Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
But could we not also say that we have different expectations from a 200 page novel, and a 1200 page "block-buster"?
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The current classifications work as follows: (from the WSFS Constitution - emphasis mine below)
3.3.1: Best Novel. A science fiction or fantasy story of forty thousand (
40,000) words or more.
3.3.2: Best Novella. A science fiction or fantasy story of between seventeen thousand five hundred (
17,500) and forty thousand (
40,000) words.
3.3.3: Best Novelette. A science fiction or fantasy story of between seven thousand five hundred (
7,500) and seventeen thousand five hundred (
17,500) words.
3.3.4: Best Short Story. A science fiction or fantasy story of less than seven thousand five hundred (
7,500) words.
The distinctions are largely historical, and derive from the SF magazines and earlier book publications. The magazines, for example, distinguished between short stories, novelettes, and chunks of a serialized novel on their contents pages. The length a novel might be has steadily increased. Things like the old Ace Doubles had word lengths in the 40,000 range because that was what would
fit in the allotted page count. Advances in printing technology made progressively larger books feasible, though we may still really long books split into parts for mass market paperback publication.
Meanwhile, I think you have to draw arbitrary lines
somewhere. A short story is a fundamentally different form than a novel, and not judged by the same criteria. You probably could make a case for omitting one of the intermediate formats, and leave just novelette or novella between short story and novelette., but I think you
do need a category between short story and novel.
I don't have an issue with the current classifcations. Given that you need
some form of classification, they do as well as anything else.
The Hugo categories are subject to continual refinement. One relatively recent change has been breaking Best Editor into Short-form and Long-form. Historically, the Best Editor award really meant "Best Magazine Editor", and tended to be accumulated by the editors of Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Isaac Asimovs SF Magazine, Galaxy, Worlds of If and others. back when SF digest publication was healthy.
More recently, there has been recognition that the action has shifted increasingly to books. The folks who acquire SF for publishers tend to be unknown unless you are someone who pays attention to such things, and you often don't know who actually bought the book you're reading for the publisher that issued it. Tor Books is an exception here, and lists the editor of the volume in the colophon (though they had to work at convincing Editor in Chief Beth Meachum to allow herself to be listed - she felt it was the author's book.)
I'm all in favor. Any good book is a collaboration between author and editor, and every published author I know considers a good editor an essential part of making the book a success.
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Dennis