The Tor web project has taken quite a bit of my time so I am, shamefully, among the last to point to the excellent article about the Art Hugo posted on the Spectrum website. Doubly shameful since I spent a lot of time at the LA World Con business meeting trying to amend the Art Hugo rules.
The problem in a nutshell:
Until last year, just four people won the Art Hugo in the past 25 years. Those four are excellent artists but do not represent the full breadth of what the field had to offer. (The fact that John Berkey never won is just one of many oversights that diminishes the award.) Clearly, momentum voting was dictating winners. Donato Giancola, John Picaio, and I made a plea to amend the rules in order to get people to think more carefully before voting. Perhaps change is on its way, certainly blogs and website have helped — there have been new names creeping up list (Stephan Martiniere, John Picacio) and Donato Giancola finally won a long-deserved Hugo last year.
The current cheat sheet:
Arnie and Cathy Fenner’s excellent article.
John Klima and Lou Anders response.
And the hugely helpful Mark Kelley cover index.