The nominees for the 2009 Chesley Award were recently announced and the list is impressive. For those unaware of this award, the Chelseys are given for excellence in science fiction and fantasy art or illustration. The award began in 1985 and is run by the Association for Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists (ASFA). The award was named after the artist Chesley Bonestell after his death in 1986 and are present at the World Science Fiction Convention.

Best Cover Illustration: Hardback Book
• Dan Dos Santos: Stalking the Vampire: A Fable of Tonight by Mike Resnick (Pyr, August 2008)
• Scott Fischer: An Evil Guest by Gene Wolfe (Tor, September 2008)
• Donato Giancola: A Book of Wizards edited by Marvin Kaye (SFBC, April 2008)
• Stephen Hickman: Ghost Quartet edited by Marvin Kaye (Tor, September 2008)
• Todd Lockwood: Quofum by Alan Dean Foster (Del Rey, October 2008)
• Stephan Martiniere: The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick (Tor, January 2008)
• John Picacio: Viewpoints Critical: Selected Stories by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Tor, March 2008)

Best Cover Illustration: Paperback Book
• Dan Dos Santos: Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs (Ace, July 2008)
• Michael Kormarck: Dragonforge by James Maxey (Solaris, June 2008)
• Todd Lockwood: The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd (Pyr, November 2008)
• John Picacio: Fast Forward 2 edited by Lou Anders (Pyr, October 2008)
• J.P. Targete: The Turtle Moves! Discworld’s Story Unauthorized by Lawrence Watt Evans (Benbella Books, August 2008)
• Paul Youll: Hell and Earth by Elizabeth Bear (ROC, August 2008)

Best Cover Illustration: Magazine
• Bob Eggleton: Asimov’s, August 2008
• David Hardy: Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 2008
• Maurizio Manzieri: Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 2008
• Matts Minnhagen: Clarkesworld, April 2008
• John Picacio: Asimov’s, September 2008

Best Interior Illustration
• Donato Giancola: The Wraith by J. Robert Lennon (Playboy, November 2008)
• Alan Lee for Tales from the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, November 2008)
• John Picacio: Elric: The Stealer of Souls by Michael Moorcock (Del Rey, 2008)
• Adam Rex: Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex (Harcourt, September 2008)
• Shaun Tan: Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin, May 2008)

Best Color Work: Unpublished
• Julie Bell: The Wave in Her Heart, Oil
• Simon Dominic: The Gift, Digital
• Donata Giancola: Progeny, Oil
• Omar Rayyan: Gizmo, Watercolor
• Raoul Vitale: Lorca’s Cave, Oil
• Michael Whelan: The Seawall, Acrylic

Best Monochrome Work: Unpublished
• A.L. Ashbaugh: Counterfeit, Graphite
• Simon Dominic: Kraken, Digital
• Rebecca Guay: Gweneuere, Pencil
• James Jean: Hare, Oil
• Kate Lebherz-Gelinas: Chiroptera, PencilBest Three-Dimensional Art
• Brian Chan: Wall-E, Paper/Origami
• Akihito Ikeda: Heart of Art, Mixed
• Laura Reynolds: The Mushroom Gatherer, Mixed
• Forest Rogers: Dark Harpy, Polyclay, Copper Foil & Gold Leaf
• Vincent Villafranca: The Celestial Itinerant, Bronze

Best Product Illustration
• Volkan Baga: The Name of The Rose game box & promotional art, Ravensburger Spielevelag
• James Christensen: False Magic LE Canvas Print, Greenwich Workshop
• Dan Dos Santos: Hellboy II promotional art, Dark Horse & Universal Pictures
• Patrick Jones: Cyber Angel poster, IlluXCon 2008
• Justin Sweet: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian concept art, Walt Disney Studios

Best Gaming – Related Illustration
• Volkan Baga: Stoic Angel, Magic Card, Shards of Alara, WotC
• Tom Fleming: Firestorm, VS System, Upper Deck
• Michael Kormarck: Angelic Benediction, Magic Card, Shards of Alara, WotC
• David Palumbo: Cancel, Magic Card, Shards of Alara, WotC
• Matt Stewart: Invincible Hymm, Magic Card, Shards of Alara, WotC

Best Art Director
• Matt Adelsperger: Wizards of The Coast
• Scott Allie: Dark Horse Comics
• Lou Anders: Pyr Books
• Irene Gallo: Tor Books
• Jeremy Jarvis: Wizards of The Coast
• Bill Schafer: Subterranean Press
• David Stevenson: Del Rey Books

Award for Artistic Achievement
• Julie Bell
• Roger Dean
• Dan Dos Santos
• James Jean
• Stephan Martiniere
• Shaun Tan

Now this statement may be a bit of an exaggeration, but think about all of the changes that are happening in the world of publishing today; less books are being produced by publishing houses (and being purchased by customers), top level editors and agents are being firing in the midst of corporate restructuring, and then there’s the almost daily barrage of potential magazine closures that I read in my RSS feeds every week.

This week’s latest victim was Apex Magazine. Turns out the May issue will be its last, and while the magazine’s official statement on the matter claims that it is “on hiatus” frankly I’m not holding my breath.

Now most of the time (though there are a few exceptions) famous science fiction and fantasy authors took the traditional route for getting their novels published. Typically, this involved getting short story credentials ifirst n a number of SF/F magazines and building up their portfolio (maybe even a few award nominations along the way as well) at which point they would be recognized by either an agent or a publisher, as proof that they not only take the craft of writing seriously but also to show that they are willing to write books for them years and years down the road.

