Category: 2009 Hugo Nominees

2009 Semiprozine Hugo Results

- Neil Clarke

Final Results of the 2009 Best Semiprozine Hugo Award

1. Weird Tales
2. The New York Review of Science Fiction
3. Interzone
4. Locus
5. Clarkesworld Magazine

*source: http://www.thehugoawards.org/content/pdf/2009%20Final%20Ballot.pdf

Results from the original nominations used to make the final ballot:

1. Interzone 82
2. Locus 74
3. Weird Tales 70
4. New York Review of Science Fiction 66
5. Clarkesworld 55
6. Ansible 43
7. Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet 38
8. On Spec 35
9. Neo Opsis 17
10. Strange Horizons 16
11. Internet Review of Science Fiction 16
12. Abyss & Apex 12
13. Postscripts 9
14. Shimmer 9
15. Electric Velocipede 8  *** Nominated for Best Fanzine and won
16. Talebones 7
17. Andromeda Spaceways In-Flight Magazine 7
18. Subterranean 6
19. Shadow Unit 6
20. Helix 5
21. Fantasy Magazine 5

* source: http://www.thehugoawards.org/content/pdf/2009%20Nominations.pdf

Locus Magazine

- Neil Clarke

locusmagEstablished: 1968
Editors: Charles N. Brown (editor-in-chief), Liza Groen Trombi (executive editor), Kirsten Gong-Wong (managing editor). Also, Carolyn Cushman (senior editor), Tim Pratt (senior editor), Amelia Beamer (editor), Jonathan Strahan (reviews editor), Mark Kelly (electronic editor-in-chief), Francesca Myman (assistant editor).

Overview :
Locus Magazine, covering the SF field since 1968, is a full-size, monthly glossy-cover magazine which publishes news of science fiction, fantasy, and horror publishing; author interviews; extensive reviews; and listings of new SF books and magazines.

Contents include:

  • News about the science fiction, fantasy, and horror publishing field, with stories about publishers, awards, and conferences in sections called The Data File, People & Publishing (rights sold, books sold, books resold, books delivered, publishing news, promotions, people news and photos about vacations, weddings, and births), and Obituaries
  • Interviews with well-known and up-and-coming writers (and sometimes editors and artists), usually 2 per issue
  • Reviews of new and forthcoming books, usually 20-25 per issue, by notable SF critics including Gary K. Wolfe, Faren Miller, Russell Letson, Paul Witcover, Adrienne Martini, and Carolyn Cushman, plus short fiction reviews by Gardner Dozois and Rich Horton
  • Reports from around the world about the SF scenes in various countries
  • Listings of US and UK books and magazines published (monthly), bestsellers (monthly), and Forthcoming Books (every 3 months)
  • Convention Reports, with lots of photos
  • Annual year-in-review coverage, with extensive recommended reading lists, summaries, and the annual Locus Poll and Survey

Awards and Recognition:
29 Hugo Awards

Other Items of Interest:
Locus Awards; co-sponsors Science Fiction Awards Weekend with SF Hall of Fame in Seattle

Website:
www.locusmag.com

Information provided by Charles N. Brown.

Clarkesworld Magazine

- Markets 2 Comments

clarkesworldEstablished: 2006
Editors: Neil Clarke (fiction), Sean Wallace (fiction), Cheryl Morgan (non-fiction)

Overview:
Clarkesworld Magazine is a free online magazine that publishes a healthy balance of fiction from both up-and-coming and established authors like Jeff VanderMeer, Elizabeth Bear, Caitlin Kiernan, Jay Lake, Catherynne M. Valente, Ken Scholes, and Mary Robinette Kowal. Each month, we also produce audio fiction which can be found directly on our site or available for free download through iTunes. In his summary of Clarkesworld in The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Gardner Dozois describes our taste in fiction as “stylishy written and usually faintly perverse.”

Our non-fiction is split between interviews with authors and artists like Gene Wolfe, Steven Erikson, Kage Baker, John Picacio and Margo Lanagan, and articles on science, art, or literature. We’re also quite proud to be able to feature the works of new artists as a virtual cover to each issue.

