 Mar 2009 at 12:38: 52

    Ian:

    I’ve just been talking to the head of programming for Anticipation. I shall now send you email.

  53. naimah on 16 Mar 2009 at 21:14: 53

    does the hugo awards have any criteria for choosing the best short story winner? i mean aside from the votes coming from anyone else, don’t they have list of criteria like is the work shows universality, sincerity, etc….

  54. Kevin Standlee on 16 Mar 2009 at 22:42: 54

    Naimah:

    The criteria is that it has to be a work of SF/F published during the relevant period, and that the members of WSFS have to vote for it. That is all. There are no other criteria.

  55. Jack Koller on 30 Apr 2009 at 18:11: 55

    Did J Michael Straczynski even win a Hugo for Babylon 5?

  56. Kevin Standlee on 30 Apr 2009 at 20:55: 56

    Jack:

    Yes, in 1996 and 1997. I understand (although I’ve not seen it myself) that one of the Hugo trophies actually appears in an episode sitting on a shelf.

  57. Alan on 2 May 2009 at 18:05: 57

    When and where are the awards for this year?

  58. Kevin Standlee on 2 May 2009 at 19:57: 58

    Alan:

    The 2009 Hugo Awards will be at the 2009 World Science Fiction Convention, Anticipation, which will be August 6-10, 2009 in Montreal, Canada. The Hugo Award Ceremony is currently scheduled for the evening of Saturday, August 9.

  59. Mr. Shannon LeJuan Clements on 21 Jun 2009 at 16:07: 59

    Hello, my name is Mr. Shannon LeJuan Clements and I am the proud author of The Star Explorer: The Discovery. How are you doiong today? Fine I hope. The reason why I am contacting you is because I wanted to know if a person has to be present in order to be nominated or win a Hugo award. Please respond.

  60. Kevin Standlee on 21 Jun 2009 at 17:21: 60

    Shannon:

    No, you do not need to be present at any event or be a member of the World Science Fiction Convention to be nominated or to win a Hugo Awards. The nominations are made by and the final results decided by the members of the annual Worldcon, but anyone can be nominated or win an award.

  61. Don Thomas on 3 Jul 2009 at 03:49: 61

    Hellow!
    If I were between the 15 nominated or
    winners for publishing their works…
    which the rights and rules of publishing could be there?
    Inform me, please.
    Thank you very much.

  62. Brenda on 4 Jul 2009 at 14:25: 62

    Why are you letting one of your judges vote on a bunch of shows they haven’t seen?

    http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3163990

    That forum may be members only, so I’ll quote. This is forums member Parahexavoctal:

    I’m a registered member of Anticipation, the 67th annual World Science Fiction Convention; as such, I’m one of the people voting on the Hugo Awards.

    One of the categories is “Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)”; the problem is that I don’t have a TV, and so I haven’t seen any of the nominees.

    So tell me, goons: which of these nominees deserves to have my vote for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) of 2008, and why? Bear in mind, this is a ranked vote — that is, I’m going to vote for what I (you) think is the best, the second best, and so on up to the sixth best — so put them in some kind of order.

    THE NOMINEES:

    “The Constant,” (Lost) Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof, writers; Jack Bender, director (Bad Robot, ABC studios)

    Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon, & Maurissa Tancharoen, writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)

    “Revelations,” (Battlestar Galactica) Bradley Thompson & David Weddle, writers; Michael Rymer, director (NBC Universal)

    “Silence in the Library” / “Forest of the Dead,” (Doctor Who) Steven Moffat, writer; Euros Lyn, director (BBVOC Wales)

    “Turn Left,” (Doctor Who) Russell T. Davies, writer; Graeme Harper, director (BBC Wales)

    and the classic “No Award”, which quite simply means that none of the nominees deserves to win. Even if you rank “No Award” first, the others should be ranked as well.

    The vote deadline is 23:59 EST, July 3; let the arguments begin.

  63. Brenda on 4 Jul 2009 at 14:39: 63

    And in case it helps you identify the culprit or eliminate the fraudulent vote, here’s the outcome from the same thread:

    …. and I have voted.

    (5) “The Constant,” (Lost) Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof, writers; Jack Bender, director (Bad Robot, ABC studios)
    (3) Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon, & Maurissa Tancharoen, writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)
    (1) “Revelations,” (Battlestar Galactica) Bradley Thompson & David Weddle, writers; Michael Rymer, director (NBC Universal)
    (4) “Silence in the Library” / “Forest of the Dead,” (Doctor Who) Steven Moffat, writer; Euros Lyn, director (BBC Wales)
    (2) “Turn Left,” (Doctor Who) Russell T. Davies, writer; Graeme Harper, director (BBC Wales)

    Thank you for your opinions; I did indeed use them as a (partial) basis for how to vote.

  64. Cheryl Morgan on 4 Jul 2009 at 14:55: 64

    Don:

    There are no specific rules for that situation, other than that you should not refer to a work or person as a “nominee” unless that work or person appeared on the final ballot.

