Black Gate Declines Hugo Nomination

John O’Neill at Black Gate has declined the magazine’s Hugo Award nomination for best fanzine.

The announcement was made on Black Gate’s blog on May 1st, 2016, where O’Neill explained:

It’s clear that Black Gate largely benefited from Vox Day’s Rabid Puppy Hugo slate…. It also seems fairly obvious that we cannot win. Of the 61 nominees the Puppy ballots placed on the Hugo ballot last year, only one, Guardians of the Galaxy, received an award. The Rabid Puppy brand, which BG is now unwillingly associated with, is so toxic that it’s virtually impossible to overcome that association without the equivalent of a $100 million advertising campaign…. By giving up our very slim chance at winning, we can give another deserving publication a shot. That seems like a fair exchange to me.