The Hugos are Here! THE HUGOs ARE HERE!!!!!!!

[jrderego]

THE HUGOS ARE HERE!!!!!!!

My favorite time of year at Escape Pod

[Darwinist]

Hooray!   And this week's closing music is a cool song from Escape Pod past : The Fall by Red Hunter.  Freaking brilliant! 

[Russell Nash]

The Hugos are here??  Really??

[AarrowOM]

It's a shame that Stephen Baxter turned down Escape Pod.     He's one of my favorite authors.

[DKT]

It's a shame that Stephen Baxter turned down Escape Pod.     He's one of my favorite authors.

If it makes you feel better, Neil Gaiman did the same thing last year.  I just can't figure out why people do it.  EP gets so many listeners, why would you not do it?  (Gaiman had an audio version of his story up, that he read himself, which was killer, but still, what could it hurt?)

One of these days, EP going to get all the Hugo stories.  I. Just. Know. It.

[eytanz]

It's a shame that Stephen Baxter turned down Escape Pod.     He's one of my favorite authors.

If it makes you feel better, Neil Gaiman did the same thing last year.  I just can't figure out why people do it.  EP gets so many listeners, why would you not do it?  (Gaiman had an audio version of his story up, that he read himself, which was killer, but still, what could it hurt?)

This is only conjecture, but the hugo nominations came out very shortly after the audiobook version of Fragile Things came out, so I always thought that it's not so much that Gaiman said no, as that he didn't own the audio distribution rights. He could probably persuade his publishers to allow an excerpt from the audiobook to be released for free, but allowing a different company to make a second recording would probably have been too much for them.

We'll probably have to wait and see if Steve (or Gaiman) will let us know whether that is correct or not.

[SFEley]

This is only conjecture, but the hugo nominations came out very shortly after the audiobook version of Fragile Things came out, so I always thought that it's not so much that Gaiman said no, as that he didn't own the audio distribution rights. He could probably persuade his publishers to allow an excerpt from the audiobook to be released for free, but allowing a different company to make a second recording would probably have been too much for them.

Your conjecture is close to correct.  To be specific, I contacted Gaiman's agent, who referred me to his publisher, who held the audio rights on that story.  The publisher was actually willing to let us run the story -- for one year, after which point we'd have to renew rights with them or pull it from our archives.

I will never distribute a story on any terms other than Creative Commons, so this was a deal-breaker for me.  As was pointed out, the audio was already available for free on Gaiman's site, so the world didn't miss much by not having it here.

BTW, it was a similar story in 2006, with Margo Lanagan's "Singing My Sister Down."  Margo was very happy to say yes for her part, but her publisher in Australia had the audio rights, and they never returned my e-mail.  It seems that every year we get 4 out of 5, but please don't blame the authors the last couple of years.

(In fact, now that I think about it, Stephen Baxter is the first author who's ever turned down an offer we've made.)

[Darwinist]

(In fact, now that I think about it, Stephen Baxter is the first author who's ever turned down an offer we've made.)

That's disappointing.  Like I mentioned before, he's one of my favorite authors.  I wonder why he turned it down. What harm could be done exposing your story to thousands via and audio podcast?   

[wintermute]

Some authors think that if you didn't pay to read/listen to their work, then you're a thief and a pirate. One has t wonder if these authors are aware of the existence of libraries.

Is Baxter in this camp? I have no idea. Honestly, I suspect not but I can't find any evidence one way of the other with a 5-minute Google search. But it's the first reason that comes to mind.

Unless Mr Eley punched Mr Baxter in the face and stole his girlfriend when they were youthlings?

[davedoty]

Interesting.  I had thought that maybe Gaiman turned it down because he wanted to read it himself, against Escape Pod's traditional policy.  Out of curiosity:  would an exception be made for something like this, if an author did make that request?

[eytanz]

I don't know why Baxter refused to give permission, and it's pointless to speculate. If you want to read the story, though, you can (I considered not posting the link, but figured that that would be petty).

It's a real shame, because even though I liked the three stories I heard on EP, I think Baxter's story is my favorite so far.

[DKT]

This is only conjecture, but the hugo nominations came out very shortly after the audiobook version of Fragile Things came out, so I always thought that it's not so much that Gaiman said no, as that he didn't own the audio distribution rights. He could probably persuade his publishers to allow an excerpt from the audiobook to be released for free, but allowing a different company to make a second recording would probably have been too much for them.

Your conjecture is close to correct.  To be specific, I contacted Gaiman's agent, who referred me to his publisher, who held the audio rights on that story.  The publisher was actually willing to let us run the story -- for one year, after which point we'd have to renew rights with them or pull it from our archives.

I will never distribute a story on any terms other than Creative Commons, so this was a deal-breaker for me.  As was pointed out, the audio was already available for free on Gaiman's site, so the world didn't miss much by not having it here.

BTW, it was a similar story in 2006, with Margo Lanagan's "Singing My Sister Down."  Margo was very happy to say yes for her part, but her publisher in Australia had the audio rights, and they never returned my e-mail.  It seems that every year we get 4 out of 5, but please don't blame the authors the last couple of years.

(In fact, now that I think about it, Stephen Baxter is the first author who's ever turned down an offer we've made.)

Thanks so much for clearing that up, Steve.  I was never sure before and I remember being really bummed that Gaiman's story didn't run, although you made it clear that you couldn't get the rights.  Lame Harper Collins.  I'd much rather be frustrated with Harper Collins than Gaiman, so it works doubly well.

And thanks for the story link, eytanz.  I'll check it out...

[Tango Alpha Delta]

A couple trio of things:

*Do you think Mr. Gaiman would be willing to read another story to us?  That would be seriously chill-tastic; and maybe he'd be willing to offer an original story that hasn't got any complicating issues attached to it?

