The Hugo Awards are special in the world of science fiction because they are made by, determined by, and administered by the fans. Technically speaking, electronic publications have always been eligible for the Hugos. The year 2009, however, brought two new and exciting developments for those of us who support new media: first, the audiobook METAtropolis (by Joseph E. Lake, Jr., Tobias S. Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, and Karl Schroeder, and edited by John Scalzi) was nominated for a Hugo in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form category, a first for a straight-to-audio production; and second, the World Science Fiction Society Business Meeting ratified a constitutional amendment that added the words “or the equivalent in other media” to various Hugo Award category definitions, thereby formally acknowledging what had always been the case de facto, that electronic publications were eligible.
Recently I was thrilled to see this thread in the
hugo_recommend community regarding podcast eligibility for the 2010 Hugos -- and, in particular, the case of StarShipSofa: The Audio Science Fiction Magazine. (Go team!) The consensus seems to be that Best Fanzine would be the best category for a podcast: no one is certain, because no podcast has ever received sufficient nominations to make the ballot. Since this discussion in the hugo_recommend community, a growing wave of support for the StarShipSofa nomination has appeared on John Scalzi's blog under "Science Fiction Award Suggestions." So, if you, like me, are a World Science Fiction Society member and you plan on participating Hugo Awards nominations (open now through March 13), now is a fantastic time to help raise the issue of podcast eligibility in the Hugos -- and, if you like, support StarShipSofa in the process!
[On a related personal note, I've also been gratified to see some mention of another project near and dear to my heart, in this case with relation to the Best Related Work category for the 2010 Hugos, namely The Intersection of Fantasy and Native America: From H.P. Lovecraft to Leslie Marmon Silko, which grew out of my keynote address to the Mythopoeic Society a few years ago and which I co-edited with the wonderful David D. Oberhelman. My sincere thanks and lasting gratitude to all who have supported this book!]
"If America or any other nation turns its back on space, it becomes the caveman who ignores the sight of the first spark. It becomes Columbus content to mark time in a Spanish port. It becomes the Wright Brothers never leaving their Ohio bicycle shop. It spits in the face of wonder – and in so doing denies every noble impulse of humanity."
- Troy Senik, "When Man Looked Up"
Recently I was thrilled to see this thread in the
hugo_recommend community regarding podcast eligibility for the 2010 Hugos -- and, in particular, the case of StarShipSofa: The Audio Science Fiction Magazine. (Go team!) The consensus seems to be that Best Fanzine would be the best category for a podcast: no one is certain, because no podcast has ever received sufficient nominations to make the ballot. Since this discussion in the hugo_recommend community, a growing wave of support for the StarShipSofa nomination has appeared on John Scalzi's blog under "Science Fiction Award Suggestions." So, if you, like me, are a World Science Fiction Society member and you plan on participating Hugo Awards nominations (open now through March 13), now is a fantastic time to help raise the issue of podcast eligibility in the Hugos -- and, if you like, support StarShipSofa in the process![On a related personal note, I've also been gratified to see some mention of another project near and dear to my heart, in this case with relation to the Best Related Work category for the 2010 Hugos, namely The Intersection of Fantasy and Native America: From H.P. Lovecraft to Leslie Marmon Silko, which grew out of my keynote address to the Mythopoeic Society a few years ago and which I co-edited with the wonderful David D. Oberhelman. My sincere thanks and lasting gratitude to all who have supported this book!]
"If America or any other nation turns its back on space, it becomes the caveman who ignores the sight of the first spark. It becomes Columbus content to mark time in a Spanish port. It becomes the Wright Brothers never leaving their Ohio bicycle shop. It spits in the face of wonder – and in so doing denies every noble impulse of humanity."
- Troy Senik, "When Man Looked Up"
- Current Music:"It Came Out of the Sky," Creedence Clearwater Revival
Profile
eldritchhobbit- Amy H. Sturgis
- My Official Website
Comments
Dramatic presentations are different because they involve a whole lot of additional skills - acting, sound effects, plus costume, lighting and camera work on video.
Podcasts, of course, can be either, and I foresee a fair amount of confusion as to where a podcast story should be nominated. However, there seems like doubt that StarShipSofa is a fanzine, so good luck to you!
I'm sharing the below with a few blogs in hopes it helps the cause. Hope you don't mind. :)
I just wanted to chime in about my own experience with terrific podcast StarShipSofa: The Audio Science Fiction Magazine, and how it has turned me from an isolated fangirl into community contributor. I guess I’m an example of a voice that would never have been heard in connection with the science fiction genre – that is, if I hadn’t hopped aboard the StarShipSofa back in 2006 and found the gumption to send Tony that first email. And I’ve become a more engaged consumer of the genre ever since! Before getting involved with StarShipSofa, I never read genre magazines or went to cons or anything – I just bought lots and lots of novels that I read quietly in my basement “and washed my hands afterwards” (to misquote Robert Heinlein).
Now I am writing promo blurbs, narrating short stories, doing audio reports, emailing/ blogging/ friending/ tweeting all over the place, and working on the show’s next book project. You could say I’m in it up to my eyeballs and nine ways from Sunday! And I am by no means the only one – the crew of the good ship Sofa is verging on the huge at this point, with contributions large and small, and all out of our sincere enthusiasm and appreciation for this great show. This is exactly what Larry Santoro, Matthew Sanborn Smith, Amy H. Sturgis and so many others are talking about – the emergence of a whole new kind of Futurians network: passionate fans coming together just for the joy of it, using the latest technologies at hand, and actively building the genre and its culture! If that’s not Hugo worthy, I don’t know what is . . .
posted by Robyn Bradshaw
www.myspace.com/robyn_bradshaw
Does anyone working on it get paid anything? (One cent is enough.)
Are there over 1,000 downloads per issue?
Does it contain advertising?
All and any funds made go into running the show. If they didn't... it would stop, my wife would see to that.
I have Donations that come in each month that go into running the show.
I also put out a book last year - StarShipSofa Stories, a fanzine you might even say! Some of the stories I have played on the show, I went back to the authors and asked if I could put them in a printed version and use that to raise funds in order to keep the show going. It was also a celebration of Aural Delights reaching show 100.
Not once in the history of StarShipSofa have I paid an author or an artist money to use their work. I have always been allowed by artist and writers to use their work for free. What I can't give them in cash revenues I make up in exposure. Maybe one day I could move up to paying writers.... nothing would give me greater pleasure. But at the moment... everything is donated from stories to narrations, from art work to web design... the sales of the book enable StarShipSofa to survive.
There were adds at one time played on the show, but again this was a while back, and again, it went into supporting the show but... you guessed it... that didn't work either. There's nothing like that now.
However one of the regular winners, Ansible is more a combination of SF news and fanac rather than focussing on just the doings of fans.
Although Starship Sofa does include some community stuff it's mostly SF stories so feels more like a prozine or semi-prozine to me.
This isn't to diss SS at all as I listen to it regularly and there is much in there that I enjoy but it really doesn't feel like a fanzine.