2014 Hugo Nominees Incoming: Criteria and Notes

A lot of folks have been sharing their nominees.  I’m going to do the same, but woefully late, such that all the information I’ll provide will be completely useless to you in the end.  After all, you won’t have time to read any of the books I nominate.  Oh well!

In any case, I do have criteria and notes to preface these selections:

1. You may disagree with my selections, but I hope readers of this blog will understand that they are a reflection of a) what I was able to read/view/etc. from last year, and b) my personal taste.  There are enormous gaps in my reading.  However, if I missed a truly exceptional work, please share it with me!
2. I will only nominate works that I believe were “the best.”  I don’t care how popular a book was in 2013; if it is not as good as a book that sold 1/100th the number of copies, then it will not get a nomination.  I believe the Hugos are an award to celebrate the best, not the most popular.
3. Some of my sections will contain empty slots for various reasons, but the most obvious will be this:  I can only think of X number of things to nominate.  As I’ve noted above, I will only nominate works I consider to be “the best.”  If I liked a work, but I don’t think it’s award worthy, then it’s not getting a nomination.  In some cases, however, I may not have enough to nominate in a category.  As such, you’re free to suggest something (there isn’t much time, obviously, but I still appreciate the gesture).

   Some categories may be quite empty, such as fan artist.  Why?  Because I don’t follow that particular field and haven’t the foggiest what I should select anyway.  And I really don’t have the time to go through the Internet looking, either…

4. There will be no pissing and moaning about what others are nominating in the upcoming posts on this subject.  I’m sure I disagree with what others have on their ballots, but I’m really not interested in pissing all over other people’s personal tastes this week.  That’s for later (not really :P).