Over the most-recent Prometheus Awards nomination and judging cycles, more Libertarian Futurist Society members have made a genuine difference by volunteering to read and report on various novels to help us determine whether any deserved Best Novel nominations.
This post aims to introduce and explain the goals of our Early Readers program – with sincere hopes that more LFS members will decide to join our efforts over this next awards cycle.
Now’s an excellent time to volunteer, since we’ve just recently begun compiling potential candidates from sf/fantasy novels already published (or to be published) during 2024.
What we’re always striving to identify, within the much larger field of sf/fantasy and speculative fiction, are the relative few novels that seem relevant to the Prometheus Awards and its distinctive dual focus, at once literary and thematic.
MAKING THE LIST – AND CHECKING IT TWICE (OR MORE)
Each year, we compile an informal (and confidential) candidates list of potential Best Novel nominees, which look like they may be eligible for our award because they appear to focus on libertarian and/or anti-authoritarian themes.
We find works to add to our list from a variety of sources – publishers’ blurbs, book-jacket descriptions, endorsement quotes, Good Read reviews, online bookstore comments – as well as suggestions from LFS members, other sf/fantasy fans and libertarians.
In addition, we encourage publishers and authors to bring their potentially eligible works to our attention via submissions (which are distinct from formal nominations by LFS members.)
As our annual candidates list grows, though, we face a further challenge: Reading and reporting on the novels, first to confirm their eligibility and focus, and then to determine whether they are well-written enough to merit a formal nomination.
That’s where Early Readers can help – a lot!
The 12 LFS members appointed by the LFS board to serve on the Best Novel finalist judging committee already tend to have their hands full just reading mostly the novels officially nominated each year – which is a right and privilege of all LFS members.
As we’ve done this past year, thanks to the extra Early Reader efforts of LFS members such as Paul Capuano, Tim Kompara, Christian Monson and Karen Myers, we can significantly expand the breadth and depth of our potential nominations process through the Early Readers program.
That help ensure that worthy contenders aren’t overlooked – akin in many ways to searching for the proverbial needles in a haystack, given the proliferation in recent years of sf/fantasy publishing.
Your participation as an LFS member allows us to expand our division of labor beyond the Best Novel judging committee itself to incorporate the considered options of a larger group of LFS members.
So that’s why the Early Readers program makes a big difference.
Note: The next Prometheus Blog post will offer more details about exactly how the program works – and how each volunteering LFS member can personalize and adjust their reading and reporting to best fit their preferences and schedule.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS:
* Prometheus winners: For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees – including the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards – visit the enhanced Prometheus Awards page on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to all published essay-reviews in our Appreciation series explaining why each of more than 100 past winners since 1979 fits the awards’ distinctive dual focus.
* Read “The Libertarian History of Science Fiction,”an essay in the international magazine Quillette that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.
* Watch videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies (including the recent 2023 ceremony with inspiring and amusing speeches by Prometheus-winning authors Dave Freer and Sarah Hoyt), Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog’s Video page.
* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Facebook page for periodic updates and links to Prometheus Blog posts.
* Join us! To help sustain the Prometheus Awards and support a cultural and literary strategy to appreciate and honor freedom-loving fiction, join the Libertarian Futurist Society, a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf/fantasy fans.
