Black Gate Withdraws From Hugo Ballot

Black Gate’s editor John O’Neill announced May 1 that he has withdrawn his online fanzine from the 2016 Hugo ballot — see “Black Gate Declines Hugo Nomination”.

As O’Neill explained the decision:

Why did we decline? While we won’t know the exact number of nominating ballots until the stats are released (after the Hugos are awarded), it’s clear that Black Gate largely benefited from Vox Day’s Rabid Puppy Hugo slate. As we reported Wednesday, roughly 80% of this year’s Hugo ballot was dictated by that slate — it swept six categories, including Short Story, Graphic Story, and Fanzine. Our choice to withdraw was informed by many of the same factors that led us to make the same decision last year.

It also seems fairly obvious that we cannot win. Of the 61 nominees the Puppy ballots placed on the Hugo ballot last year, only one, Guardians of the Galaxy, received an award. The Rabid Puppy brand, which BG is now unwillingly associated with, is so toxic that it’s virtually impossible to overcome that association without the equivalent of a $100 million advertising campaign. Those nominees who stubbornly argued otherwise last year, and attended the Hugo ceremony with high hopes, learned that the hard way, unceremoniously losing out to No Award in a painful rout across virtually every category. (Incidentally, I also voted No Award for most of the ballot.)

[Thanks to Steven H Silver for the story.]

68 thoughts on “Black Gate Withdraws From Hugo Ballot

  1. Daniel Kauffman: This whole things seems to translate into, “In order to save the Hugos we must destroy them”.

    Could be time for you to replace your old Babel fish.

  2. @Daniel Kauffman

    I also nominated Black Gate and I do not in the least feel slapped in the face. I’m sorry they felt they had to make that decision, but I respect it.

    Your characterization of “someone they do not like” is simply untrue. Rather it’s “someone who wants to destroy the Hugos, and has said so several times.”

    Really, you might want to do a bit of research before spouting off.

  3. @Daniel Kauffman

    Y’know, every time I feel vaguely troll-like for suggesting that various Puppy apologists may be lacking in a basic ability to comprehend words written in the English language, one comes along to make me feel vindicated. Congratulations!

  4. @Daniel Kauffman: Silly troll is silly. I can see why some folks filter you. Try better.

  5. I don’t feel slapped in the face. Why would I? People withdraw as finalists from the Hugos for different reasons all the time. This year it’s because they don’t want to chance they only got on the ballot because someone whose declared he wants to burn the Hugos down put them there.

    Past years people have declined the nomination because they wanted to give other people a chance, they’ve felt they’ve gotten “enough Hugos”, other personal reasons. There’s usually less drama over it because fans understand and even applaud the decision once it becomes known.

    Getting offended or suggesting fans should be offended is a puppy leader and troll thing. I don’t know if it’s something many puppy followers feel.

  6. Daniel Kauffman on May 4, 2016 at 7:18 pm said:

    I find it amazing how many people above nominated them and that does not matter to them

    I hope it amazes you in a good way as in “gosh look at people in fandom who don’t think that them liking something or somebody means that something or somebody now owes them something or has to accord to their wishes or is now somehow their property”. Black Gate can do what they like – and I’m cool with that because I like them.

  7. Daniel Kauffman: I find it amazing how many people above nominated them and that does not matter to them, Because someone they do not like ALSO nominated them they slapped all the rest of their fans in the face

    Daniel, if so many SFF authors don’t want to be associated with a group with whom you proudly claim allegiance, then maybe you should be asking yourself why.

    If nobody ever wanted to go to a movie or dinner with you, or even to meet you at the pub for a drink, would you blame everyone else? Or would you be asking yourself what it is about you that no one wants to be around you?

    Don’t you think it’s time that Puppies engaged in some serious self-examination of why so many SFF authors don’t want anything to do with them?

     
    The Sad and Rabid Puppies have engaged in a huge amount of bad behavior over the last couple of years, including (but not limited to):

    – exploiting a known nomination vulnerability to engage in a hostile takeover of the Hugo voting ballot with works chosen by a very small minority, many of which works were extremely poorly written;

    – exhibiting sexism and racism by complaining that works by women and people of color which had been finalists and winners in the past did not actually deserve their awards and nominations;

    – complaining loudly when the vast majority of Worldcon members preferred to maintain the integrity of their award, rather than being forced by a small, malicious minority to give awards to poor-quality works.

     
    Have you ever been to a Worldcon, Daniel? Were you a member before the Puppies started trying to game the Hugo ballot? Will you continue to buy memberships once the Puppies are no longer able to game the ballot? Do you actually care about Worldcon as a convention, or do you just demand that they give their Hugo awards to things that you personally like?

  8. Daniel Kauffman: This whole things seems to translate into, “In order to save the Hugos we must destroy them”.

    Oh, please. You’re being a drama queen. Nothing has been destroyed. The Hugos are just fine; they will survive the blip of the last couple of years and go back to being SFF’s most prestigious award once the nominating exploit has been removed.

    In the future, any time people talk about the 2015 and 2016 Hugos, they will roll their eyes and say, “oh, yeah, those were the years where those assholes tried to hold the Hugos hostage”.

