What’s In The 2019 Hugo Voter Packet?

By JJ: On May 11, the 2019 Hugo Awards voter packet became available for download by Attending, Supporting, First Worldcon, Young Adult, and Child members of Dublin 2019. The packet is an electronic collection which helps voters become better informed about the works and creators on the ballot. Works which are included have been made available through the generosity of finalists and their publishers.

The voter packet contains complete texts of many Hugo-nominated works, preview versions of some works, and directions for finding some finalists’ works online. Some novels have been made available through NetGalley, which requires a user account for access (registration is free).

The packet is available for download from the Dublin 2019 website in the Membership section by clicking “Vote for the 2019 Hugo Awards”. You must have a valid Membership login link to download the packet. If you have recently joined Dublin 2019, you will be sent a Membership login link shortly after joining. You can request that your Membership login link be re-sent to you by entering the e-mail address you used when you registered with Dublin 2019 on the Membership page. If you do not receive the e-mail, or your Membership login link fails to authenticate, you can e-mail hugohelp@dublin2019 for assistance.

If you haven’t yet downloaded this year’s Hugo Voter Packet and wish to download only selected parts, or if you’re still trying to decide whether to purchase a membership, a breakdown of its contents is presented below.

The Hugo Voter Packet will be available for download until the voting deadline at 11:59 pm Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday July 31st, 2019 (7.59 am, Irish time, on 1 August 2019). Voters can make as many changes as they wish to their ballot until the deadline. Changes are automatically saved, and a copy of the voter’s current ballot will be emailed to them 30 minutes after they finish modifying it.

As in previous years, WSFS and Dublin 2019 ask that voters honor publishers’ and creators’ request that they reserve these copies for their personal use only, and that they do not share these works with non-members of Dublin 2019.

Only members of Dublin 2019 can access the 2019 Hugo Award Voter packet and vote on the 2019 Hugo Awards. To become a member of Dublin 2019, see the membership page.

If you don’t have access to the Hugo Voter Packet, here is a list of links to read the 2019 Hugo Finalists which are available for free online. Some detailed discussions of the Finalist works can be found on the 2019 Hugo Award Finalists announcement thread, as well as in other posts on File 770.

Dublin 2019 and WSFS are deeply appreciative of the publishers, authors, artists, editors, and other creators who have generously provided their works to this year’s Hugo Voter Packet, and ask that voters who feel the same way consider posting on social media to thank the publishers, editors, and creators who have participated in the packet.

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Dublin 2019 Adds Special Hugo Award Category: Best Art Book

Dublin 2019, an Irish Worldcon, the 77th World Science Fiction Convention, (“Worldcon”) taking place in Dublin Ireland in August 2019, announced today that a special Hugo category for “Best Art Book” will be included in the 2019 Hugo Awards, and the Retrospective Hugo Awards for 1944.

The Hugo Awards are the leading awards for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy, and have been presented at Worldcons since 1953. They are voted on by members of each year’s Worldcon.

Art books formerly featured strongly in the Best Related Work Hugo Award category, and its predecessors, Best Related Book and Best Non-Fiction Book, and also in the former Hugo category Best Original Artwork. Finalists and winners included collections of works by significant figures in genre art, and annual anthologies of notable and award-winning art works.

Although fewer art books have appeared on the Hugo ballot in recent years, many genre art books of various types are published annually, and they continue to generate intense interest from both reviewers and the wider fan community. The Hugo Category Study committee is also considering Best Art Book as a potential permanent category.

“The Hugo Awards encourage and appreciate the creation of great SF&F genre work, whether in prose, dramatized or visual form,” said Vincent Docherty, WSFS Division Head for the convention. “Dublin 2019 is pleased to honour the ongoing contributions made by artists to the field of science fiction and fantasy in what will be the 80th anniversary of the first Worldcon – whose sole Guest of Honor was artist Frank R. Paul.”

An eligible work for this special Hugo award is any art book in the field of science fiction, fantasy, or fandom, appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year or which has been substantially modified during the previous calendar year, and which is not eligible in Best Graphic Story.

[From a press release.]