The OF Blog: So apparently I've been nominated for some award?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

So apparently I've been nominated for some award?

Reading through the comments section in a recent post of mine, I see three posts saying that I was nominated by some group called the Book Blogger Appreciation Week for something. At first, I thought this was some sort of spam (related to a couple of comments that I've deleted in the past week or so), but I did a search and apparently this is some sort of festival of sorts for book bloggers.

Things like this make me uncomfortable. Perhaps it's because I've been through the Who's Who sort of deal when I was in high school, where some of my teachers would nominate me to appear in some sort of publication for the purportedly the best and brightest American high school students, while to have proof of it would involve spending $30-40 on buying the book. Needless to say, that was my first, mostly nonplussed reaction to all this. Then I thought for a bit and realized that while it's nice that people like this blog and the content I and others have added to it over nearly five years (anniversary is later this month), I don't need a nomination or some sort of award to feel good about all this. Perhaps others do feel vindicated and/or elated, but I've always felt a bit shy about being lauded for anything. Anyone else ever feel this sort of discomfort before?

I hesitated to post this because I thought my words might be misconstrued and that some would think that I'm bashing this organization or any other organization. I'm not. I'm just blogging about how odd it is to have something created that seems to be more like a gold star to me than anything that reflects the efforts I've put into creating the content here. I hope others can understand this feeling and not think I'm being ungracious or anything close to that. I'd just rather people comment directly here on what they like and if they like what I do, then perhaps ask me to do work for more visible sites. I know one of the biggest honors I've received over the past year or so was being asked to write a couple of guest reviews for Omnivoracious and my two interviews (one live, the other going live in the next few months) that will/have appeared on the Nebula Awards site that the SFWA runs. Those were honors, this award nomination is just gravy, no? Nuttin' sayin' that gravy ain't a good thing to have on 'casion, though, right? (and yes, I do occasionally speak in my native Middle Tennessean/Nashvillian dialect. Deal.)

12 comments:

çiçekçi said...

çiçekçi
thank you very much good very beautiful work

Anonymous said...

I saw where Pat over at his fantasy hotlist received a couple of those same comments under one of his posts. It initially seems kinda fishy though. Either way, congrats on 5 years!

bloggeratf said...

Larry,

While the BBAW awards serve to point out remarkable blogs in SF/F/H, the recognition itself is the gravy. Creating a venue where a community of peers can come together is the... well, whatever gravy goes on.

Given that the awards are newer than your blog, I can understand how you would look down on them. Not in a negative way, of course. BBAW is the line in the sand between the old and new SF/F/H review bloggers, whether people realize it or not. Will the elite choose to integrate with the new world order, or distance themselves from huddled masses?

I may have taken too much political science in college...

Aidan Moher said...

It's just for fun, dude.

Besides, I'm pretty sure EVERYONE is getting some 'nominations' right now. They sort of neglect to tell you that you've been added to a long list of blogs, from which THEY will choose a short list for each category.

Fabio Fernandes said...

Don´t be uncomfortable, Larry. I voted for you, if you must know. And I certainly wasn´t the only one. :-)

Fabio Fernandes said...

Oh, and I ALSO was nominated! HAH! :-)

Larry Nolen said...

I know, I know, this is meant to be a fun thing that isn't a scam or anything. Not looking down upon it, but rather just voicing my bafflement, since I'm just a typical slacker latchkey grown-up kid who distrusts attention like this :P

And Fábio, don't we both have something cooler to celebrate now? :D

Fabio Fernandes said...

Sure we do! I just posted it in PWT:
http://verbeat.org/blogs/pwt/2009/08/best_american_fantasy_-_now_fo.html

Man, I´m so going to have a beer tonight! I´ll toast for both of us!!
:-D

Larry Nolen said...

Exactly! And then later, we get to work hard and through the nights, no? :P

Fabio Fernandes said...

Yep!! 2010 will be a hard year - but a glorious one as well! :-)

dcole78 said...

Ah I would say being added to the best american sci-fi is a MUCH higher award wow....um why didn't you blog about that and really Fabio..it took me till the end to figure out that they had actually added you..you can toot your own horn more than that. Believe me if you don't toot it no one else well, in this new society we are building those who work are taken advantage of all the time and not recognized unless we do it ourselves. As for the best book blogs, see if they ask you for money or not. If not than I would say it is an honor, especially depending on who is doing the choosing (authors, editors, english professors) and who else they choose. But you certinly made it onto my RRS reader a long time ago...

Joe said...

I had to check the website, but yeah - it's the longlist. I've got a nomination, too. Best Writing. Now I just need to figure out if I accidentally nominated myself! Gah!

It's cool, though.

Cooler? Best American Fantasy. mmmhmmm.

 
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