Anyone who has an attending or supporting membership of this year’s Worldcon (Chicon 7) as of January 31, and all members of last year’s Worldcon (Renovation), may nominate works for the Hugo Awards. If you didn’t attend or support Renovation, and you don’t plan to attend Chicon 7, you can still nominate by purchasing a supporting membership. For more information, visit Chicon 7’s nomination page. Nominations close March 11.

The Hugos are open to any fan, and I would encourage any of you reading this to seriously consider voting and participating in the process. If you’re attending Worldcon (or attended last year’s), you have voting privileges—use them! Even if you haven’t read a hundred novels or surveyed the entire field of short fiction (and even if you want to nominate things other than Lightspeed!); if everyone nominates material they feel is worthy, then the best stuff will still rise to the top.

Also, ebook readers have even less of an excuse for not voting these days, thanks to the fabulous Hugo Voter Packet that’s distributed to members every year. All attending and supporting members of Worldcon now receive a packet containing most of the works nominated for the current year’s awards. Meaning, although you may have to pay $50 for a supporting membership, you’ll get far more than $50 worth of ebooks in exchange for that, plus you get the right to have some say in what wins the field’s most prestigious award. So, come on—let’s get out there and vote!

If you’d like to vote for Lightspeed (and/or Fantasy) material from 2011, here’s a list of eligible works, sorting them into their proper categories, and including a list of those eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: http://tinyurl.com/2011Hugos-Nebulas.