  65. Cheryl Morgan on 4 Jul 2009 at 15:04: 65

    Brenda:

    The Hugo Awards are a popular vote award. The only requirement for having a vote is that you become a member of the World Science Fiction Society by joining the current year’s Worldcon. You do not have to be honest or diligent, and indeed it would be impossible to enforce such a requirement.

    In this particular case the person you describe has at least made an effort to judge the quality of the works. But anyone could vote without seeing/reading the nominees and we would never know. We assume, however, that with hundreds of people eligible to vote, the honest and diligent efforts of the majority will drown out the actions of any “bad apples”.

  66. Mike Glyer on 29 Jul 2009 at 13:14: 66

    The administrator should correct the misinformation posted about Forry’s 1953 Hugo here http://www.thehugoawards.org/ask-a-question/#comment-198

  67. Kevin Standlee on 30 Jul 2009 at 12:56: 67

    Mike:

    Done; however, because the original (but wrong) answer is sufficiently old, I struck out our mistaken answer but left the struck-through information visible so that anyone coming back later would understand that we had made a correction nearly a year later.

  68. Andrew on 4 Aug 2009 at 16:33: 68

    Why was there no winner in 1977?

  69. Kevin Standlee on 4 Aug 2009 at 19:06: 69

    Andrew:

    In the 1977 Hugo Awards, there was no winner in the category Best Dramatic Presentation because the voters selected “No Award” as the winner. Under WSFS rules, “No Award” always appears on the ballot, and if it wins, no Hugo Award is presented in that category.

    There were Hugo Awards in the other categories in 1997.

  70. Ian Randal Strock on 10 Aug 2009 at 19:01: 70

    Any word on the list of other things that were nominated for Hugos this year, but didn’t make the top five?

  71. Kevin Standlee on 10 Aug 2009 at 22:34: 71

    Ian:

    Read our post announcing the results, which was posted shortly after the ceremony. Note that at the bottom of the announcement are links to the voting breakdowns and nomination information.

  72. Glenn E. Smith on 14 Aug 2009 at 07:28: 72

    Hello. I have a question about last year’s nominations. I am aware that my novel, “Solfleet: The Timeshift Saga, The Call of Duty, Book One of the Excalibur Trilogy” received nominatons–in two catagories I believe. As it turned out, it was not eligible. I understand and that’s okay, but I was wondering if you could let me know how many total nominations it received, just to satisfy my curiosity? I’d prefer an answer by e-mail if possible. Thanks.

  73. Kevin Standlee on 15 Aug 2009 at 10:38: 73

    Glenn:

    Examining the 2008 Hugo Award Nominations data, I cannot find your work listed. This means that the work did not receive sufficient nomination votes to place 15th or higher. Worldcons are only obliged to disclose placements down to 15th, although they may go lower if they so choose (this year’s Worldcon did so). Therefore, I’m afraid we don’t have an answer to your question other than “fewer than 19 nominations,” that being what it took to make the top 15.

    (Posted and e-mailed)

  74. Terry Rosiello on 26 Aug 2009 at 16:39: 74

    I know that the Hugo Award is given for the best science fiction,horror,fantasy etc. I would rather the award be given for science fiction only. A few years ago the Hugo was awarded to one of the Harry Potter novels & this year to The Graveyard Book.Regardless of how well written or acclaimed these books are,they are written for children/young adults. I am aware that adults have read these titles & nominated them for the Hugo Award but I don’t agree that they should be allowed to be nominated for an award that started out as an award for the best science fiction.Every year I look forward to reading the Hugo winner & the nominees.I did read American Gods & it was fantastic(& written for adults) but I will not be reading the Potter novels nor the latest Neil Gaiman Hugo winner.Very disappointed.

  75. Kevin Standlee on 26 Aug 2009 at 17:06: 75

    Terry:

    In fact, if you examine the actual history of the Hugo Award, you’ll discover that it has never been exclusively for science fiction. Ever since the award’s rules have been codified, it has been for “science fiction and fantasy,” regardless of the fact that the nominal official name of the award was “Science Fiction Achievement Award.” (A name since abandoned as official by the World Science Fiction Society. The official name of the Hugo Award is “Hugo Award.”)

    You say that certain works “should not be allowed to be nominated.” I take it that you mean someone should decide, “These works aren’t science fiction, and thus should be disqualified.” Is that correct? If so, then who should decide? What would you do if an administrator disqualified a work as “not sufficiently science fictional” that you personally believed to be SF?

    Because of the extremely thorny issues involved, it has been the practice of WSFS to allow the members of the organization, through the nominating ballot, to decide that works have enough SF (or F) in them to be eligible. Administrative decisions are limited to publication date and length of work. Decision on a work’s “worthiness” are left up to the members who vote.

    You are of course welcome to attend Worldcon and propose changes to how the Awards are administered. There’s no Board of Directors or mysterious “they” you have to persuade. Every person represents him/herself and nobody else. All you have to do is join and participate.

  76. Graeme Harper on 9 Dec 2010 at 09:07: 76

    Hi, My name is Graeme Harper, I am a Director and I Directed a DR WHO special titled “THE WATERS OF MARS”.

