Suggestion Box For File 770’s Entry in Hugo Voter Packet

In very short order I am expected to send File 770’s entry for the Hugo Voter Packet.

It’s going to be a PDF, because you can’t just send them a page of links or something.

It will include File 770 #165.

I will add some posts. I could probably use advice on that — I doubt I will include any roundups, however, there are a lot of article-type posts to consider.

That summary post Filers Destroy Poetry will be included.

Where I particularly need help is deciding whether and how to represent the comments on the puppy controversies. Out of the literally thousands written here in 2015, there are no small number that could stand alone. Should I cherry pick a bunch, or not? If yes, your recommendations and the links will simplify the search.

Thanks for giving this some thought!

68 thoughts on “Suggestion Box For File 770’s Entry in Hugo Voter Packet

  1. The best representative sample would include brackets, poetry, filk, book recommendations, actual SF news, and kerpupple (some of those are combined, I guess).

    Tempting to say that the longest threads are the most “important”, maybe, depending how “on topic” they stayed.

  2. In terms of round-ups, I would suggest those from 4/29, 7/1, 8/11, 8/26, and 10/15 as well as the puppy-related post “Puppy and Counter Puppy”. Discerning readers may figure out the common theme in these suggestions.

  3. James Burns has been rocking it…perhaps one or two of his might make it in?

    I also remember an overview on China being a popular one.

    It’s very generous of you to ask, Mike, given the amount of work you do, often for less than no thanks. So thank you!

  4. Since I was the fifth most prolific commenter last year, this nomination is obviously for me, so I feel a duty to contribute ideas. I think the items suggested are good ones. I would add the parody roundup where people did (mostly) the openings from prose works (e.g. Pride & Prejudice, Dhalgren); the post where you talked about running into the angry person in the elevator after the Hugo ceremony; maybe some stuff from the Ancillary Mercy and Star Wars: TFA spoiler threads.

  5. Should we be calling this the ::ticky:: box (which comes incidentally is what I’m doing with this comment to receive email notifications)?

    ETA: The exchange between Juliette Wade & Brad Torgersen was particularly memorable from the Puppy roundups. Breaking news that happened here.

    Seconding other suggestions so far.

  6. I second Soon Lee’s suggestion about the Wade-Torgersen exchange.

    I’m sorry but I don’t understand enough about how WordPress works to know what you mean by #165 so I’m not sure what to look at to see what else I would recommend.

  7. Cat: There’s a PDF fanzine issue — File 770 #165 — that I produced last December. You can find all those issues listed on the upper right side of the front page here.

  8. The brackets of course, lots of valuable input there from Filers
    Book recommendation threads and book reviews by Vasha or Kyra
    A few of the articles by James Burns
    I suppose some kerfuffle posts, but there were so many

  9. I second Soon Lee’s suggestion about the Wade-Torgersen exchange.

    The original exchange between Wade and Torgersen happened in the comments here on the post “An Account of Juliette Wade’s Withdrawal from Sad Puppies 3” (which would be a good submission to the Hugo packet), but I don’t recall if OGH put the exchange itself into one of his posts. I am unsure at this point whether or not comment threads would be considered part of the material to be submitted to the packet.

  10. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts later. Adding my voice to other suggestions. I’d include a list of all the awards you covered in 2015. I honestly had no idea there were so many SFFH awards given out every year until I started hanging out here. You increase their visibility which is important work.

  11. Aaron: Thanks for reminding me where to find the Torgersen-Wade comments.

    I think at best selected individual comments, or the Torgersen-Wade exchange, are the way to go. Hugo voters can’t be expected to have the patience to read those large comment chains. But if picking individual comments deprives them of needed context, which is a question, I might not run them.

  12. Brackets, definitely. Some threads where people asked “anyone know any good X?” There was that one… so scattered, my memory! where someone made a joke about… some puppy attempt at satirizing works non-Puppies enjoy, and people actually had a bunch of recommendations. I’ll look for that when I can.

    And what everyone has been recommending.

    Ticking now to remind myself to search through specific posts later.

  13. I can’t think of anything that needs to be in the Hugo packet more than the Wade-Torgerson exchange. We’ve been hearing whines all year about how were’ll evil people who twist what the Puppies say; and I think that exchange really is Brad unfiltered to a level that needs to be shared with the people who will have heard a few months of Puppy justifications this year.

  14. Hey Mike, does the stuff in the packet other than issue 165 have to be from 2015? Looks like the ‘File 770 Destroys Poetry’ summary was posted in January 2016 – does it qualify?

  15. I would like to see a selection of the best filks. I haven’t got a pointer though.

    Plus, seconding mark-kitteh’s selection of “A Puppy Epilogue.”

  16. The rules have changed? When Ansible was last nominated, I suggested a single Voter Packet link to a page of links, and that was regarded as OK. When the SF Encyclopedia (Third edition) was nominated, the Hugo administrators seemed almost deliriously grateful for a page of links to new and eligible entries rather than the colossal horror of the, er, Thing In Itself.

