You can also sign up to be a member of Worldcon 2019 and nominate works for consideration. A supporting membership only costs €40. Generally ....but not always... finalists offer copies (or at least samples) of their nominated works to members. And of course, members of Worldcon also get to vote next summer when the finalists are announced in April/May.
As I didn't read any books that were published in 2018, I couldn't properly nominate in that category. I did nominate the works below. There might be one or two additions, but this is pretty much my nominations for this year.
Short Story:
Hither and Yon by Stephen S Power
Published at dailysciencefiction.com
For Your Own Good by Rebekah Mabry
Published at dailysciencefiction.com
Graphic Story:
Skybourne by Frank Cho and Marcio Menyz
Boom Studios - publisher
Redlands Vol. 1 by Jordie Bellaire and Vanesa Del Rey
Image Comics - publisher
[I might have nominated the new graphic novel series Die, but only one issue came out in 2018. I expect that Volume 1 will come out in 2019. It is well worth your time.]
Editor Short:
Adrian Collins - His anthology Evil is a Matter of Perspective was fabulous.
Fancast:
- SinCast by Cinema Sins - https://cinemasins.com/sincast
The guys at Cinema Sins are serious cinephiles. Their SinCast is devoted to a serious review of movies. All (or almost all) of the hosts have worked in movie theaters as projectionists, managers, etc. So they had a chance early in their lives to watch a lot of movies. VHS, DVD, and Bluray have made that love of movies easier to pursue. The guys are very genre friendly when it comes to being open to accepting genre films as being worthy of recognition.
- The Disney Story Origins Podcast -http://www.disneystoryoriginspodcast.com/
The DSO Podcast is the love project of author Paul J. Hale. Paul breaks down the original stories that form the basis for Disney's animated movies. He compares the original text with the Disney-fied tale. He is not critical of Disneyfication. Paul's objective is a better understanding and illumination of the original material that was eventually used as the basis for Disney movies. His podcasts demonstrate a breadth and depth of research that is unsurpassed.
- The Post Atomic Horror - https://postatomichorror.wordpress.com/
The Post Atomic Horror podcast is the most accomplished Star Trek podcast in existence. They have reviewed every televised episode of Star Trek from all of the various iterations. They have reviewed all of the movies. They have reviewed the games. They have seen it all.
Each episode features a somewhat farcical summary of the episode in question followed by a more serious discussion of the events that transpired. Their personal knowledge aside, they also access a variety of resources (in print and online) to provide a deeper understanding of the franchise.
- The Horror Show with Brian Keene - http://thehorrorshowbk.projectentertainment.libsynpro.com/
The Horror Show is a tour de force within the horror sub-genre. The hosts cover a broad range of issues and perspectives. They provide probing interviews of authors with a range of experiences. They report on industry news across the gamut including copyright infringement, scams, and harassment.
- The Grim Tidings Podcast - https://thegrimtidingspodcast.com/
The Grim Tidings focuses on the "grimdark" subgenre. They interview authors, publishers, and agents in the field. Interviews with authors routinely include "games" designed to provoke spontaneous creativity. (i.e. rolling up a D&D character based on the author's novel(s). Sadly GTP has ended. But their work last year was among their best. This is a hidden gem of a podcast that is worthy of consideration. Co-host Philip Overby may be coming out with a new podcast in the coming months.
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It is my hope that my nominations will increase the diversity of finalists. It would be nice to see some new faces end up as finalists. In recent years, there has been a trend towards repeat nominations for creators. The graphic novel category has had a few "frequent flyers". The fancasting category has become downright repetitive. The novel category has also become somewhat repetitive favoring series entries from more known authors.
It is useful to keep in mind that there are lots of different methods for discovering new and interesting works. If a category becomes too repetitive, then it is probably missing out on a fresh perspective within the genre.