Awards and Recognition:
Nominee: 2009 Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine.
2006 Million Writers Award for Best New Online Magazine.
2006 Million Writers Award for Best Short Story.
Stories reprinted in The Year’s Best Science Fiction, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Fantasy Best of the Year, Unplugged, Wilde Stories 2008: The Best of the Year’s Gay Speculative Fiction, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, and Horror Best of the Year.
Stories appearing on the recommended reading/honorable mention lists in The Year’s Best Science Fiction, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Unplugged, the Locus Magazine Recommended Reading List, Nebula Awards Short Story Long List, and the Million Writers Notable Stories List.
A complete list with links to winning, recommended, and nominated stories is available here.

Other Items of Interest:
In an attempt to reach a broader audience and fund the free edition, all the original fiction in Clarkesworld is collected annually in a print anthology series called Realms. Volume 1 is currently available and volume 2 is scheduled for release this summer.

Website:
www.clarkesworldmagazine.com

Information provided by Neil Clarke.

Interzone

- Markets

interzoneEstablished: 1982
Editor: Andy Cox
Co-fiction Editors: Andy Hedgecock, Dave Mathew
Book Reviews Editor: Jim Steel

Overview:
Britain’s longest running science fiction magazine, published bimonthly (in alternate months with Black Static). New stories of science fiction and fantasy, highly illustrated, with lots of regular features including David Langford’s Ansible Link (news), Nick Lowe’s Mutant Popcorn (film reviews), Tony Lee’s Laser Fodder (DVD/BD reviews), book reviews and interviews. Widely considered to be one of the most daring sf magazines and renowned for helping launch the careers of many well-known and becoming well known authors. Comes in second a lot in the Hugo Semiprozine category. 🙂

Awards and Recognition:
British Fantasy Award, Hugo Award, a great many awards and reprints for individual contents.

Other Items of Interest:
Interzone sponsors the annual James White Award for new authors and publishes the winner; biweekly free podcast of stories selected from Interzone (and other TTA Press magazines Black Static and Crimewave); increasing amount of website exclusive content; annual Interzone Readers’ Poll

Website:
ttapress.com/interzone

Information provided by Andy Cox.

New York Review of Science Fiction (NYRSF)

- Markets

nyrsf1Established: 1988
Editors: Kathryn Cramer, Kris Dikeman, David G. Hartwell, & Kevin J. Maroney

Overview:
NYRSF is a monthly 24-page magazine of book reviews and criticism covering the science fiction and fantasy field published by Dragon Press, and run by an all-volunteer staff. The New York Review of Science Fiction was founded in 1988 by a group of people who were at that time the editorial staff of the Little Magazine. They included David G. Hartwell, the publisher of the magazine, who had been a founder of the Little Magazine (then known as The Quest, edited and published by Alexis Levitin) twenty-two years before, in 1965. Others were Samuel R. Delany, at whose Manhattan apartment meetings were held weekly, Kathryn Cramer, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, and Susan Palwick were the editorial board, and Tom Weber (who resigned at the first issue) and Greg Cox (his replacement, the first one not from the Little Magazine) were staff. Patrick Nielsen Hayden designed the magazine, and the look and feel has remained
substantially the same since the first issue.

Contributors to the magazine have included Brian Aldiss, Eleanor Arneson, Brian Attebery,  Gregory Benford, Michael Bishop, Jenny Blackford, Russell Blackford, Damien Broderick, John Clute, F. Brett Cox, L. W. Currey, Samuel R. Delany, Candas Jane Dorsey, David Drake, L. Timmel Duchamp, Andy Duncan, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Joan Gordon, Howard V. Hendrix, Gwyneth Jones, Michael Kandel, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, David Langford, Justin Larbastier, Rob Latham, Jonathan Lethem, Richard A. Lupoff, James Morrow, Larry Niven, Patrick O’Leary, Rebecca Ore, Alexei Panshin, Daniel Pinkwater, Charles Platt, Frederik Pohl, Rachel Pollack, Paul Preuss, Kit Reed, Bruce Holland Rogers, Rudy Rucker, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Darrell Schweitzer, Deliah Sherman, Tom Shippey, Graham Sleight, Brian Stableford, Michael Swanwick, Jean-Louis Trudel, Alice K. Turner, Jeff VanderMeer, Ian Watson, Don Webb, Janine Webb, Gene Wolfe, Zoran Zivkovic, and many others.

