tiredIt has become customary in recent years for authors of Hugo-nominated works to provide the members of the World Science Fiction convention who get to vote for the awards with electronic copies of their stories. The ball started rolling a few years ago when John Scalzi kindly took the initiative in preparing the first Hugo voters packet; since then it has become almost mandatory to distribute shortlisted works this way.
Unfortunately, as professionally published authors, we can't do this without obtaining the consent of our publishers. We are bound by contracts that give our publishers the exclusive rights to distribute our books: so we sought their permission first.
This year, Orbit—the publisher of Mira Grant's Parasite, Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice, and Charles Stross's Neptune's Brood—have decided that for policy reasons they can't permit the shortlisted novels to be distributed for free in their entirety. Instead, substantial extracts from the books will be included in the Hugo voters packet.
We feel your disappointment keenly and regret any misunderstandings that may have arisen about the availability of our work to Hugo voters, but we are bound by the terms of our publishing contracts. The decision to give away free copies of our novels is simply not ours to take. However, we are discussing the matter with other interested parties, and working towards finding a solution that will satisfy the needs of the WSFS voters and our publishers in future years.
Finally, please do not pester our editors: the decision was taken above their level. Don't pester anyone else, either. The issue is closed.
Signed,
(Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire), Ann Leckie, Charles Stross)
May 14 2014, 06:36:31 UTC 3 years ago
So how can Hugo voters vote on Best Book if, for some of the nominated works, they cannot read the entire book? It seems as though Orbit don't want to give their authors a fair chance of winning, and that is a shame. I hope they reconsider.
May 14 2014, 16:15:45 UTC 3 years ago
Please understand, I do not support this decision. Like, really don't. I've been in the packet for the last three years, I like being in the packet, and I didn't want the internet dropped on my head yet again this year. But.
The Academy Awards are voted by the Academy, which has a limited membership, more akin to the Nebulas than the Hugos, which are more People's Choice or Billboard Music Awards (neither of which gives free material to their voting public). Not only that, the members of the Academy receive watermarked screeners, so that any piracy can be tracked down and punished, and many of them admit that they don't watch everything.
In this case, the Hugo voters are "people with a membership to a con; the membership is unlimited, and everyone in the world could potentially buy one (even if they won't)" Not only that, but X number must have already read the book, to have nominated it, which proves that these are potential customers. The Voter's Packet is a new beast, less than a decade old, created to increase awareness and interest. It's not an obligation. Publishers sign nothing saying "yeah, go for it." We go to them every year, hats in hand, and ask. In this case, a UK publisher looked at a UK con that's on track to be the largest Worldcon in decades, and said "uh, no, that is the same number of people as your last book's sales."
I still think they're wrong; I still think the Voter's Packet is the way to go. But I also thing this reaction of entitlement and "there is no possible way we could possibly acquire the books through any legal means" is part of why they made this choice. (And no, I am not saying you must must must buy my books. Just that, for most people, a healthy sample is enough to hit "like it" or "hate it," and once at "like it," there are ebooks, and in the UK, paperbacks, if you care enough to want to finish.)
May 16 2014, 15:05:22 UTC 3 years ago
Again, not blaming you, it's all the publisher, so please don't take this as anything against you. It's just that this change, if adopted by all the publishers, really can kneecap the award process.
I didn't know the packets were recent though, I only became a member about 7 years ago. Must have been a real pita to figure out who to vote for before the packets.