But with many of the magazines closing their doors as of late this year the question remains, “How are aspiring authors going to get noticed by agents and publishers if many of these fine publications are closing up shop?”

Now like I said there are exceptions to this rule. John Scalzi, author of Old Man’s War, was discovered through his Whatever blog by Tor editor Patrick Neilsen Hayden more than six years ago and offered a book contract more or less on the spot after chapters of his novel were read on his blog.

Others like myself have taken up jobs in the book and/or magazine publishing industry, opting to go the route of business networking to make connections with the hoi polloi in an effort to get noticed by major publishers. The obvious advantages here is that people who already work in the publishing industry not only have no illusions about what it means to be a full-time author but also know what to expect from agents and publishers in getting their book published (and vice versa).

If I had to sum up this rant with a few lines it is this. The traditional avenues for getting published in this day and age are either fading, dissolving, or have disappeared altogether. In a business that is already as competitive as ever, aspiring writers have to go the extra mile (or ten) in order to succeed in this business.

For many horror writers and editors, the Bram Stoker Awards have remained the standard for award-winning Horror fiction and literature. That is until last year in 2008 when the Shirley Jackson Awards were first announced for “outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic”. This year the award will be presented on Sunday, July 12th 2009 at Readercon, Conference on Imaginative Literature, in Burlington, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Hand, Readercon Guest of Honor, and author of Generation Loss, which won the 2007 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, will act as host.

Shirley Jackson is probably best known for her story story “The Lottery” published in a 1948 issue of the New Yorker. She is also known for her paranomral/gothic novels that established much of the horror genre we know today.

The Award Ballot is as follows:

NOVEL

• Alive in Necropolis, Doug Dorst (Riverhead Hardcover)
• The Man on the Ceiling, Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem (Wizards of the Coast Discoveries)
• Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory (Del Rey)
• The Resurrectionist, Jack O’Connell (Algonquin Books)
• The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (William Morrow)
• Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

NOVELLA

• Disquiet, Julia Leigh (Penguin/Hamish Hamilton)
• “Dormitory,” Yoko Ogawa (The Diving Pool, Picador)
• Living With the Dead, Darrell Schweitzer (PS Publishing)
• The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti, Stephen Graham Jones (Chiasmus Press)
• “N,”, Stephen King (Just After Sunset, Scribner)

NOVELETTE

• “Hunger Moon,” Deborah Noyes (The Ghosts of Kerfol, Candlewick Press)
• “The Lagerstatte,” Laird Barron (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Ballantine Books/Del Rey)
• “Penguins of the Apocalypse,” William Browning Spencer (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, Subterranean Press)
• “Pride and Prometheus,” John Kessel (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 2008)
• The Situation, Jeff Vandermeer (PS Publishing)

SHORT STORY

• “68° 07’ 15″N, 31° 36’ 44″W,” Conrad Williams (Fast Ships, Black Sails, Night Shade Books)
• “The Dinner Party,” Joshua Ferris (The New Yorker, August 11, 2008)
• “Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment: One Daughter’s Personal Account,” M. Rickert (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Oct/Nov 2008)
• “The Inner City,” Karen Heuler (Cemetery Dance #58, 2008)
• “Intertropical Convergence Zone,” Nadia Bulkin (ChiZine, Issue 37, 2008)
• “The Pile,” Michael Bishop (Subterranean Online, Winter 2008)

COLLECTION

• A Better Angel, Chris Adrian (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
• Dangerous Laughter, Steven Millhauser (Knopf)
• The Diving Pool, Yoko Ogawa (Picador)
• The Girl on the Fridge, Etgar Keret (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
• Just After Sunset, Stephen King (Scribner)
• Wild Nights!, Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco)

ANTHOLOGY

• Bound for Evil, edited by Tom English (Dead Letter Press)
• Exotic Gothic 2: New Tales of Taboo, edited by Danel Olson (Ash-Tree Press)
• Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer (Night Shade Books)
• The New Uncanny, edited by Sarah Eyre and Ra Page (Comma Press)
• Shades of Darkness, edited by Barbara and Christopher Roden (Ash-Tree Press)

It should also be noted that in comparison to previous few, this year was an exceptional year for film and no doubt that every nominee in the best picture/director category deserves to be on that list. That being said I really think Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard.

Overall though, the Dark Knight deserves the kudos it has coming to it and will no doubt will several awards at this year’s Oscars. You’ve done it again Nolan.

Best Novel – Hugo Award                  Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) – Hugo Award
Anathem by Neal Stephenson                                                    “Strange Love” (True Blood)
Liberation by Brian Francis Slattery                                    “The Beginning of the End” (Lost)
Matter by Ian M. Banks                                                   “There’s No Place Like Home” (Lost)
Valley of Day-Glo by Nick Dichario                                                                   “Pilot” (Fringe)
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow              “He Hath Believeth in Me” (Battlestar Galactica)

Best Dramatic (Long Form) – Hugo Award                                 Aurora Award for Best Novel
The Dark Knight                                                               Valley of Day-Glo by Nick Dichario
Wall-E                                                                     The New Moon’s Arm by Nalo Hopkinson
Iron Man                                                                                Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Repo: The Genetic Opera

Twilight

John W. Campbell Award for best New Writer
Tony Pi
Stephen Kotowych
Gord Sellar
Christopher Barzak

I’m not placing hyperlinks because it would simply take too damn long, however, I believe these to be worthy nominations.