I finally got my SFWA password, after months of trying. I’m spending the day (and maybe the next few days) reading as many novellas, novelettes, and short stories as I can in order to make some Nebula recommendations before the 31st. Obviously I can’t read everything, but I’m doing my best. I’d really like to see a full ballot next year. I’m focusing on:

• works that already have 8 or more recommendations
• older works nearing the end of eligibility with several recommendations
• newer works with 1-2 recommendations, where my recommendation might actually help over the next 6-12 months
• works from writers whose work I’ve liked before
• works recommended by people whose tastes I generally agree with
• works from obscure publications which I’ve enjoyed that might get overlooked

I’m going to recommend the best stories I read. I know there’s a forum somewhere in SFF.net for discussing this, but like I said, I just got my password and I’d rather spend time reading stories than learning to navigate the forums just now.

Can someone clarify for me how the balloting works? I understand the 12-month eligibility concept, but I’m not clear on when the ballot is finalized.  I was under the impression that Dec 31st was the cutoff for a single year’s ballot, but I just heard that there’s another balloting early next year…? I’m trying to decide how dire the current ballot situation is.

Also, feel free to leave me suggested reading material in the comments. I can’t promise I’ll get to it all, but I’ll try!