Back in June, about the time the Hugo Finalists were announced, I had a silly idea.
I should’ve let the idea go. I already had enough stuff on my plate.
But I kept coming back to it. Wouldn’t it be fun, I thought? Wouldn’t it be so nice to find a way of letting an author know that they’d really touched my heart with their work?
So, before I could talk myself out of it, I committed.
This year, I’m launching an all-new genre fiction award. You’ve heard of the Hugos. You know the Nebs and the Locus Awards.
But you’ve never heard of the Randos.
The Randos are a highly prestigious* genre fiction award, judged by a team with over a century of combined experience** in fantasy, science fiction, horror, crime, and more. Founded by me, because I felt like it, the Randos is a way of sharing our love of genre fiction and recognising the authors who made our year great. Our judging panel of Randos will come together at the end of the year to decide on their favourite reads of 2023. Each winning author—one per judge—will be awarded a coveted Rando trophy***.
They’ll look something like this. Maybe? We’ll figure that out.
Is this a joke?
No.
The Randos is a little tongue-in-cheek, sure.
But we’re not manufacturing trophies and springing for international postage for a laugh, and the winners of these awards are genuinely the authors who most excited and inspired us in 2023. We’re serious about celebrating books, in a light-hearted way. We hope that our sincerity carries through the jokey award names. That the winners understand how much we appreciate their stories, and all the hard work that goes into telling them.
Is this a dig at the Hugos/Nebulas/etc?
Also no! Absolutely not. I’m a huge fan of the Hugos, the Nebs, the Locus Awards, and everything in between. I tune in for the awards each year and buy a copy of every winner.
But not every expression of appreciation or recognition of accomplishment needs to come from a large award ceremony. Sometimes it’s just some rando who read your book and went… wow.
These awards are that wow compressed into a trophy. They don’t have to mean anything more than that.
Can I be a judge?
Here’s the thing about the Randos: anyone can be a Rando, and find some way to recognise and appreciate their favourite authors. You can shoot me a message and join our team in time for the 2023 awards! All you need is to cover the costs of the trophy and international postage for your chosen winner. Or, you can find your own way to let your fave author know that you appreciated their work and that they enriched your life with their stories.
There are no downsides to sharing that love.
When does this all happen?
The judges are currently just doing what they do: reading the books that appeal to them and taking notes on which ones really blew their minds. In the closing days of 2023, we’ll get together and chat about our chosen winners. They’re not picked by committee—we just want to make sure we’re not giving all our awards to the same person. After that, we get to enjoy sending trophies off all over the world. Hopefully they arrive safe and sound.
Until then, the only thing I need to do is keep enjoying great SFF and horror. I’ve read 61 books this year already. Choosing a single winner is going to be tough.
Wish me luck.
*this is a lie
**if you add up the time we’ve all spent reading then it’s probably a hundred years? Maybe?
***I mean, I’d covet them pretty hard