A Dribble of Ink

After all, last year it only took 17 votes to get on the ballot if you happened to have an eligible short story, and anyone can vote as long as they pay the fee to join the World Science Fiction Convention. This year it costs $50, so if you do the math (17 votes x $50), that adds up to a cost of just $850 if you want to fund voting privileges for you and 16 friends. (That assumes voting levels stay the same as they have been for the last two years.)

Once you’ve theoretically bought your way onto the ballot, buying a win would (also theoretically) be harder, but still seemingly within the realm of possibility. It costs about 10 times as much as a nomination, though, and presumably is more difficult to both organize and conceal, since more votes are involved. In 2008, you would have needed 176 in the “cheapest” category of Best Fanzine for a win (and you would have to have been eligible in that category). That adds up to a more sizable $8,800.

Best Novel: Nomination $2,000, Win $18,640

Best Novella: Nomination $1,700, Win $15,750

Best Novelette: Nomination $1,050, Win $14,640

Best Short Story: Nomination $850, Win $16,250 (BEST NOMINATION VALUE)

Best Related Book: Nomination $900, Win $11,750

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Nomination $2,200, Win $19,100 (SUPER BARGAIN!)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Nomination $1,200, Win $16,850

Best Editor, Long Form: Nomination $900, Win $12,900

Best Editor, Short Form: Nomination $1,750, Win $14,000

Best Professional Artist: Nomination $1,000, Win $15,300

Best Semiprozine: Nomination $1,900, Win $13,550

Best Fanzine: Nomination $1,300, Win $8,800 (BEST WIN VALUE)

Best Fan Writer: Nomination $1,200, Win $11,900

Best Fan Artist: Nomination $950, Win $9,250

“Amanda seemed very confident in her knowledge of the Star Wars saga despite never having watched any of the Star Wars films. That was the first good sign. When we sat down to watch them, she started telling me what she thought the plots were going to be, so I told her to hold steady while I went to get my voice recorder.”

Are you ready for a little culture with your Doom? Well, even if you’re not, get ready because id Software has picked up an award-winning science fiction author to pen Doom 4.

We still don’t know much about the game, but according to Computer and Video Games, award-winning British author Graham Joyce is now attached to the project. His prizes include the British Fantasy Award, Imaginaire Award and the World Fantasy Award for titles like The Facts of Life, Indigo and Dark Sister.

So what’s he going to do with Doom? Unfortunately, Joyce only said, “I can say that id have hired me to help develop the storyline potential.”

It has become a tradition for me to auction off naming rights to one of the characters in each of my novels. In the past, I’ve done this locally, with a church group. People would ‘bid’ cans of food that they would donate to the local food bank, and the winner got to name a character in one of my books. The first appearance was Lord Penrod, named for a woman who’s last name was–not surprisingly–Penrod. Lord Yomen in THE HERO OF AGES changed the tradition slightly in that I started describing the character to look like the person who won the auction. Warbreaker’s Llarimar is another of these winners.

When I started working on the Wheel of Time novel, it was my assumption that I would forego the tradition for this particular book. I wasn’t planning on doing anything. But then the awesome Pat Rothfuss (by the way, Pat, I’m going to answer your email soon. Sorry–I got distracted. Bad Brandon!) started up a charity drive this Christmas. This was a particularly bad year for charities, as a lot of people were tightening their belts and cutting their spending. I read several articles talking about how difficult a year it was going to be for a lot of people in underdeveloped areas of the world, where the economy doesn’t just mean fewer trips to the movies–it means children starve because there isn’t enough food to be had.

At that moment, I realized that we had something very special in the Wheel of Time book–an opportunity that shouldn’t be passed up. I wrote an email to Harriet, telling her about the charity that Pat had been using for his drive. It’s called Heifer International. Instead of just giving food to the poor, they go into developing countries, give them animals to care for, and teach them how to use the livestock to create a sustainable source of income and food. It’s a fantastic idea, and a worthy charity. I asked Harriet if she’d mind me auctioning off a character in A Memory of Light. She was behind that 100%. As some of you may know, Robert Jordan did something like this once, giving a walk-on part to a fan in one of the books. There are a LOT of people who need to be named in this story, and so why not let a few of those names and descriptions go to real people?

…

During the Last Battle, there will be a lot of groups fighting the Shadow. Well, we’re going to develop and include a special group to represent the Wheel of Time fans who donate in our charity drive.