Con with the Wind Web Site

Sir Julius Vogel Awards

Rules

Preamble

The Sir Julius Vogel Awards recognise excellence in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror by New Zealanders.

NOTE: This is a new set of categories for the awards. The awards below are what is considered reasonable and workable at present. It will be perfectly possible and reasonable to adjust these as necessary. If you want more information about the setup of a national organisation for Science Fiction and Fantasy, (tentatively SFFANZ) please visit http://www.natorg.sf.org.nz where you will find more information, and contact details. You can also contact Con with the Wind by post to ask for written information.

Categories of awards

Professional Categories
Best Novel
Best Novella or Novelette
Best Short Story
Best Collected Work
Best Artwork
Dramatic Presentation
  -Long Form
  -Short Form

Fan Categories
Best Fan Writing
Best Fan Artwork
Best Fanzine
Best Fan Publication
Best Fan Production

Special Awards for works not eligible in existing categories
Best New Talent
Services to Fandom
Services to Science Fiction

Eligibility Criteria

Timeliness
Works are eligible if they were first published or released anywhere in the world in an edition dated in the calendar year immediately preceding the year the award is held.

New Zealand-ness
Nominees are eligible if they were New Zealand citizens or permanent residents in the year their nominated work was released. In the case of projects undertaken by a group of people, the majority of the technical work and creativity must have been accomplished by New Zealanders.

Categories defined

Novel
A Novel is any single work of sf/f/h of more than 40,000 words.

Novella or Novelette
A Novella or Novelette is any single work of sf/f/h of 7,500 to 40,000 words.

Short Story
A Short Story is any single work of sf/f/h less than 7,500 words.

Collected Work
A collected work is a sf/f/h collection or anthology, magazine or journal, ezine or webzine which must pay contributors in other than contributor copies and incidentals, or is sponsored by an institution other than a fan club, or whose editors declare themselves to be professional. At least one edition of a collected work must have been issued in the eligible calendar year.

Best Artwork
An artwork is a single work or series of related works of art in any medium other than text. Text may be included, but should not be the primary medium.

Dramatic Presentation - Long Form and Short Form
A dramatic presentation in a visual and / or audio form.
The Long Form is a presentation that is longer than 30 mins. This could typically be a film or an episode of a TV series.
The Short Form is a presentation that is shorter than 30 mins. This could typically be a short film.

Fan Writing and Fan Artwork
These awards are made to writers or artists for a work or body of work first published, released, or made available for public viewing in the eligible calendar year. The writer or artist must have received no payment other than contributor copies and other incidentals (coffee mug, t-shirt, poster, etc.).

Fanzine
This award is made to the fanzine for issues in the eligible calendar year. A fanzine is defined as any fan produced magazine, for a club or otherwise, which defined itself as a fanzine AND has the intention to produce multiple issues in the eligible year or beyond. Contributors to the fanzine must have received no payment other than contributor copies and other incidentals (coffee mug, t-shirt, poster, etc.).

Fan Publication
This award is made to writers or artists for a publication first published, released, or made available for public viewing in the eligible calendar year. The writer must have received no payment other than contributor copies and other incidentals (coffee mug, t-shirt, poster, etc.).

Fan Production
This award is for work in any medium other than those eligible for other categories. The work must be first published, released, or made available for public viewing in the eligible calendar year. The writer or artist must have received no payment other than incidentals. Eligible works include but are not limited to: art, video, film, periodical, theatrical, journal, ezine, webzine, computer application, or website.

Special Awards
Special awards recognise outstanding achievements in science fiction, fantasy, or horror not eligible in the existing categories.

Best New Talent
The Best New Talent award recognises excellence of professional achievement in any field of the genre by an individual who has not been nominated for a professional award three or more years before the year the award is held.
An individual is only eligible for two consecutive years.

Nomination Process

Eligibility for nomination
Anyone may be nominated, but nominees may not be involved with counting the votes.

Eligible nominators
The nominator must be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident; or a full or supporting member of the national convention of the year of the award.

Nominations

Nominations may be submitted from January 1st in the year of voting for the awards or up to 4 months before the national convention or voting deadline, whichever is the earlier.
The nominator may nominate any number of works in any category. However, the nominator may nominate any given work only once in a category. All nominations must include the name and contact details of the nominator. Where a nominated work does not meet the criteria for its nominated category, the committee may move the nomination to the appropriate category; or where a work does not meet any criteria, refuse the nomination.
The nominator must include contact details for any nominees.
The nominees will be contacted and invited to accept the nomination. If they decline their nomination, the nomination will be withdrawn from contention.

Display of work

The nominees will be asked for examples of their work. This work will be displayed as widely as reasonable before voting takes place. Display areas will include a website and display of items at the national convention. Display of the nominations will be carried out where practical. Duplicates of the nominated items will be requested so as to be able to have more than one display of the items.

Final Ballot

Number of finalists
The five nominees with the most nominations shall appear on the final ballot. In the event of a tie for fifth place, up to seven finalists may appear on the final ballot. In the event of a four-way tie (or more) for fifth place, only the top four finalists shall appear on the ballot.

Minimum finalists for categories
If any category has one or fewer eligible finalists, the category shall not appear on the final ballot, excepting the Special Awards and the Best New Talent Award.

Merging of Short Fiction categories
If there are fewer than two eligible finalists in either the "Novella or Novelette" and "Short Story" categories, they may be merged into a single category called Short Fiction.

Order of finalists
Finalists shall appear in randomised order.

No Award
"No Award" shall appear last on the ballot for all categories.

Voting

Eligibility of Voters
Any members of SFFANZ and any members of the National Science Fiction convention for the voting year, are eligible to vote.
Allowance shall be made for people who cannot physically attend the convention or AGM by supplying voting papers to them by mail, or other means deemed suitable.

Preferential Voting
Voting in each category shall take place according to a preferential system.
This requires the voters to rank the nominees in order of preference. 1 indicates a first preference, 2 a second preference, and so on. "No Award" is treated as a category for the purposes of this voting.
During the counting of ballots, SFFANZ has discretion to mediate deadlocks in the count of votes, should they occur. This means that if in intermediate stages of the counting process there is a tie, the counters and SFFANZ may decide an appropriate way to break the deadlock. This does NOT apply to the final result.

Tied Winners
In the event of a tie for winner in any category, all tied works will be deemed to have won the award.

Anonymous Voting
If possible, final votes shall be anonymous. However, it may be necessary initially to require a signature on ballots.
Hopefully in the future all ballots shall be coded and provided to each eligible member. Any committee members responsible for coding the ballots shall not be involved in counting the votes.

The Physical Nature of the Trophy

Finalist Certificates
All finalists shall receive a certificate honouring their achievement.

The Trophy
Sir Julius Vogel Award winners shall receive a standard trophy that is consistent from year to year.

 

 

Introduction

Rules

Nomination form

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