I'm glad to see this is getting some discussion, and also pleased to see that so many people don't see a problem with nominating even if you've only read a few stories.
Of course, the decision is an individual one, but everyone's busy and reading fanfic isn't exactly an obligation.
And anyway, as Laura and Pam quite rightly pointed out, an author - let's call her Lana Luthor
- may have swept the boards in previous years. May have written stories considered to be at the top of everyone's favourites list. May be considered better than many published authors. (And I can think of at least a couple of dozen fanfic writers this could apply to). But maybe her latest story really
is an absolute stinker. That does happen. My favourite published authors produce stinkers sometimes; I hate it when they do, but nobody's perfect and nobody's consistently good. Would you buy a carton of eggs without looking inside first to check that none is broken? I wouldn't.
Interesting discussion - please keep it coming!
Wendy
