Each year we try to make sure that people who will be voting in the Hugo Awards (and John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer) have every opportunity to see and read the nominated works. This year, thanks to the heroic efforts of John Scalzi, we are able to offer a package that includes six complete novels, over two dozen pieces of short fiction (many of them novellas), three complete non-fiction books, and several other pieces of writing and art. All of this is available for free in electronic form, if you are eligible to vote in this year’s Hugo Awards. Some of the material is already free online to the general public, but many of the complete books are available only through this offer.

To become a voter you need at least a Supporting Membership in this year’s World Science Fiction Convention (Anticipation, to be held in Montreal in August). You do not need to attend the convention in order to vote. The costs of a Supporting Membership are: CA$55, US$50, £30, €35, ¥6000 or AU$55. You can buy one online at the Anticipation web site. Once your payment has been processed you will be sent email explaining how to download your voter package.

The material comes in a variety of formats, depending on how it was supplied to us, but it should all be readable using free software.

Please note that not every nominee is included in the package. Some publishers, authors, editors and artists have declined to participate. Also in the case of the John W Campbell Award, which is for new writers, not every nominee has a published novel, so they were unable to supply whole books.

Our thanks to John Scalzi for his efforts in organizing this, to all of the writers, artists, editors and publishers who have contributed their work, and to the Anticipation web team for proving the download service.

More information is available from John Scalzi, and the Anticipation web site.