 Sad Puppies 3 "mission patch" design by Artraccoon | |
| Formation | 8 January 2013 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Larry Correia |
| Dissolved | 2017 |
| Type | Internet activism |
| Purpose | Hugo Awards nominations |
Key people | Larry Correia, Brad R. Torgersen, Kate Paulk, Sarah Hoyt |
Formerly called | Sad Puppies Think of the Children Campaign |
Sad Puppies was an unsuccessful[1] right-wing[2] anti-diversity[3] voting campaign run from 2013 to 2017 and intended to influence the outcome of the annual Hugo Awards, the longest-running prize (since 1953) for science fiction or fantasy works. It was started in 2013 by author Larry Correia as a voting bloc to get his novel Monster Hunter Legion nominated for a Hugo Award, and then grew into suggested slates, or sets of works to nominate, in subsequent years (led by Correia in 2014, and then Brad R. Torgersen in 2015). According to the Los Angeles Times, Sad Puppies activists accused the Hugo Awards "of giving awards on the basis of political correctness and favoring authors and artists who aren't straight, white and male".[1]
For the 2015 Hugos, the Sad Puppies slate and overlapping Rabid Puppies slate, run by Vox Day, swept several categories of nominations. During final voting at the Hugos, however, all except one of those categories was voted "No Award"; in that category, Best Film, the Puppies nominated already-popular films.[4] In the following year, the Sad Puppies campaign was changed to instead report the results of a public survey, though the Rabid Puppy campaign did not follow suit. Only two categories were swept by the campaigns and subsequently voted for "No Award", and the only Puppy nominees to win categories were ones by popular creators unconnected to the campaigns, such as Neil Gaiman. The Sad Puppy campaign did not return in 2017, and the Rabid Puppy campaign only mustered an estimated 80–90 members and 12 nominations. That year, the nominating rules for the Hugos were changed to limit the power of bloc voting for small sets of works. Neither campaign was run in 2018 or has been run since.
- ^ a b Schaub, Michael. "'Sad Puppies' campaign fails to undermine sci-fi diversity at the Hugo Awards - Los Angeles Times". Retrieved September 29, 2018.
- ^ Barnett, David (April 26, 2016). "Hugo awards shortlist dominated by rightwing campaign". Retrieved September 29, 2018.
- ^ Hurley, Kameron (April 9, 2015). "Hijacking the Hugo Awards Won't Stifle Diversity in Science Fiction". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
- ^ Schneiderman, Miles. "Sci-Fi Fandom Declares Victory After Reactionary Nominees Lose Big at the Hugos". Yes Magazine. Yes Magazine. Retrieved July 24, 2019.