Let's Try for a Spice! Hugo Award!
Title: Spice: The MXTX Food Zine
Creators: Stiltonbasket, Czeriah, NinjaKK
URL: https://mxtxfoodzine.carrd.co/
2025 was its 4th issue.
The Hugo Awards are one of the most prestigious awards in science fiction, and one of them is for "Best Fanzine." The rules are (emphasis added):
Best Fanzine. Any generally available non-professional periodical publication devoted to science fiction, fantasy, or related subjects that by the close of the previous calendar year has published four (4) or more issues (or the equivalent in other media), at least one (1) of which appeared in the previous calendar year, that does not qualify as a semiprozine or a fancast, and that in the previous calendar year met neither of the following criteria: (1) paid its contributors or staff monetarily in other than copies of the publication, (2) was generally available only for paid purchase.
(Note that "previous calendar year" means 2025, because this is referring to the 2026 Hugo Awards.)
Normally, Best Fanzine goes to a newsletter or blog, something that does reviews or fandom news articles. A fanfic zine has never been a finalist. This is because (among other reasons):
Very few fanfic-and-fanart zines have multiple issues anymore, and
There is a very strong anti-fanfic contingent among Hugo nominators and voters.
I want Spice! The MXTX Food Zine to get on the ballot this year. (I don't think we have a chance of winning, because there is a lot of anti-fanfic hostility.)
Carrd for the free MXTX Food Zine, Spice
But we're eligible and I'd love to see us get on the ballot. https://www.wsfs.org/rules-of-the-world-science-fiction-society/ has the relevant rules; anyone who had a membership for LACon as of December 31 of last year, or who had a WSFS or attending membership at Seattle last year, can nominate for this year's Hugo Awards. If you had a membership last year and weren't planning on nominating for the Hugos - please consider doing so! Nominations will close on Saturday, March 28, 2026 at 9:00am Pacific Time / 12:00pm Eastern Time / 4:00pm GMT.
I FINALLY GET TO POST ABOUT THIS!
If you're eligible to vote, please, please consider voting for the MXTX Food Zine this year. This project has been an immense labor of love on the part of all the moderators, editors, and contributors: and it's one of only a few eligible zines incorporating fic/fanart, since it's not so common for printed zines to 1) be free to the public (since many physical zines are charity zines) and 2) release four or more editions.
If you are not voting for the zine, please consider sharing this post to spread the word! For anyone unfamiliar with MXTX, our zine focuses on food-themed fanworks based on the works of Chinese author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation | Mo Dao Zu Shi, and Heaven Official's Blessing | Tian Guan Ci Fu. It's a recipe book, art book, and fanfiction anthology rolled into one; and if you're interested in grabbing a copy for yourself, you can download all four editions for free here.
Let's win this! ৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻)
