I don't have to read it to know it's good
How can you not read a story to know it's good? This is exactly the attitude that I've always thought existed in folcdom. Some authors are "known" to write good stories. Others aren't. But what if these other authors suddenly start writing good stories. What if the "good" authors have sub par stories? So, really, if an author who wrote their first really good story this year doesn't get nominated (be it new authors or older authors who have never been nominated), it might be because people nominate their old favorites withotu even reading the story? That troubles me . . . but it might be another reason why I was never nominated before last year.
I, personally, keep a running list of stories throughout the year that I particularly read and enjoyed. I do read pretty much every single short story, but I am a little remiss in reading the longer ones. However, with the really long ones, I can usually decide if I like it after 5-10 minutes of reading, and if I don't like it, I stop.
I think people should nominate stories they liked even if they haven't read everything. If a story is good enough to stand out to you, then by all means nominate it. However, don't just nominate it because of the author's reputation. That isn't fair to the other authors.
- Laura