  17. For individual comments, there’s the balrog sequence (collected here) or maybe the If You Were A Dinosaur… titles sequence (I can’t remember where that was though)

  18. There is, of course, always the possibility to add links to the PDF. I would have the articles in the PDF, then the examples from the brackets and a link for those who wants to find out more what was recommended. Same with roundups and the rest. 2-3 examples, then a link on where to find more of interest.

    And I had forgotten the Balrog sequence! To the park with it!

  19. Do you want pictures of the brackets contestants for the PDF? I can make them if you want to. Was thinking of doing it for the park anyhow.

  20. @Mike, I can’t really add to the suggestions above for the F770 sampling, but I hope that you include your piece for Uncanny for Fan Writer (if it’s eligible): It’s the Big One I think it was my intro to you and your writing, and it’s a great intro to the Hugo’s history.

  21. David Langford: It’s “I can’t” in the way someone would say “But I can’t wear that dress to the prom!”

    When people open my file, I want them to be seeing the content.

    There’s no rule against having links. In fact, I intend to leave intact the embedded links in any posts I select.

  22. Did someone already mention Rev. Bob and the Balrog? (Although I think that went to over 1000 comments, so that might be a bit much…)

  23. Another second for the Balrog riffing; when I checked out my own contribution, I forgot how sadly prophetic it was:

    “I, for one, am very glad to see fandom standing fast upon this bridge facing the Balrog with those immortal words nobody here needs me to repeat.”

    “Same time next year? “

    Prior to the Puppy kerfuffle, I might check in here a handful of times a year, so it’s lovely to be able to acknowledge the tremendous work Mike has done, initially with the Puppy roundups, but also on providing a platform for a community to congregate. Thanks Mike!

  24. ULTRAGOTHA: You’re right. Everything should be from 2015.

    Maybe at the end I can say something like “And we’re still at it” that includes the File 770 Destroys Poetry link.

  25. I think the Chimes entry was lovely, and not just because I’m in it. And surely we’ve got some good filks somewhere before January…

  26. Such goodness in that Destroys Poetry post.

    Cally —

    And did those scrolls in pixeled times
    Talk about Fandom’s hopes and dreams?
    And were the fans, and authors too,
    On Worldcon’s pleasant panels seen?

    And did the Hugo winners float
    The rest of Worldcon on a cloud?
    And Hugo losers truly say
    The nomination made them proud?

    Bring me my nomination form!
    Bring me my list of what I love!
    Let no one tell me how to vote;
    My socks will orbit up above!

    I will not yield to childish taunts,
    Nor let a slate make choices less.
    And we shall celebrate the works
    That Worldcon fans think are the best!

  27. In non-puppy/non-Pixelscroll stuff, I really enjoyed your piece on Clifton’s Cafeteria and the post remembering the late George Clayton Johnson.

  28. redheadedfemme on April 30, 2016 at 3:32 pm said:

    Did someone already mention Rev. Bob and the Balrog? (Although I think that went to over 1000 comments, so that might be a bit much…)

    …and that is half-an-hour of my life spent re-reading a chunk of those again 🙂

  29. So much good stuff.
    No good hints here, since I think a lot of what I’d want has been mentioned.
    Yes a bracket, yes Balrog, yes If You Were A, Yes, Clifton’s.
    There’s so much beyond mere Puppystuff.

  30. John Hertz had a Clifton’s Cafeteria piece this year. I know I wrote about it last year, but perhaps are you thinking of John’s?

  31. I loved “If You Were a Platypus, My Dear” with the fire of a thousand suns.

  32. @Lydy Nickerson,
    Thank you for the reminder, that was certainly worth re-reading. I wonder if Rachel Swirsky ever saw it…

    ETA: This thread could end up being responsible for many lost hours due to re-reading. It’s a feature, not a bug.

  33. John Hertz had a Clifton’s Cafeteria piece this year. I know I wrote about it last year, but perhaps are you thinking of John’s?

    I might be thinking of John’s Clifton Cafeteria piece. At any rate, I liked it a lot.

  34. @Lydy welp, that was a quarter hour spent but I laughed so hard my ribs are sore. I vote yes on including the Platipus story.

    Oh, and thanks for explaining about the PDF, Mike. I figured it out when I went back to the main page. It has a very different feel in the PDF form compared to the blog posts, so I’m not sure how the above mentioned comments will fit in, but I think they would add some of the File 770 magic if it can be done.

  35. It all sounds good. The Torg/Wade one shows Puppies In Their Own Words, which I think the majority of voters will dig. And brackets are important. I really second (or fifth) the inclusion of literary pastiches, filk, poetry, which show off the true nature and creativity of Filers. An obit to show we do srs bzness too, and I also liked the Clifton’s Cafeteria piece — shows we know from history.

    Oh, and put in a mention to come visit the parks at the con! One line at the end. How many other finalists are sponsoring parks, eh?

  36. The Platypus thing (besides being by a legit Hugo Winner), is also probably funny to anyone who reads internet comments. Even if you don’t get the specifics, the types of comments are all too common.

  37. Thanks for the kinds words on my pastiche of Jerusalem!

    I don’t envy you trying to find a good Bracket or Brackets to include; they were all pretty good. Maybe an early Godstalk reference one, to give some context to our constant cries of Godstalk?

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