WorldCon Link Round-up (for those of us who didn't make it)

I didn't make it to WorldCon this year, for a host of reasons, not the least of which was the complete unwillingness of airlines to provide me with reasonable flight times. But, after reading all of these posts I'm linking here, I feel like I was there. (Not really, but it's SOMETHING!)

First up some news:

Cheryl Morgan updates on Hugo rules updates:

3. The raft of changes to the Fanzine and Semiprozine category were also ratified. An attempt by hardliners to exclude electronic fanzines was defeated (I keep hoping they’ll give up, but I may have to wait for them to die). The main result of these changes will be that Locus is no longer eligible in Semiprozine as it has full-time staff. Liza Groen Trombi is, of course, still eligible in Best Editor: Short Form.

It's nice to see that blogs will be able to continue eligibility. I still believe that over time blogs will largely replace the traditional FanZine. I'm curious about everyone's opinions on the YA category. Personally, I don't want to pull it out as its own, but I understand the argument and it holds some water.

Publisher's Weekly gives a news run down:

Harper Voyager is “actively seeking new authors with fresh voices, strong storytelling abilities, original ideas and compelling storylines” to submit manuscripts for consideration for a new digital-first line, Impulse. Submissions will be open for two weeks only, October 1–14, atwww.harpervoyagersubmissions.com. Distribution for accepted, published titles will be worldwide (world English rights). Executive Editor Diana Gill says they’re looking for “novels, novellas, short stories, interstitials.” Get those manuscripts polished up!

Interesting. Voyager has been way behind all the other big-six genre imprints. I'll be interested to see where this goes. Another cool point in there is that San Antonio WorldCon will be offering a Spanish language programming track.

Also Publisher's Weekly recounts the SFWA Business meeting:

[This post has been taken down and all comments have been hidden, as we erroneously reported on matters that were confidential. Many apologies from the management to SFWA and everyone else affected.]

File 770 breaks down some of the Hugo voting numbers:

However, there was nothing close about the final vote in the Best Fanzine category. SF Signal, the popular blog, started with a 137 vote lead over 2011 winner The Drink Tank and still led by 97 votes when all the traditional fanzines had been eliminated. In the last round SF Signal and The Drink Tank essentially split File 770’sremaining votes with a preference.

Couldn't be happier about this. SF Signal does great work and I'm pleased to see a blog recognized. I'll write more on this in the future.

Some journal style posts:

Kameron Hurley on Attending Conventions After a Long Absence:

I made a lot of mistakes, the chief one being not planning any meals or coffee dates or bar dates with anyone, which means I missed a lot of people. The other was not preparing better with opening salvo conversations for writers I did want to see and could have touched base with when I saw them across the convention hall if I actually had something I’d prepared to say beyond, “Oh, it’s YOU! It’s good to see you!” Because of this, I had a very Twitter-like con, where I felt like I was constantly babbling to people in 140 word chunks and then running off to find a beer or a book or a clue.

Jim Hines on not being a jerk: 

I do think sometimes we mistake the unintentional brush-off for deliberate dismissal. But speaking as an author and HUGO-AWARD WINNING BLOGGER (sorry - the squee is still slipping out occasionally), I also think it’s on me to be more aware of how easy it is to make someone feel blown off, and to try harder to avoid doing that.'

Howard Andrews Jones blow by every blow (long):

It wasn’t long ago that I’d arrive at a convention and be surrounded by strangers or literary luminaries I was too nervous to approach. When I turn up these days there are still a lot of strangers, but there are plenty of familiar faces as well. Before I’d even checked in I bumped into Tom Doyle, and shortly after registering my complaint with Patrick Rothfuss I was welcomed by Arin Komins and Rich Warren to their used books booth, Starfarer’s Dispatch.

Courtney Schafer talks about the Night Bazaar party with photos:

The Night Bazaar party was a hit - we must've had something like 100 books to give away between the lot of us. We stuck to last year's giveaway plan: "Eat a bug, get a book." Enough intrepid folks chowed down on cheddar crickets and sour cream-n-onion worms to carry off every single one of those books by the night's end. (Nobody was brave enough to try the scorpion taffy, though, to our amusement.)

Nick Mamatas goes bulletpoint style:

The first panel I was on was the poorly conceptualized "after the first two pages"—as if page three is some sort of endemic problem. There was also the issue of hookism, but most of the panelists were interested in pushing past the strictures of the panel and just discussing storytelling and such. At the end, we did get the one strange question:How many flashbacks should there be in a chapter? "Three to five," I said, but nobody in panel audiences ever gets the hint, so we were treated to an increasingly baroque summary of the audience member's first chapter, which features a character with two personalities, both of whom are suffering from memory loss, so of course there needs to be plenty of flashbacks, right? Right?

Sounds like WorldCon was a blast, but like the one last year in Reno, there were some complaints. Programming appears to have been a bit of a mess and, as always, WorldCon is so large that it's easy to completely miss the people you came to see. As someone who loves sitting down with 5 or 6 people and having deep conversations, WorldCon seems a bit counter intuitive.

I'm definitely planning to go next year in San Antonio. Anyone need a roommate?