Announcing the End of the SFR Galaxy Awards

Alas, the SFR Galaxy Awards will be no more. This annual event launched in 2013 and was managed by bloggers Heather Massey and Laurie A. Green. A group of sci-fi romance-loving judges rounded out the team.

It's been a blast highlighting various sci-fi romances using a fun, quirky awards lens. Like all good things, it must come to and end. Here's why:

1. I (Heather) am no longer able to give the awards the nurturing it needs because of family and work matters. I held off as long as possible regarding canceling the awards to see how things would go, but Life Stuff had to take priority.

2. Over the past several years, there's been heightened attention given to the grievous lack of diversity and inclusion in romance awards. The situation has been so dire that Romance Writers of America (RWA) hired consultants to address "diversity, equality and inclusion issues in RWA." This issue has also prompted much-needed discussion in the SFR community regarding the same flaws present in the SFR Galaxy Awards.

The SFR Galaxy Awards has its own racial and gender biases. Even a cursory glance at the numbers reveals the award outcomes are not as diverse as they should be. Though Laurie has been my co-partner in this endeavor, the idea for the awards originated with me. Since I didn't bake diversity and inclusion into the SFR Galaxy Awards as thoroughly as I could have, it wouldn't be ethical to continue the event without rebuilding it from the ground up.

I intended for the SFR Galaxy Awards to be inclusive and diverse regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, and #ownvoices across its various parts, but my actions didn't always match my intent. I apologize to anyone who was harmed by my lack of foresight.

If we're lucky to have an SFR-specific award event in the future, my hope is that it's designed to be diverse and inclusive so everyone involved feels welcome, celebrated, and safe. Furthermore, if I have the opportunity to create SFR events in the future, I pledge to make them a safe space for authors and readers of all kinds.

***

I deeply appreciate the company of everyone who came along with me on the SFR Galaxy Awards adventure.

Big thanks to Laurie Green for her hard work, generosity, and intrepid support for this event.

A hearty thanks to the judges past and present for their incredible work and enthusiasm. It's been an honor to know and work with them. Thanks so very much to the winning authors for helping to promote the event as well as their wonderful SFR adventures.

And finally, thanks to the readers who participated, visited the awards site, and helped spread the word. SFR is nothing without its faithful readers.

All the best,
Heather

2018 SFR Galaxy Awards Announcements

The Seventh Annual SFR Galaxy Awards are being announced today in seven rounds, beginning at 10AM Eastern time. Please join us in celebrating the only exclusively Science Fiction Romance awards by visiting the website, congratulating the winners, and sharing the links on social media.

Here are links to the awards rounds as they're posted:

Award Round 1 by Jo Jones

Award Round 2 by Riley Moreland

Award Round 3 by Heather Massey

Award Round 4 by Lee Koven

Award Round 5 by Marlene Harris

Awards Round 6 by Chris Stock

Awards Round 7 by KJ Van Houten


Many congratulations to all the winners today!

All About the SFR Galaxy Awards

In case you haven’t heard, the 2018 SFR Galaxy Awards are coming…tomorrow!

What are the Awards About?

The SFR Galaxy Awards are an annual award event for the science fiction romance genre only. These awards are announced every January 31st, and this year’s awards feature seven rounds beginning at 10AM Eastern time (9AM Central, 8AM Mountain and 7AM Pacific) and continuing until 4PM Eastern. This marks the 7th anniversary of the awards.

The concept for the awards was created by Heather Massey after being inspired by a quote from acclaimed SFF author Ursula K. Le Guin, and the awards were founded by Heather Massey and Laurie A. Green in 2012.

How are they Decided?

The SFR Galaxy Awards is not a voters’ choice award, nor is it a writing competition. The panel of seven judges--who are all avid readers of SFR books, as well as book reviewers, book bloggers, librarians, and/or editors--choose their selection(s) from the general pool of SFR books available, whether traditionally- or self-published, print or digital, of any length, subgenre, or heat level. The only criteria is the book must have a cover and must be available to purchase or download (free books are eligible). The focus is Sci-Fi Romance books published in the awards year, but judges may also choose a book published in a different calendar year, or a SFR movie, television show or game.

The judges make their selection(s) of outstanding SFR books and/or elements and may choose to include a write-up of why they made the selection. They also create the title of each individual award, which can range in tone from serious to fun. See the SFR Brigade Recommends post yesterday for examples of some of the previous awards.

What is their Purpose?

The overall purpose of the awards is to recognize outstanding science fiction romance books or outstanding elements they contain, and to connect readers with books they want to read.

Where can I Find the Awards?

The award rounds will begin posting every hour starting at 10AM Eastern time tomorrow.

You can read more details on the awards and their criteria here:
About the SFR Galaxy Awards

You can read about the panel of judges here:
SFR Galaxy Award Judges

You can follow the awards as they’re announced here:
SFR Galaxy Awards Home Page

If you read or write Science Fiction Romance, these are your awards! Please help get the word out by sharing the announcements via Facebook, Twitter and other social media (there are convenient buttons below each post or you can copy and paste the links to the award rounds, if you prefer).

Thank you!

SFRB Recommends: The SFR Galaxy Awards!

This month, the SFRB Recommends highlights the upcoming SFR Galaxy Awards.

The SFR Galaxy Awards give the judges the freedom to choose what they found noteworthy for their awards, so the award names are often creative in their own right! Here are a few inventive awards given in previous years.

Best Recursion - Kicking Ashe by Pauline Baird Jones
Most Awesome Psychic Talent - Gethyon by Pippa Jay
Creepiest Use of Ancestors - Mission to Mahjundar by Veronica Scott
Most Unusual Business - Mercenary Instinct by Ruby Lionsdrake
Best Shipboard Mystery - In the Black by Sheryl Nantus
The “Why Isn’t This a Movie?” Series - The Phoenix Adventures by Anna Hackett
Most Dapper Heroes - The Clockwork Menagerie by Elliot Cooper
Hottest Cold War - Relaunch Mission by Robyn Bachar

Fun, right? Previous awards are a great way to expand your TBR pile. This year's awards will be announced Thursday, 31 January.

It's SFR Galaxy Awards Day!

The 2017 SFR Galaxy Awards recipients will be announced today in seven rounds, beginning with a welcome message at 8:00 AM EST (USA), and featuring an award round every hour beginning at 10:00 AM EST.

Tomorrow marks the sixth year these awards have been presented, and includes a special tribute to late SF/F author Ursula K. Le Guin who passed on January 22, 2018. Her words were the inspiration for these unique awards.

As the posts are made, the links to each individual round will be added below. The schedule is as follows:

2017 SFR Galaxy Awards Welcome Message

Round 1 - 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time - Chris Stock

Round 2 - 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time - Heather Massey

Round 3 - 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time - Marlene Harris

Round 4 -  1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time - Riley Moreland

Round 5 -  2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time - Jo Jones

Round 6 -  3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time - Lee Koven

Round 7 -  4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time - Anna McLain

You can help celebrate the awards by commenting on the awards rounds, and sharing the announcement links and information on social media.