The HUGO Voter Packet: Why would you NOT do this?

The 2012 Hugos  are awards for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy. The Hugos are awarded each year by the World Science Fiction Society, at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon). This year that convention is Chicon 7 in Chicago August 30 – September 3.

From the website “You may vote on the 2012 Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer if you are an Attending or Supporting member of Chicon 7 (the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention).”

To be a supporting member is 50 bucks. And not only does this allow you to vote, but you also get the “Hugo Voter Packet”.

…which contains the five nominated novels (in various formats), and several other of the nominated works for novella, novelette, short story, works from those authors nominated for the Campbell award….

…shall I go on?

The Hugo group should be applauded for this most excellent bribery to get people to read the nominated works and voted from the experience of reading, not from the reputations of the authors. This is done with a lot of trust (a fact that is pointed out, as it should be, in several places in the packet and on the website) and with the suggestion that readers support the authors who have contributed their works.

I do not normally follow or worry about the awards given out, as many of them are popularity contests. But this is an excellent investment, and a great way to participate.

I’ve included some simple math in a table below. Fifty bucks is a lot of money, but there is a ton of material in here.

The big question is: how much will get read before the voting deadline of July 31st?

TITLEAUTHORKINDLE PRICEPAPERBACK PRICEPUBLISHER
Among OthersJo Walton9.9910.19Tor
A Dance With DragonsGeorge R. R. Martin14.9924.30 (two paperbacks)Bantam Spectra
DeadlineMira Grant7.999.99Orbit
EmbassytownChina Miéville11.9910.88Macmillan/Del Rey
Leviathan WakesJames S. A. Corey9.9910.87Orbit
TOTALS
54.9566.23

 

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3 Responses

  1. Fred Kiesche says:

    We’ll see! Hopefully I’ll get through at least 2 this weekend plus some of the shorter works. Not sure, for example, if I’ll read everything in each Campbell nominee’s packet, 1-2 should do it.

    I just wish the novels were more formats, it seemed like most trended towards Adobe, probably the least useable format for eBook gadget users.

    • admin says:

      Fred, agreed on all points. I started with Jo Walton’s novel, recent Nebula Winner, and am enjoying her writing style very much.

      The packet is a godsend for me. Depending on which customers we are working with and demoing to, I may be carrying any one of a number of devices, all of which have Kindle, Nook and various other eReaders on them. I’d like to find the programmers that developed the “sync to last page read” feature for each and buy them a beerski.

  1. July 25, 2012

    […] believing it – again, thank you all! [4] If you are registered, go get yours and vote! This year’s packet is an INCREDIBLE value, and includes the complete run of Digger as a PDF. Just remember – if you get the packet, you […]

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