Clarkesworld 2019 Reader’s Poll Winners

Editor Neil Clarke announced the winners of the 2019 Clarkesworld Magazine Reader’s Poll for best story and cover art in the March issue.

Best Story of 2019

Best Cover of 2019

Clarkesworld 2019 Reader’s Poll Finalists

Editor Neil Clarke has announced the finalists for the 2019 Clarkesworld Magazine Reader’s Poll for best story and cover art.  

Clarke commented, “It was a close race from the start and once again it ended with ties. The story category was particularly close, with a six-way tie for fifth place. That’s more than we wanted, but the readers have spoken. If it doesn’t work out well, we’ll update the rules next year.”

The public is invited to pick the winners. Go to:

www.surveymonkey.com/r/clarkesworld2019

Voting will close February 20 at 8 p.m. EST. The winners will be announced in Clarkesworld’s March issue.

Finalists for Best Story

Finalists for Best Cover Art (click on the link to see the image)

2018 Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll Finalists

The 5 finalists for best Clarkesworld short story and cover art of 2018 are in listed in Neil Clarke’s February editorial.

Clarke had this to say about the first phase:

We held a two-day nomination period for the Clarkesworld Magazine Reader’s Poll in January. Similar to last year, the shortened nomination phase appears to have minimized the attempts at ballot-stuffing without any significant impact on the total number of participants. It was a tight race in both categories and the top five changed many times. In the end, there were enough ties that both ended with six finalists instead of the normal five.

Finalists for Best Story

  1. Dandelion” by Elly Bangs (September)
  2. The Anchorite Wakes” by R.S.A. Garcia (August)
  3. Umbernight” by Carolyn Ives Gilman (February)
  4. When We Were Starless” by Simone Heller (October)
  5. Octo-Heist in Progress” by Rich Larson (November)
  6. Sour Milk Girls” by Erin Roberts (January)

Finalists for Best Cover Art

  1. Islamic Universe 2 by Luis Carlos Barragán (July)
  2. Belt 71 by Pascal Blanché (December)
  3. New Life by Helen Ilnytska (November)
  4. The Storkfriars by Sean Murray (June)
  5. Postcards from Asia: The Floodplain by Pat Presley (October)
  6. Vukileyo! by Artur Sadlos (January)

Voting on the finalists is open until February 20 at 8 p.m. EST. The results will be announced in Clarkesworld’s March issue. Vote here.

Participate in 2018 Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll Nominations

The nomination phase for the annual Clarkesworld poll is open, but move fast — it closes Friday at 8 p.m. EST: 2018 Clarkesworld Survey – Nomination Phase. Readers are invited to nominate their three favorite 2018 Clarkesworld stories and covers.

The works with the most nominations will become the 2018 finalists and a winner will be determined by a second round of voting in February. All stories and artwork can be found here.

2017 Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll Results

Voters have chosen the 2017 Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll winners from the five finalists in each category. Editor Neil Clarke made the announcement on the magazine’s website.

  • Best Cover Art – Sea Change by Matt Dixon

Matt says: “It’s delightful to learn that ‘Sea Change’ has been chosen at the favourite Clarkesworld cover of 2017. What makes a Reader’s Poll result special is the readers. Trying to build a narrative into my robot pieces is part of what brings me back to the work again and again, for that image to attract the approval of people who love stories is very rewarding indeed. Thank you!”

Vina says: “Thank you to everyone who voted for ‘A Series of Steaks’ in the poll—this was my first submission to a speculative fiction magazine, and I’m very happy to see that it’s got so much love!”

The story is also a Nebula Award finalist.

[Thanks to Mark Hepworth for the story.]

2017 Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll Finalists

Following a 24-hour “flash nomination” period, the 5 finalists for best Clarkesworld short story and cover art of 2017 are in listed in Neil Clarke’s February editorial.

Clarke had this to say bout the first phase:

The announcement was sent out via Twitter, Facebook, Patreon, and my blog. The brevity of this phase was an experiment. In theory, it would create a sense of urgency and reduce the opportunities for a coordinated ballot-stuffing campaign. It worked. The nomination phase generated more responses than the majority of our full surveys from years past and a significant reduction in stuffing—though there were some very clumsy attempts to do so, of course.

The finalists are:

Best Story

Best Cover Art

Voting on the finalists is open through February 24. Everyone may participate whether or not they nominated in Phase 1 – vote here.

[Thanks to Mark Hepworth for the story.]

Participate Today in Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll Nominations

A “24-hour flash nomination phase” happening today kicks off the Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll.

We’re bringing back our Clarkesworld reader’s poll and letting you pick your favorite 2017 Clarkesworld story and art, but we’re going to do things a little differently this time.

Phase 1 – A 24-hour flash nomination phase. Starting right now, readers can nominate up to five works in each of the following categories:

  • Best Story
  • Best Cover Art

The second phase will be announced in Clarkesworld’s February issue:

Phase 2 – Using the data from phase one, a short list of the top nominated works will become the finalists. The finalists will be announced in our February issue and a new poll will launch and be open until February 24th.

Winners will be announced in the March 2018 issue of Clarkesworld.

PHASE I NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN TODAY HERE.

[Thanks to Mark Hepworth for the story.]