Awards and Recognition:
NYRSF is a winner of the Readercon Small Press Award; NYRSF been nominated for the Hugo Award every year of its publication since 1989.

Other Items of Interest:
For 19 years, there has been a reading series associated with NYRSF: The New York Review of Science Fiction Reading Series has showcased some of the most prominent and upcoming authors in the genre. However, the series’ commitment to providing a venue as an ongoing science fiction reading series in New York City, is open to all works of speculative fiction, whether they be works of fantasy, magical realism, horror, or science fiction. The range of writers who have participated in the series speaks of not only of its diversity, but its quality as well. Jonathan Carroll, Susanna Clarke, Samuel R.
Delany, Ellen Kushner, Ursula K. Le Guin, Jonathan Lethem, Patricia A. McKillip, Walter Mosley, Naomi Novik, and Peter Straub are among the authors who have participated. The reading series typically showcases two authors, once a month.

Website:
www.nyrsf.com

Information provided by Kathryn Cramer.

Weird Tales

- Markets

weirdtalesEstablished: Originally founded in 1923; relaunched spring 1988.
Editors: Stephen H. Segal (editorial director), Ann VanderMeer (fiction editor)

Overview:
Weird Tales has enjoyed a devoted following for many decades as the very first magazine of strange fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Founded in 1923, the pioneering publication introduced the world to such counter-culture icons as Cthulhu the alien monster god and Conan the Barbarian. Weird Tales is well known for launching the careers of great authors like H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, and Robert E. Howard — heck, Tennessee Williams made his first sale here! — not to mention legendary fantasy artists like Virgil Finlay and Margaret Brundage. The magazine’s influence extends through countless areas of pop culture: fiction, certainly, but also rock music, goth style, comic books, gaming… even Stephen King has called Weird Tales a major inspiration.

After the original Weird Tales operation folded in 1954, there were several brief attempts to revive it during the ’60s and ’70s before the resurrection finally achieved full-fledged afterlife as a small-press magazine in 1988. Over the past twenty years, the magazine has featured works by such modern masters as Tanith Lee, Gene Wolfe, Michael Moorcock, Ramsey Campbell, Thomas Ligotti, and more. Today, Weird Tales has recommitted to its original mission — to publish brilliantly strange material that can’t be found elsewhere — even while bringing its unique aesthetics fully into the 21st century. In print and online, we look forward to introducing a new generation of writers, artists, and other storytellers who lure unwary readers into the shadowy places between dream and reality…

Awards and Recognition:
World Fantasy Award 1992: Special Achievement/Professional, editors Scithers & Schweitzer.
Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror: many Honorable Mentions over the years.
“Bufo Rex” by Erik Amundsen, WT, #347 was selected for Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2008 and Best American Fantasy 2008.
“The Difficulties of Evolution” by Karen Heuler, WT, #350 was selected for Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2009.
Current 2009 nomination — Hugo Award, Best Semiprozine, editors VanderMeer & Segal.
Current 2009 nomination — Prix Aurora: “All In” by Peter Atwood, WT #351.

Other Items of Interest:
Weird Tales has an active website that publishes original material ranging from fiction (web exclusives as well as print selections) to artwork (e.g. Steven Archer’s year-long Lovecraft series “365 Days of Blasphemous Horrors”) to nonfiction (assorted blog mini-series like the recent two-week-long Sandman 20th-anniversary retrospective). 2008 saw our debut Spam Fiction Contest, wherein writers turned email spam headlines into weird flash fiction. Learn more at our “2008 year in review” web page.

Website:
www.weirdtalesmagazine.com

Information provided by Stephen H. Segal.

2009 Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine Nominees

- Markets

hugoThis week, we’re going to feature the 2009 Hugo Award Nominees for Best Semiprozine.

Best Semiprozine

The semiprozine category received 283 ballots, which is more ballots than Best Related Book, Best Graphic Story, Best Editor (long form), Best Fanzine, and Best Fan Artist received. It only received 5 fewer ballots than the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.