  9. I find it amazing how many people above nominated them and that does not matter to them, Because someone they do not like ALSO nominated them they slapped all the rest of their fans in the face,

    In 2005, Terry Pratchett declined a Hugo nomination for Going Postal. Was he slapping those who nominated him in the face?

    In 2014, Neil Gaiman declined a Hugo nomination for The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Was he slapping those who nominated him in the face?

    In 2015, Larry Corriea declined a Hugo nomination for Monster Hunter Nemesis. Was he slapping his fans in the face?

    Perhaps if you weren’t going around looking to be offended by people making the decisions they think are best for themselves, you wouldn’t so frequently look so patently ridiculous.

    This whole things seems to translate into, “In order to save the Hugos we must destroy them”.

    There hasn’t been anything that has happened in the last decade that is even close to “destroying” the Hugo awards.

  10. Aaron: I have never nominated anyone in the face.

    But I’ve been tempted.

  11. Aaron: I have never nominated anyone in the face.

    But I’ve been tempted.

    Note to self: Only clear liquids when reading File 770.

    @Daniel Kauffman, I am deeply curious about why you think I should feel offended by Black Gate’s decision. I won’t actually be surprised if it turns out they would have been on the ballot despite slating, but my vote for them didn’t come with strings. So where in their decision is any room for offense?

  12. I don’t feel slapped in the face. What are we supposed to do, get up a posse with torches and pitchforks and force Black Gate to stay on the ballot? People are free to withdraw from the voting at any time.

    I was going to nominate the opening section of “The End of All Things” in Novella, but Scalzi said he didn’t want it this year. I didn’t swear out a vendetta towards him (unlike some people), I just said “okey doke, John.” Didn’t mind when pTerry withdrew either.

  13. Cheryl S.: I am deeply curious about why you think I should feel offended by Black Gate’s decision. I won’t actually be surprised if it turns out they would have been on the ballot despite slating, but my vote for them didn’t come with strings. So where in their decision is any room for offense?

    I think that this is part and parcel with the unjustified sense of entitlement fans — and, most notably, Puppies — feel about how authors/creators whose works they’ve purchased, read, and/or promoted to others means that those creators are somehow “beholden” to them.

    viz. GRRM, I’ve bought all your books and promoted you to lots of other fans! You owe me the next book in ASoIaF, and I want it RIGHT NOW! You don’t get to write blog posts, or put on events at the JCC, or do anything else UNTIL YOU GIVE ME THE BOOK YOU PROMISED TO WRITE!

    Black Gate, I nominated you for a Hugo Award, and now you’re on the ballot because of me! I demand that you stay on the ballot, because I put you there — and if you withdraw, you’re saying that you spit on my support!

    Worldcon voters, I paid my $40 for a Supporting Membership so that I could nominate and vote in the Hugos, and you owe it to me to put my choices on the ballot!

    🙄

  14. I’m trying to think of people I can make demands on who actually owe me:

    An employer is required by law to pay one per both one’s agreement/contract and whatever laws are applicable in return one is supposed to do their job

    A spouse makes certain commitments spoken and unspoken when they get married although making demands and saying one owes them is generally going to hurt one’s marriage in my experience as a spouse and watching other relationships. One has similar commitments to their spouse. If one is not fulfilling their obligations their marriage may fail. This is true for long term relationships which are based on unspoken agreements which are fuzzier.

    Parents owe it to their children to do their best to raise them taking care of physical and emotional needs and hopefully teaching them how to be decent people but a child can’t demand these things and too many parents can’t provide for their children for a variety of reasons

    Anyone I’ve made an official contract with. Each of us has responsibility to fulfill the terms of the contract.

    Generally no one owes anyone anything. Demanding things from people who don’t owe one is a jerk move. Thinking one is entitled to someone’s time, goods, consideration in many cases is a jerk move as one shows no consideration for them and acts as if one believe they are better and more important than them/anyone else.

    As babies we think the world revolves around us because we have no other way to perceive the world. As we age we should outgrow this. The world revolves around the sun not any individual person no matter how special. Each of us is one among billions.

  15. @JJ, you’re probably right that it’s no more complicated than a misplaced sense of entitlement, but I’m kind of hoping that someone who feels slapped in the face by decisions that don’t actually concern them except tangentially can explain why. I doubt “I feel entitled” is going to be the answer, because people aren’t usually that blunt about their own motivations, but it’s such a curious response that I’d like to hear how it feels from the inside.

  16. Cheryl S.: it’s such a curious response that I’d like to hear how it feels from the inside.

    I suspect that in this particular case, it’s code for “I can’t come out and condemn you for not wanting anything to do with the toxic Puppy agenda and history, because of course that would show me to be the asshole I am, so I’ll try to frame it in terms that make it sound as if it’s a matter of honor, and that you’re doing me a dishonor by declining”. 🙄

  17. @Cheryl S: Another species of concern trolling? Which oft goes along in harness with entitlement.

  18. @JJ and lurkertype, thank you for engaging with me on this. Those are simple and convincing speculations and since the poster hasn’t come back, I’ll provisionally accept them and move on. It’s just that I don’t usually run into some aspect of (non-criminal) human behavior and think, huh, that…makes no sense at all. The face slapping thing has come up several times in regard to Puppy nominees, so it’s not just one individual that I’m not understanding and I was kind of hoping to find out what motivated that very peculiar (to me) response.

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