Thread by @seananmcguire

All right, lovelies: voting for the 2018 Hugo Awards closes on July 31st. You can find an overview of the process here:

worldcon76.org/wsfs/hugos/hug…

Can I talk to you for a second?

Every year, without fail, someone comes up to me and says "this year's Hugo winners wouldn't have been my first choice." (Lest this sound like a humblebrag, this has still happened on the occasions where I won.)

I understand this sentiment! I...don't understand saying it to someone who was a finalist on the most recent ballot, so much, but hey, I really do understand it. Several of my favorite works of recent years have not gone home with a rocket ship.

There's a way, however, for anyone who currently belongs to WSFS, to fight this phenomenon.

It's called "voting."

Because see, even with the increased engagement by WSFS members in recent years--more people are voting for the Hugos than ever before--there are still people who COULD vote who DON'T vote.

That's okay! You don't HAVE to vote. But several of the people who have told me the wrong people won (and again, sometimes "the wrong people" have included, well, me) have followed it up with "I guess I should have voted."

As a current nominee, a hopefully future nominee, and someone who used to help organize Worldcons, I would love it if EVERYBODY voted. If when we compared the membership rolls and the Hugo vote counts, we got a 100% match.

Why?

Because then when I, or my favorites, DON'T win, I can genuinely say "this was the will of the people, the people had a preference, and by the gods, they stated it."

Some years, the margin between "win" and "lose" is so narrow that it feels like "well, dammit, I guess if we hadn't thrown that ice cream party and made a bunch of people sleep through the voting deadline, I woulda won."

So vote! Don't leave us in fear of badly-timed ice cream parties! A VOTE CAST IN THE HUGOS IS A VOTE FOR ICE CREAM!

And hey, cards on the table before someone says I'm being coy: yeah, I want to win. I'm up for Best Novella ("Down Among the Sticks and Bones") and Best Series (InCryptid).

Being nominated is and will always be an incredible honor. I am so grateful, and so touched, and could not be happier by this recognition of my work.

But winning in San Jose...San Jose in 2002 was the last Worldcon I worked. I remember staring at the Hugos with enough hunger to swallow the world. I remember that auditorium, the energy in the air, and I remember WANTING. Great Pumpkin, the WANTING. It comes in waves.

And selfishly, I want Best Series for my urban fantasy, which is a genre that shows its colors best at series-length, when there's time to really dig in and explore what the changes to our reality mean.

I'm so proud of InCryptid, of the small, cascading changes, and of the way my candy-colored heart of darkness has managed to trick so many people into picking up something "fluffy and light" that turns out to be neither.

So yeah. I want it. I make no bones about that. But even more, I want everyone who CAN vote to make sure they DO vote. Win or lose, I want to know the people have spoken.

So speak up. We don't know what you want unless you do.

Vote. And whether I win or lose...thank you for the honor. Thank you for putting me on the ballot.

I won't forget it.