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Now that the Hugo voter packet is out, I wanted to once more urge people to consider voting for Sheila Gilbert, publisher and editor at DAW Books, who is on the final Hugo ballot for Best Editor, Long Form. For transparency, let me say that yes, she is my editor (and has been for over a decade now). I have had several editors over the several decades in which I’ve been writing and publishing, at most of the NYC publishing houses -- and the reason that I have been nominating Sheila as Best Editor ever since my first book for DAW is that I have never met an editor who displays more dedication and interest in making certain that every book is the best one I can possibly write at the time. For that matter, under the direction of Betsy Wollheim and Sheila, DAW Books is the most supportive and engaged publishing house I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with, and I hope that the voters see fit to honor Sheila with a Hugo (as they’ve done previously with Betsy).
As to the whole Sad Puppy/Rabid Puppy mess, all I can say is that Sheila has been placed on the final ballot in this category for the previous two years. I strongly suspect that she would have again made this year’s final ballot without the unasked-for ‘support’ of the puppies. I know for a fact that Sheila was not asked to be placed on their slate, and as an editor has championed books that are the polar opposite of those the SP/RP people would seem to prefer. Sheila isn’t an online ‘presence’: she has no website, no blog, and only in the last few months has ventured tentatively onto Facebook. She has no connection with the puppies whatsoever.
Yes, the puppies have significantly affected many categories on this year’s Hugo ballot, and I understand the impulse to vote NO AWARD over the puppy candidates, especially in the fiction categories. But the Long Form Editor category isn’t for a work published in the last year; it’s more a category where you vote for a person and their body of work within the genre. Look at DAW Books and the long list of writers Sheila has worked with and published. Look beyond the puppies. Look at someone who richly deserves recognition for all she’s done in the field.
I hope you’ll give Sheila your vote.
As to the whole Sad Puppy/Rabid Puppy mess, all I can say is that Sheila has been placed on the final ballot in this category for the previous two years. I strongly suspect that she would have again made this year’s final ballot without the unasked-for ‘support’ of the puppies. I know for a fact that Sheila was not asked to be placed on their slate, and as an editor has championed books that are the polar opposite of those the SP/RP people would seem to prefer. Sheila isn’t an online ‘presence’: she has no website, no blog, and only in the last few months has ventured tentatively onto Facebook. She has no connection with the puppies whatsoever.
Yes, the puppies have significantly affected many categories on this year’s Hugo ballot, and I understand the impulse to vote NO AWARD over the puppy candidates, especially in the fiction categories. But the Long Form Editor category isn’t for a work published in the last year; it’s more a category where you vote for a person and their body of work within the genre. Look at DAW Books and the long list of writers Sheila has worked with and published. Look beyond the puppies. Look at someone who richly deserves recognition for all she’s done in the field.
I hope you’ll give Sheila your vote.