    I was thrilled to have been one of the winners of the HUGO AWARD for this Story but I have never received the award.
    As I live in England I imagine there would be some delay in getting it halfway across the world, but it is several months now since the award ceremony took place in Australia 2010, I am dying to have this award on my mantlepiece, has it got lost?

    With best wishes

    Graeme Harper TV DIRECTOR

  77. Kevin on 9 Dec 2010 at 09:13: 77

    Mr. Harper:

    We will forward your comment to the administrators of the 2010 Hugo Awards. Each year’s Worldcon administers the Awards, including the delivery of trophies.

  78. mike on 14 Jan 2011 at 05:25: 78

    What happened to the question/comments I posted about the semipro magazine award?

  79. Kevin on 14 Jan 2011 at 07:19: 79

    Mike @78:

    I don’t know. It may have been inadvertently eaten by the spam-trap. (We receive dozens, if not hundreds, of spam posts for every real one.) Can you re-post the question? You might want to also send a copy of it to info@thehugoawards.org to make it less likely to be overlooked. Sorry about that.

  80. Kennie on 16 Feb 2011 at 10:46: 80

    Why is the Hugo award important? I’m just interested

  81. René on 16 Feb 2011 at 18:31: 81

    Kennie, the short answer is that the Hugos are an award that’s been around for about six decades. They are widely respected in the industry. A large majority of early winners are also considered classics today and receiving a Hugo is often considered a sign that the winning work is a good example of the best the genre has to offer.

    The long answer can be found reading and viewing the winning works; this is something many people do. Exploring this website may also be a good idea, we’ll be happy to answer any specific questions to the best of our ability.

  82. Deborah M Pratt on 21 Feb 2011 at 10:32: 82

    Hello,

    My name is Deborah M Pratt and I wanted to know the best way to make the Hugo Society aware of my work. I would like to submit “The Vision Quest” and possibly a short I am shooting based on the world of the books call, “Warrior One”.

    I was Co-Executive Producer and Headwriter of a TV series called “Quantum Leap”, I took the last 9 years to write “The Vision Quest”. I opted to self publish to keep the style of and spirit of the content true to what inspired me in the first place. We received over 400,000 thousand hits to the website last year and have garnered readers from across America and as far away as New Zealand, Canada, Europe and South Africa. The response to the book has been powerful because, what is being discovered in this science fantasy is a deep spirituality and new vision.

    I am a new member and signed up to attend this August. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to facilitate a place for “The Vision Quest” and warrior One” at the Hugos.

    Honor and Light,

  83. Kevin on 21 Feb 2011 at 10:37: 83

    Ms. Pratt:

    There is no “submission process” for the Hugo Awards. The fuller version of this is in our submitting your work page. The way you get nominated for a Hugo Award is for your work to come to the attention of a sufficient number of the members of the Worldcon who think it worthy of being nominated. There is no judging panel or submission process.

  84. Dave Arland on 24 Feb 2011 at 20:51: 84

    I’m hunting for information about the 1967 Hugo Awards (where STAR TREK won a Hugo.) Where was the convention held? Were there articles written about the winners, etc. ?

  85. Kevin on 25 Feb 2011 at 07:38: 85

    Dave:

    Listings for each year’s Awards are on the Hugo History page. Specifically, the 1967 Hugo Awards were presented in New York City (“NyCon 3″). We do not have historical archives of articles written about the Awards.

    1967 was only the first time that an episode of Star Trek won a Hugo Award. An episode won the following year as well, and an episode of ST:TNG won in 1993.

  86. Raskolnikov on 16 Apr 2011 at 14:33: 86

    Do you have a sense of when the shortlist results will be posted? Is it likely to be in the near future, or is that not yet known? Any specific date when ballot counting can be expected to be completed?

  87. René on 16 Apr 2011 at 21:16: 87

    Renovation, the current Worldcon is in charge of administering this year’s Hugos. Their website is the best place to find the answer to your question, specifically on this page:
    http://renovationsf.org/hugo-intro.php

  88. Evan Filipek on 14 May 2011 at 11:22: 88

    My name is Evan Filipek and I am compling and editing a SF/F anthology with PIERS ANTHONY of his favorite SF/F stories from his formative years as an author. I am in the process of aquiring rights from the various authors and their estates. I have had definite success with some, varrying luck with others and hit a brick wall with several, who happen to be HUGO winners. I am hoping you could point me in the direction of contact info for their estates:ROG PHILLIPS,JACK WILLIAMSON,JAMES GUNN, WALTER MILLER JR., THODORE STURGEON ISAAC ASIMOV (this one should be easy but is giving me trouble!!), PETER PHILLIPS, & GARY JENNINGS. Thanks for your time & consideration
    Most Sincerely,
    Evan Filipek (i can furnish my phone number on request)

  89. Kevin on 14 May 2011 at 11:30: 89

    Evan:

    The Hugo Awards (and the World Science Fiction Society and the individual Worldcons that present the Hugo Awards) are not involved with rights management. You might consider contacting the Science Fiction Writers of America; they might be able to connect you with various literary estates.

  90. Evan Filipek on 14 May 2011 at 11:44: 90

    Done!! Thanks!

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