I had an excellent time at Worldcon this year. We got a chunk of Writing Excuses episodes recorded, and I was able to hang out with a number of friends I hadn’t seen in a while. On top of that, I felt that the panels went well, even if they were a little crowded in the rooms. (Apologies to any of you who might not have been able to get in.)

The Hugo Awards ceremony was a delight. We didn’t win the Best Series award, but to be honest, at only three books into the Stormlight series it might have been a little preemptive to give it any awards. We’ll see how things go as the series progresses. Many congrats to Lois McMaster Bujold (the winner), who is a favorite around the Dragonsteel offices. She’s a fantastic writer, well worthy of the award.

Oathbringer still has one shot at an award, the Dragon Award, given out at Dragon Con. This is a newer award, one I’m not as familiar with, but man…the award itself is gorgeous. (Seriously, you guys should go have a look at the thing.)

This, like the Gemmell, is a fan-voted award. So if you feel inclined to vote for Oathbringer, you can sign up at the form on this website. They’ll send you a ballot to fill out, though you need to do this before the end of August to vote. The award does seem to be getting some traction, so maybe give it some attention!

As always, however, I strongly urge you to be a thoughtful voter when it comes to awards. Don’t vote for Oathbringer just because I wrote it—only do so if you think this book, in specific, deserves the award. And there are some other excellent nominees, so if you enjoyed one of those more, then vote for it!

Hey, all. It’s awards nomination season again!

As is tradition, I’d like to do a quick post highlighting what I have that is eligible for the various awards in sf/f. As always, I request that you nominate based on work, not author. If you are eligible to nominate, and truly think one of the works below is among the best you read this year, I’d love to have your vote.

Nominations for the Hugo Awards are now open. In order to nominate you need to have already been a Worldcon member (Helsinki, San Jose, or Dublin) as of December 31st, but members who join this year’s convention anytime may vote on the final ballot once it’s available.

Here’s what I have eligible in what category:

Best Novella:
Snapshot

Best Novel:
Oathbringer

Best Related Work:
Writing Excuses Season 12

Best Series:
The Stormlight Archive

As usual, I tend to highlight one of my releases. This year, to no surprise, I’d like to focus on Oathbringer and the Stormlight Archive. I feel that the Stormlight Archive has a good shot at a Best Series Hugo—it is my best work, and the previous volume missed a nomination by a fairly small margin of votes. I feel the series does interesting things with worldbuilding and narrative that Hugo voters would consider valuable to the fantasy genre as a whole.

If you’re eligible to nominate for the Hugo Awards, but haven’t read any of the Stormlight Archive, I’d be happy to provide a review copy of the first book to you for your consideration. The Hugo Awards nomination deadline is March 16th.

Other awards this year of interest, with who can nominate (and any notes on categories for the above works), are below. As always, the best reward for a novelist is the fact that people are reading the novels—and I don’t stress awards season very much. But I do like what these awards do for the community, and find it important to support them and fandom in general as it works to highlight our genres and the best they can provide.

• Nebula Award
  • Members of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America can nominate by February 15th.
• World Fantasy Awards
  • Members of the World Fantasy conventions can send eligible works to the panel of judges before June 1st.
• David Gemmell Legend Award
  • Nominations are now closed. Voting on the long list of nominees opens to the public on February 16th, with final public voting beginning on April 20th.
  • The Legend Award is for novels. The Ravenheart Award is for novel cover illustrations.
• Dragon Awards
  • Nominations are open to the public now through June 20th, with final public voting beginning on August 1st.
  • Oathbringer is eligible for Best Fantasy Novel. (I recommend nominations go there rather than in Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel; you can’t nominate it in two categories.)
  • White Sand Volume 1 is eligible for Best Graphic Novel.