I’m in a rocket-shaped pickle (or a pickle-shaped rocket?):
I have no idea who to vote for on my Hugo ballot.
I’ve got a few things I know I’m putting down, but for the most part, a lot of the categories are going to be blank. It’s not that I didn’t read things last year. It’s just that I didn’t know I was going to decide to go to the Hugos, so I didn’t keep track of things I liked (I’ve already decided to try and be better about this in 2012).
This is where you come in. Are there any stories you felt really strongly about in 2011? Any new authors I might have missed that I should check out before the voting period closes in March? In particular, I need help with the following categories:
- Best Novel (I didn’t read a lot of new releases last year)
- Best Novella and Novelette
- Best Short Story (two slots are open)
- Best Related Work
- Best Graphic Story
- Best Editor (both long and short)
- Best Artist (professional and fan)
- Best Fan Writer
I can easily take care of the dramatic presentations, fancasts and the Campbell Award myself.
So. Any ideas?
Kelly Lagor's Lagoraphobia 
Funny you should mention this – I just came across a google spreadsheet today of Hugo-eligible works and am finding it really useful for my own noms (although I always find short story easy, everything else harder):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsUSB8f4Hgt2dHJESjJ5UWRxU0NHR1o0dTVDUER4a0E#gid=0
Holy crap – YES! Just what I needed! Thanks so much!!
Why isn’t this on HUGOS THERE??
Also what is a best related work?
I’m not sure, but last year the winner was Chicks Dig Time Lords, so maybe non-fiction books about SF?
Seems like Best Related Work usually just has some relationship to genre. It might be anything, provided it’s genre related: a documentary film, a non-fiction book of criticism, a biography of a major author, even a funny genre-related song. It’s kind of the “grab bag” category for stuff that deals with genre.