Friday open thread: nonfiction and editorial Hugo finalists

[dolorosa_12]

As with last week, my Friday open thread prompt is about the Hugo finalists, which again I'm splitting up into subcategories. This week, I'm asking about editorial categories (editors, various magazines), and the grab-bag category for everything that doesn't fit elsewhere, Best Related Work.

All finalists can be found on the Hugo Awards website.

Best Related Work

All These Worlds: Reviews & Essays by Niall Harrison (Briardene Books)

中国科幻口述史, 第二卷, 第三卷，(Chinese Science Fiction: An Oral History, vols 2 and 3) ed. 杨枫 / Yang Feng (8-Light Minutes Culture & Chengdu Time Press)

A City on Mars by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith (Penguin Press; Particular Books)

The Culture: The Drawings, by Iain M. Banks (Orbit)
雨果X访谈 (Discover X), presented by 王雅婷 (Tina Wong)

A Traveller in Time: The Critical Practice of Maureen Kincaid Speller, by Maureen Kincaid Speller, edited by Nina Allan (Luna Press Publishing)

Best Editor Short Form

Scott H. Andrews

Neil Clarke

刘维佳 (Liu Weijia)

Jonathan Strahan

Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

杨枫 (Yang Feng)

Best Editor Long Form

Ruoxi Chen

Lindsey Hall

Lee Harris

Kelly Lonesome

David Thomas Moore

姚海军 (Yao Haijun)

Best Semiprozine

Escape Pod, editors Mur Lafferty and Valerie Valdes; assistant editors Benjamin C. Kinney, Premee Mohamed and Kevin Wabaunsee; hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart; producers Summer Brooks and Adam Pracht; and the entire Escape Pod team

FIYAH Literary Magazine, publisher and executive editor DaVaun Sanders, poetry editor B. Sharise Moore, special projects manager L. D. Lewis, art director Christian Ivey, acquiring editors Rebecca McGee, Kerine Wint, Joshua Morley, Emmalia Harrington, Genine Tyson, Tonya R. Moore, sponsor coordinator Nelson Rolon

GigaNotoSaurus, editor LaShawn M. Wanak, associate editors Mia Tsai and Edgard Wentz, along with the GNS Slushreaders Team

khōréō, produced by Aleksandra Hill, Zhui Ning Chang, Kanika Agrawal, Isabella Kestermann, Rowan Morrison, Sachiko Ragosta, Lian Xia Rose, Jenelle DeCosta, Melissa Ren, Elaine Ho, Lilivette Domínguez, Jei D. Marcade, Jeané Ridges, Isaree Thatchaichawalit, Danai Christopoulou, M. L. Krishnan, Ysabella Maglanque, Aaron Voigt, Adil Mian, Alexandra Millatmal, E. Broderick, K. S. Walker, Katarzyna Nowacka, Katie McIvor, Kelsea Yu, Marie Croke, Osahon Ize-Iyamu, Phoebe Low, S. R. Westvik, Sara S. Messenger

Strange Horizons, by the Strange Horizons Editorial Collective

Uncanny Magazine, publishers and editors-in-chief: Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas; managing editor Monte Lin; nonfiction editor Meg Elison; podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky.

Best Fanzine

Black Nerd Problems, editors Omar Holmon and William Evans

The Full Lid, written by Alasdair Stuart and edited by Marguerite Kenner

Idea, editor Geri Sullivan

Journey Planet, edited by Michael Carroll, Vincent Docherty, Sara Felix, Ann Gry, Sarah Gulde, Allison Hartman Adams, Arthur Liu, Jean Martin, Helena Nash, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Yen Ooi, Chuck Serface, Alan Stewart, Regina Kanyu Wang, James Bacon and Christopher J. Garcia

Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together, editors Roseanna Pendlebury, Arturo Serrano, Paul Weimer; senior editors Joe Sherry, Adri Joy, G. Brown, Vance Kotrla.

Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, editors Olav Rokne and Amanda Wakaruk

I have no strong opinions on these categories so far, apart from feeling it's ridiculous that the Uncanny team are still putting themselves forward for consideration. I like the material they publish, but it gets to the point that people should behave in a more collegiate manner and refuse nomination for a while, for the health of the field.

If you are voting this year, let me know your thoughts on the various categories (or individual works). If you're not a voter, but you have thoughts on some of the finalists on this list, feel free to comment on your assessment of them. Or is there anything you feel should have made the shortlist that didn't? For various reasons I will be slow to reply, but hopefully you can all chat to each other in the comments.

Comments

[kore]

As before, nice to see some more Chinese authors on these lists!

Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood received enough votes to be eligible for the final ballot for Best Related Work due to their promotional tweets for "This Is How You Lose the Time War", but they declined the nomination. Aww.

I think there should just be Best Nonfiction and Best Art Book categories and leave Best Related for online stuff, but idk why that won't happen.

[dolorosa_12]

I think that kind of split may happen eventually, since the Hugos do seem inclined to create more and more separate categories for awards, but as with all these things, change comes slowly.

I didn't know the background about Bigolas Dickolas declining the nomination, but I remember the tweet and feel filled with delight by the reminder of that whole surreal situation.

I'm glad about the Chinese finalists as well.

[hamsterwoman]

I don't have a lot of thoughts on these categories (yet, anyway). I'll try to take a look at some of the fanzines that are new since the last time I voted, and leaf through Best Related Work, and maybe editor and semipro packets, but I don't think I'll have time to do a thorough job.

I'm voting for Neil Clarke in the Editor Short Form (I like his selections of stories and have enjoyed him on panels and have generally found him to be a class act), and am (as is often the case) trying to figure out if there's a way for me to reflect my annoyance with an Editor Long Form when a book they edited has come out with what to me are flaws that should've been caught by the editor, but I don't find these categories very satisfying to vote in.

apart from feeling it's ridiculous that the Uncanny team are still putting themselves forward for consideration. I like the material they publish, but it gets to the point that people should behave in a more collegiate manner and refuse nomination for a while, for the health of the field.

Nod -- I have a lot of respect for people/entities who choose to recuse themselves or turn down nominations after they've won a bunch (like Mike Glyer/File 770 or Martha Wells with Murderbot). On the other hand, I feel like Semiprozine is kind of a weird category anyway, where it's the same magazines getting nominated time after time, and if Uncanny turned down their nomination, probably the same semiprozine would be winning year after year again, just a different one than right now.

[dolorosa_12]

I'm inclined to vote for Clarke as well — I like a lot of the short fiction that ends up in Clarkesworld, and agree with your assessment of his character.

On the other hand, I feel like Semiprozine is kind of a weird category anyway, where it's the same magazines getting nominated time after time, and if Uncanny turned down their nomination, probably the same semiprozine would be winning year after year again, just a different one than right now.

You're probably right, but at least that would give us some variety for a year or so! It's pathetic that Uncanny have kept themselves in contention for at least ten years at this point, and I think less of the editorial team there for doing so.

[dhampyresa]

At the risk of sounding like an ignoramus, how do you judge editors?

[dolorosa_12]

When it's Short Form, I tend to judge them on the actual short fiction they're selecting to publish in the magazines that they edit — those magazines tend to be free and available online, so often I've been reading them independently before the awards nominations roll around for another year. I judge less on copyediting (unless I notice glaring problems in this regard) and more on whether the fiction they publish is to my tastes and seems of good quality. Usually these editors submit some of the short fiction they've edited in the voter pack, and it can be treated as a representative sample if I haven't read the magazines previously.

For Long Form, it's harder unless I've already read the books they've edited, since I think they mostly only submit samples rather than whole novels in the packet. I don't always vote in this category as I'm not sure I can judge it fairly, and I assume most people who do vote in this category vote based on name recognition, or are more immersed in the industry and actually know the whole body of work which the various finalists have edited. Long Form editors are not editing the books on a technical level (correcting typos etc), so the vote is more on the basis of their 'taste' — are the books they commisioned for publication by big publishing companies good quality, and so on.