The short story is a wonderful prose form. It is good for readers with limited time. It permits tight, creative stories. It is good for ideas and characters that do not necessarily require a novel to portray. For all of these reasons, I believe it is a particularly good form for the science-fiction genre, which is widely considered to be a genre of ideas.
So it seemed quite a shame in 2013, when there were only three, instead of the usual five, Hugo Award nominations in the category of short story—not that the nominees weren’t qualified. Those three stories were excellent. But I would have liked more.
The shame was even greater to the extent that the reason only three nominees were presented was because there were not enough nominations in the category to permit the selection of the usual five (sometimes six) nominees in the category.
Anyone that is a member of the World Science Fiction society can nominate short stories for a Hugo Award and anyone can become a World Science Fiction Society member by purchasing a membership in the current World Science Fiction Convention—this year, Loncon 3. The minimum cost for a member (not including the infant price) is US$40 through February 28, 2014 for a “Supporting Membership,” which has all the benefits of regular membership except a pass to attend the convention in person.
So let’s see the nominations of short stories swell this year to unparalleled proportion. If you are a science fiction fan or writer, and can afford the freight of a membership, join the WSFS by becoming a member of Loncon 3 or Sasquan (and if you can’t afford it, then skip joining, but please recommend stories here), find one or more short stories in SF or F that were published in 2013 (either from a print magazine of which there are a number, or online—in fact there are any online magazines that are free to read), and (1) nominate them, and (2) use the LEAVE A REPLY feature on this page to suggest to others that they consider the story(ies) for Hugo Award nomination.
The eligibility requirements for a 2014 Hugo Award short story nomination can be found HERE.
Here are also a few links to other sites where Hugo Award eligible works are discussed, although not necessarily limited to just short stories.
Related articles
- The 2014 Award Consideration Post (whatever.scalzi.com)
- Hugo award nominations are open (boingboing.net)
- Nominate My Story (jcconway.com)
- Awards Eligibility (paulcornell.com)
- Obligatory Awards Awareness Post (seldnei.wordpress.com)
- The Hugo Award Nomination Window is Now Open (whatever.scalzi.com)
- Tor.com’s Hugo and Nebula-Eligible Fiction from 2013 (tor.com)
- Could The Wheel of Time Win a Hugo Award? (tor.com)
- Adam Roberts on SF/F Award Awareness Posts (whatever.scalzi.com)
- Works eligible for science fiction awards (boingboing.net)
J. C. Conway 
Best Short Story: Awarded for science fiction or fantasy story of less than seven thousand five hundred (7,500) words.(From http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-categories/)
Some free places I know of to look online for Hogo eligible short stories:
http://www.loreleisignal.com/
https://sites.google.com/a/newmyths.com/nmwebsite/home
http://www.perihelionsf.com/
http://www.untiedshoelacesofthemind.com/
http://hogglepot.com/index.php
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/
http://www.fartherstars.com/
http://staticmovement.com/
http://365tomorrows.com/
Excellent post, John! Great to see Farther Stars Than These Magazine on there as well. We published quite a few writers I’m proud of on FSTTM during the year of 2013, so I’d nominate them all, if I could!
Also, Thunderune Publishing released Nick Keller’s sci-fi novellette Void Touchers in January of 2013: http://www.thunderune.com/2013/01/void-touchers.html
And I, of course, released quite a few full length sci-fi novels myself! Check out:
Dark Salvage: http://www.thunderune.com/2013/02/dark-salvage.html
Like Oceans of Liquid Skin: http://www.thunderune.com/2013/06/like-oceans-of-liquid-skin.html
And Pink Carbide: Oxide Overture: http://www.thunderune.com/2014/01/pink-carbide-oxide-overture.html
Other than that, looks like you’ve got all of my favorite sci-fi short magazines listed already! 🙂
Excellent post, John! Great to see Farther Stars Than These Magazine on there as well. We published quite a few writers I’m proud of on FSTTM during the year of 2013, so I’d nominate them all, if I could!
Also, Thunderune Publishing released Nick Keller’s sci-fi novellette Void Touchers in January of 2013: http://www.thunderune.com/2013/01/void-touchers.html
And I, of course, released quite a few full length sci-fi novels myself! Check out:
Dark Salvage: http://www.thunderune.com/2013/02/dark-salvage.html
Like Oceans of Liquid Skin: http://www.thunderune.com/2013/06/like-oceans-of-liquid-skin.html
And Pink Carbide: Oxide Overture: http://www.thunderune.com/2014/01/pink-carbide-oxide-overture.html
Other than that, looks like you’ve got all of my favorite sci-fi short magazine
Reblogged this on E.S. Wynn's Other Blog.
Thanks. Yes, you have some real gems.
Please consider these short stories:
Daddy’s Little Girl — http://www.loreleisignal.com/LittleGirl.html
Elinda was home alone waiting for a stranger she had met on the internet. It was her first time having someone over and what could go wrong with someone who called himself “sukyurblud20?
The Circular Nature of Time — http://www.loreleisignal.com/Circular.html
After 900 years of research a clone becomes fascinated with a group of natural humans who may be going extinct.
The Lost Planet — http://www.loreleisignal.com/LostPlanet.html
Kit gets more than she bargained for when her starcruiser is drawn into orbit around the lost planet of Stakis Ventura, where she finally learns the secret behind its mysterious disappearance.
Love, Death and Overlapping Bosonic Singularities — http://www.loreleisignal.com/BSingularities.html
Trapped in the fractured throws of a boson-vault experiment gone wrong, Amy Budge struggles to
return the universe to its proper state. But when the big question hits—whether “proper” is the way to go—is she ready?
Thank you so much for the link above, but I should point out that “The Drowned Man” is actually eligible in the novelette category, as it’s over 7,500 words. I definitely appreciate the support, though!
Laura: You are very welcome. “The Drowned Man,” is a wonderful story published at Beneath Ceaseless Skies (http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/the-drowned-man/) that WSFS members should consider for the Novelette category.
Actually, what has most likely happened is *not* a lack of nominations, but a lack of consensus. The Hugo awards require that any single nominee have at least 5% of the total nominations for the category to be added. What has most likely happened is that far too many short stories were nominated and only three had the requisite 5% of the total — that’s a lot different than the assumed lack of nominations.