Shaun Duke’s fame is spreading across the internet today thanks to his post “2012 Hugo Nominations: Preliminary Thoughts”, replete with gems of wisdom like —
StarShipSofa is not a fancast. It is an audio fiction magazine like EscapePod, etc. It does not produce fan content. It produces magazine content. Stop putting it alongside podcasts which actually produce fan content…
I love reading someone adamantly declare a nominee is ineligible for the Hugo category deliberately created to house it.
Craig Miller said it best: “A lack of actual information has frequently not hindered fans from holding and expressing strong opinions on a subject.”
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On Craig Miller quote: So very, very different from the pros….
Note: I stopped worrying about whether Hugo nominees fit their categories the year a Charles Addams collection won for Best Nonfiction.
Mr. Duke makes a valid point. When the Starshipsofa first began, it was dedicated to creating content that was pertinent to SF/F fandom by covering famous authors of the past. Since they went to reprinting short fiction in an audio format, they come across as more of an audio magazine than a fan podcast. I think the issue here is the amorphousness of a new Hugo category, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this issue rectified in 2013.
Honestly, “sassy steve,” Duke has no point at all in disputing the eligibility of SSS for this category. The category definition is, “Any nonprofessional audio- or video-casting with at least (4) episodes that had at least (1) episode released in (2011).” SSS satisfies on every point. Don’t just take my word for this, the Wikipedia says it’s eligible < http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarShipSofa#cite_note-7. Lol…
Hey “sassysteve” … StarShipSofa disagrees. They could have declined the nomination.
Section 3.9: Notification and Acceptance.
Worldcon Committees shall use reasonable efforts to notify the nominees, or in the case of deceased or incapacitated persons, their heirs, assigns, or legal guardians, in each category prior to the release of such information. Each nominee shall be asked at that time to either accept or decline the nomination. If the nominee declines nomination, that nominee shall not appear on the final ballot. In addition, in the Best Professional Artist category, the acceptance should include citations of at least three (3) works first published in the eligible year.
https://chicon.org/constitution.php#hugo-awards