*I wouldn't suggest harrassing Mr. Baxter about his choice; he's got a right to handle his business as he sees fit, of course.  I would suggest that if you're going to write to him anyway, perhaps you could muse about how cool it is that EP is basically paying authors for the privilege of promoting their body of work...

*Personally, I'm looking forward to the day when an EP "original" story is nominated for a Hugo.  Now *THAT* would be a real coup, doncha think?

[DKT]

*Personally, I'm looking forward to the day when an EP "original" story is nominated for a Hugo.  Now *THAT* would be a real coup, doncha think?

It's gonna happen one day.  I know it is

[Windup]

*Personally, I'm looking forward to the day when an EP "original" story is nominated for a Hugo.  Now *THAT* would be a real coup, doncha think?

It's gonna happen one day.  I know it is

Given Steve's note in Metachat #3 that EP is the second largest SF market, I'd say there's a very good chance you're right about that. 

[Russell Nash]

*Personally, I'm looking forward to the day when an EP "original" story is nominated for a Hugo.  Now *THAT* would be a real coup, doncha think?

It's gonna happen one day.  I know it is

Given Steve's note in Metachat #3 that EP is the second largest SF market, I'd say there's a very good chance you're right about that. 

We've had one of our folks talk about the nominators at Wolrdcon before (Wakela??).  He said they were a bit behind the times.  If they don't understand podcasts, it could be a long wait.

[Tango Alpha Delta]

*Personally, I'm looking forward to the day when an EP "original" story is nominated for a Hugo.  Now *THAT* would be a real coup, doncha think?

It's gonna happen one day.  I know it is

Given Steve's note in Metachat #3 that EP is the second largest SF market, I'd say there's a very good chance you're right about that. 

We've had one of our folks talk about the nominators at Wolrdcon before (Wakela??).  He said they were a bit behind the times.  If they don't understand podcasts, it could be a long wait.

Sounds like it's time for us to start submitting journalistic pieces about "podcasting phenomena in the sci-fi markets" to our favorite print mags.

[tpi]

We've had one of our folks talk about the nominators at Wolrdcon before (Wakela??).  He said they were a bit behind the times.  If they don't understand podcasts, it could be a long wait.

Nominators to Hugo award are anyone who is a member (attending or supporting) of a worldcon.

[Alasdair5000]

*Personally, I'm looking forward to the day when an EP "original" story is nominated for a Hugo.  Now *THAT* would be a real coup, doncha think?

It's gonna happen one day.  I know it is

Given Steve's note in Metachat #3 that EP is the second largest SF market, I'd say there's a very good chance you're right about that. 

We've had one of our folks talk about the nominators at Wolrdcon before (Wakela??).  He said they were a bit behind the times.  If they don't understand podcasts, it could be a long wait.

Sounds like it's time for us to start submitting journalistic pieces about "podcasting phenomena in the sci-fi markets" to our favorite print mags.

Oddly enough I might well have something like that on the cards...

[scottjanssens]

We've had one of our folks talk about the nominators at Wolrdcon before (Wakela??).  He said they were a bit behind the times.  If they don't understand podcasts, it could be a long wait.

The nominators are the several thousand fans who join the World Science Fiction Convention.  They're not behind the times at all.

The obstacle Escape Pod faces with a Hugo nomination is in category.  Escape Pod competes in the Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form category.  The competition is Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, etc.

[cuddlebug]

Speaking of 'Worldcon', can anyone tell me where I find some info on conventions in the UK? I think I would love to try one some day. (Am slightly agoraphobic and am usually trying to stay away from hundreds of people packed tight like too many books on my bookshelf. But am willing to give it a try.)

So any suggestions?

[DKT]

We've had one of our folks talk about the nominators at Wolrdcon before (Wakela??).  He said they were a bit behind the times.  If they don't understand podcasts, it could be a long wait.

The nominators are the several thousand fans who join the World Science Fiction Convention.  They're not behind the times at all.

The obstacle Escape Pod faces with a Hugo nomination is in category.  Escape Pod competes in the Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form category.  The competition is Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, etc.

Seriously?  I guess that kind of makes sense, but I'm surprised it can't also compete with best short story category.  I mean, you guys do publish short stories. 

[Windup]

The obstacle Escape Pod faces with a Hugo nomination is in category.  Escape Pod competes in the Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form category.  The competition is Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, etc.

But we could still have a short story original to Escape Pod and re-printed elsewhere -- like Nano Comes to Clifford Falls in Nancy Kress' latest collection -- which could compete in the short fiction category, couldn't it?

I thought that's what TAD meant...

<<Moderators, please EP-ize that Amazon link.>> Done

[Russell Nash]

We've had one of our folks talk about the nominators at Wolrdcon before (Wakela??).  He said they were a bit behind the times.  If they don't understand podcasts, it could be a long wait.

The nominators are the several thousand fans who join the World Science Fiction Convention.  They're not behind the times at all.

The obstacle Escape Pod faces with a Hugo nomination is in category.  Escape Pod competes in the Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form category.  The competition is Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, etc.

Maybe Wakela (or whoever it was) could come in here and straighten out my reference.  Maybe it was the committee that decides on the catagories.

[scottjanssens]

Seriously?  I guess that kind of makes sense, but I'm surprised it can't also compete with best short story category.  I mean, you guys do publish short stories. 

Here's the official Hugo rules: http://www.wsfs.org/bm/const-2006.html#hugo

It's interesting to note that the Best Story categories do not specify "print" in Section 3.3, although elsewhere they're clearly described as "printed fiction categories".  If enough people nominate an audio story (that meets all other critera) for a Best Story award, the hand wringing, hair pulling and arguments will be highly amusing.