So, it appears I’ve been nominated for a Hugo Award, again.

For those who don’t know about the Hugos, they’re the biggest Science Fiction/Fantasy (mostly science fiction) awards given out annually, and they’re voted on by fans of the genre. Awards are given to fans and to professionals, and are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Association.

There are two categories for fiction editors – one for Long Form (novels) and one for Short Form (works shorter than 40,000 words).

In 2014 I was one of five editors nominated for Best Editor (Long Form). No other British editor had ever been nominated in this category. I don’t believe I was entitled to the nomination — not only was I not one of the 5 best editors in the world, I was barely one of the 5 best editors in my house! But it was fun to be recognized, even though I didn’t believe I truly deserved it.

And now, in 2018, I’ve been nominated for Best Editor (Short Form). I’m also the first British editor to be nominated in this category, so whatever the final result, I have that. Which is nice. My confidence levels and skills as an editor have improved in the last 4 years, though, and I’m starting to believe that I’m getting to the point where I shouldn’t be embarrassed by the nomination. The fact that three of the six novellas in the Best Novella category (Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire, All Systems Red by Martha Wells and Binti:Home by Nnedi Okorafor) were edited by me doesn’t hurt.

Six editors in the category, this year. Every one of the other five more experienced than me, and every one of them deserving to win. I don’t believe I’ll come first, and that’s ok; there’s no shame in losing to any of my fellow nominees, who are all world-class editors.

Whatever happens, the ceremony will be fun (I always have a good time attending the Hugos) and I’ll get another Hugo nominee pin, which I’ll enjoy wearing.

You can find the full list of nominees for all the categories here.