>"The whole point of this series of proposals is to make the categories more accessible on the surface to people coming to them for the first time, and to make their definitions more obvious."
This is an admirable goal, and I agree with it wholeheartedly. The Best Editor (Long Form) and Best Editor (Short Form) are particularly two categories that I have found difficulty in knowing who to nominate for Hugos, and then who to vote for.
It's very clear, though, that there is and will continue to be a great deal of resistance to removing the Best Editor (Long Form) and Best Editor (Short Form) categories in particular. This is at the very least because many people really do like to vote for a particular individual--especially, I'd suggest, over "Best Publisher."
In the written works categories (Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story) it should be clear to all that even though specific works are named, it's likely that for many people the name of the author associated with those works bears significant weight on their votes. Yes, of course, in a perfect world it should be the works themselves that bear the full weight of the consideration, regardless of author, but we live in the real world, not a perfect one.
As mentioned above, there is then also the consideration if these categories are switched of "who gets to keep the rocket?", again especially for "Best Publisher."
I would make a suggestion that achieves the same goals, without these objections, at the cost of a bit of complexity to the Hugo Awards committee. (That is, it moves the burden of complexity from the shoulders of the nominating and voting members to those of the committee.)
Viz.
First:
Change "Best Editor (Long Form)" to "Best Editor (Long Form), AND/OR Best Publisher"
Under this category, nominating members could for example submit either "Patrick Nielsen Hayden" *or* "Tor Books" and it would count the same. If they submit both, they are counted as duplicate entries. On the final ballot, both the name of the editor and the name of the publishing house would be listed. When the Hugo is awarded, two rockets are given, one for the editor to take home and one for the publishing house to display in their office.
Second, instead of changing "Best Semiprozine" to "Best Professional Magazine":
Change "Best Semiprozine" to "Best Professional Magazine Editor AND/OR Best Professional Magazine."
Finally, "Best Editor (Short Form)" would be changed to "Best Editor of an Anthology/Collection AND/OR Best Anthology/Collection."
This separates editors of specific anthologies/collections from editors of magazines, where they are currently both mixed together in "Best Editor (Short Form)," right now.
Again, when the award is given in the Pro Magazine/Editor category two rockets would be handed out, one for the editor to take home and one for the magazine's office.
If there's only one editor of the winner in the Anthology/Collection/Editor category there obviously only needs to be one rocket given.
From my viewpoint the main difficulty with the above suggestions would be what to do when a publisher or pro magazine changes editors within the period of eligibility. I'd say just give one to each editor as well as one for the office of the publisher/magazine. Multiple rockets are already given for winners in categories like Best Fanzine and Best Fancast, and I don't think it would be an extraordinary burden on the convention.
Of course, people are likely to grumble at the awkwardness of these category names, with their "AND/OR" constructs, but IMHO with just a tiny bit of text on the nominating/voting ballots they are both the most clear in the end to the members (as well as the world at large), *and* the most fair to all parties involved.
no subject
This is an admirable goal, and I agree with it wholeheartedly. The Best Editor (Long Form) and Best Editor (Short Form) are particularly two categories that I have found difficulty in knowing who to nominate for Hugos, and then who to vote for.
It's very clear, though, that there is and will continue to be a great deal of resistance to removing the Best Editor (Long Form) and Best Editor (Short Form) categories in particular. This is at the very least because many people really do like to vote for a particular individual--especially, I'd suggest, over "Best Publisher."
In the written works categories (Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story) it should be clear to all that even though specific works are named, it's likely that for many people the name of the author associated with those works bears significant weight on their votes. Yes, of course, in a perfect world it should be the works themselves that bear the full weight of the consideration, regardless of author, but we live in the real world, not a perfect one.
As mentioned above, there is then also the consideration if these categories are switched of "who gets to keep the rocket?", again especially for "Best Publisher."
I would make a suggestion that achieves the same goals, without these objections, at the cost of a bit of complexity to the Hugo Awards committee. (That is, it moves the burden of complexity from the shoulders of the nominating and voting members to those of the committee.)
Viz.
First:
Change "Best Editor (Long Form)" to "Best Editor (Long Form), AND/OR Best Publisher"
Under this category, nominating members could for example submit either "Patrick Nielsen Hayden" *or* "Tor Books" and it would count the same. If they submit both, they are counted as duplicate entries. On the final ballot, both the name of the editor and the name of the publishing house would be listed. When the Hugo is awarded, two rockets are given, one for the editor to take home and one for the publishing house to display in their office.
Second, instead of changing "Best Semiprozine" to "Best Professional Magazine":
Change "Best Semiprozine" to "Best Professional Magazine Editor AND/OR Best Professional Magazine."
Finally, "Best Editor (Short Form)" would be changed to "Best Editor of an Anthology/Collection AND/OR Best Anthology/Collection."
This separates editors of specific anthologies/collections from editors of magazines, where they are currently both mixed together in "Best Editor (Short Form)," right now.
Again, when the award is given in the Pro Magazine/Editor category two rockets would be handed out, one for the editor to take home and one for the magazine's office.
If there's only one editor of the winner in the Anthology/Collection/Editor category there obviously only needs to be one rocket given.
From my viewpoint the main difficulty with the above suggestions would be what to do when a publisher or pro magazine changes editors within the period of eligibility. I'd say just give one to each editor as well as one for the office of the publisher/magazine. Multiple rockets are already given for winners in categories like Best Fanzine and Best Fancast, and I don't think it would be an extraordinary burden on the convention.
Of course, people are likely to grumble at the awkwardness of these category names, with their "AND/OR" constructs, but IMHO with just a tiny bit of text on the nominating/voting ballots they are both the most clear in the end to the members (as well as the world at large), *and* the most fair to all parties involved.