Time For Jury Duty, Spec Fic Fans!

You’re running out of time to put yourself in the mix as a juror for this year’s British Fantasy Awards—here’s a few reasons why you might want to join the crew.

One of the best things about the British Fantasy Awards is that the publicly-voted shortlist goes to a panel of peers for final decision-making. But that means we need volunteers to be jurors!

“Any award with a closed voting pool runs the risk of becoming a popularity contest,” says BFS Chair Shona Kinsella. “The jury stage of the British Fantasy Awards is really important in offsetting that—our jurors ensure that no title wins on popularity alone. Being a juror means contributing to the robustness of the awards. Also, it’s fun! And did I mention the free books?”

How Does It Work?

Each of the 12 categories of the British Fantasy Awards that go to public voting—which is currently happening; make sure you cast your vote here—will end up with a shortlist of works for consideration. That means we need to populate 12 different jury panels who will then consider the shortlist, decide if any “egregious omissions” need to be added to that shortlist, and then debate and analyse the works to come up with an ultimate winner for the category.

What’s an “egregious omission”? That’s where the jurors are invited to use their knowledge of the category to suggest if anything should be on the list that isn’t—something like a critically-acclaimed bestseller that you would expect to see on a shortlist for that category.

Once the shortlist is finalised, the jury will have around three months (June to September) to read, view or listen to the shortlisted works. Each jury’s members will decide the best way to discuss their thoughts; some set up group chats online, some have shared spreadsheets, some get together on calls. It’s really up to the appetite (and social batteries!) of the individual members to work out what’s best for that specific jury.

That means: you don’t have to be in a specific location; you don’t have to be particularly boisterous or outgoing; and you don’t have to be a published author or recognised industry expert. As long as you have a love of sci-fi, fantasy and/or horror, you are welcome.

Once a winner has been decided, a nominated jury member reports back to the Awards Administrator, and your work is complete.

Join The Jury!

Fancy being part of the action?

Anyone with an interest in SFFH and/or the specialist categories is welcome to volunteer
You do NOT have to be a BFS member to be a juror
Jury panels run 19 May to 1 September, so you’ll have plenty of time to examine the finalists
Everything is done online/digitally so you don’t have to be in a specific area to take part
It’s a great reason / excuse to meet people in the community and maybe make some new friends!

You can nominate yourself to be a juror for the British Fantasy Awards here, but don’t just take our plea as the reason: here’s what a few previous jurors have said about the process.

Closer to the community (and free books)

Says Grace Woods: “Judging for The British Fantasy Society exposed me to books I wouldn’t have otherwise come across and brought me closer to fellow BFS members. It was fascinating and fun to learn every juror’s tastes and what each juror appreciated about each book that differed from or built upon my own reactions.”

Says Heather Valentine: “Jurying for the BFAs was a great experience, getting to read cutting edge new books in the genre (for free!) and discuss them with equally keen readers.”

Discovering new media and skills

“I first volunteered out of interest in the process and to be part of something cool,” says Adam McDowall. “Every time I’ve done it it’s been a great experience. You get to find and consume media you might never have heard of, in a format you may never have realised was full of speculative work. I discovered some great works and would recommend it for all of the above reasons. I learnt more about how to think about the art or media I’m consuming, what makes it good (even despite my own preferences) that I can apply (in theory!) to my own work. It also gets me to really think about why I might think one thing is stronger or weaker than another in whatever way.”

The best of the BFS

“I’ve had the singular honour of working as an awards judge for multiple awards and multiple coordinators. Kat Fowler and Paul Yates, the two BFS awards coordinators I’ve worked for are two of the absolute best to ever do it,” says Alasdair Stuart. “Principled, inclusive, ethical managers who have stood up, fought for and won the exact sort of inclusive, welcoming procedures every award needs baked in from the jump. They, and the awards they have championed, embody the best of the BFS.”

Jurors, Assemble!

You’ve got until 3 May to nominate yourself for jury duty.

You’ve also got until 3 May to vote in this year’s British Fantasy Awards; head over here to do that!