I would also oppose the removal of both Best Editor categories. Despite being a professional working in the field, I'm no longer eligible for nomination in either category, so I'm not being self-serving, here - I don't have a horse in the race.
For Best Editor (short form) I believe it to be a relatively simple category in which to vote. The editors' names are front and centre on the anthologies, and simple to find in the magazines. I agree that the long form category is less obvious to judge, but for those with an interest, there are enough clues, there. Editors often talk about the books they've acquired and edited, authors often acknowledge their editors in their books, and (a small number of) publishers sometimes credit the editor on the copyright page. It's a category with fewer nominations than some other categories, it's true, but this isn't a reality TV show where the category with the lowest number of nominations gets voted off - it's an award that's designed to honour the fans and professionals in our genre.
Nominee names rotate on a regular basis in these categories. I think that - due to the relatively few publishers entering the genre on an annual basis - a Best Publisher category would probably have the same few companies/imprints listed year after year, which, though perhaps more people might vote (*might*) would make the category more problematical than Best Editor, where there's a healthy turnaround in nominees.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2015-09-04 04:49 am (UTC)For Best Editor (short form) I believe it to be a relatively simple category in which to vote. The editors' names are front and centre on the anthologies, and simple to find in the magazines. I agree that the long form category is less obvious to judge, but for those with an interest, there are enough clues, there. Editors often talk about the books they've acquired and edited, authors often acknowledge their editors in their books, and (a small number of) publishers sometimes credit the editor on the copyright page. It's a category with fewer nominations than some other categories, it's true, but this isn't a reality TV show where the category with the lowest number of nominations gets voted off - it's an award that's designed to honour the fans and professionals in our genre.
Nominee names rotate on a regular basis in these categories. I think that - due to the relatively few publishers entering the genre on an annual basis - a Best Publisher category would probably have the same few companies/imprints listed year after year, which, though perhaps more people might vote (*might*) would make the category more problematical than Best Editor, where there's a healthy turnaround in nominees.