We realize that teenagers make up a large portion of the Hanfic demographic … both the readers and the authors. We respect that, and we applaud the efforts of all who have attempted to channel their admiration for Hanson in such a creative, constructive manner.
But we want these awards to be different than the rest have been. Not that we have anything at all against previous Hanfic awards (heck, we’ve been lucky enough to be nominated for a few ourselves). We know they have all been in the spirit of fun and Hanson fan camaraderie.
But these awards are to recognize those Hanfic stories that possess literary excellence. The categories are a little different … so we want you to truly think about the stories and authors you are nominating for them.
We are NOT being snobs here … we really aren’t. But we’re asking you to help us out in a big way. When you nominate someone, we’d like a short summary of why you feel they deserve the award. These stories have obviously touched you … tell us why.
Because isn’t that what Hanfic is all about anyway?
Anyway, these awards will be different because only the nominations will be determined by the readers. The actual winners will be determined by a panel of … well, us, and a couple of other people we have selected as judges. We reserve the right to reject any nominee (although we wouldn’t do so on a whim), and we will not justify our decisions to do so to anyone. These awards will be based on the decisions of six judges … Jenn, Sab, myself and three more people we have yet to select (we will each choose one).
I think it bears mentioning that we are all over the map agewise … Sab is 13, Lee is 18 and Jamie is 29. We feel this will make for a very fair judging system.
Nominations will commence immediately. We will take nominations until January 31, 2000. There will be a minimum of three or a maximum of five nominees in each category (should there not be enough nominees for a category, it will be scrapped). Those will be posted as soon as we tabulate nominations. Then you gotta give us a little while to get our stuff together, and the winners will be announced on March 31, 2000 (we are hoping that the Y2K will not strike). Okay? We all together on this?
So, without further adieu, get outta here and check out the categories. We hope to hear from you soon.