I think that you are absolutely correct in your
assumption.
Instead of cliquish, I suspect that they are
snobs. Vampire fiction is hot in the current market
place, so some feel that it can't be real fantasy
or science fiction. I believe that this mind set is
currently killing SF/F fandom.
When I first found others who enjoyed SF/F as
much as I, the group we was inclusive. As the group
aged, a shift in the thinking occurred. If you don't like
the same authors as the old guard readers, then you were
automatically excluded from the group of SF/F real readers.
You were no longer a REAL fan, but a pale substitute who
should be ignored and excluded.
Look at the difference in attendance between
World Con and Dragoncon. I've been told that Drangoncon
isn't a real science fiction convention. It is too big
and has programming that real fans don't like, therefore
if you like Dragoncon you aren't a real science fiction
fan.
As you have probably guessed, your observation
has jerked my chain on what is currently happening among
science fiction readers as a group. I also suspect that
this is one the biggest reason for the current decline
in SF/F fandom.

Susan


On Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:58:14 -0400, Helge Moulding <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Dan Hicks <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> I am surprised to not
>> find Stephanie Meyer's "The Host" on this list. Not that I liked the
>> book
>> much at all, but it has been in the top ten or fifteen of the NY Times
>> Bestseller list for many months. I thought that would get it a
>> nomination.
>
> Ah, yes, Stephanie Meyer. I know people who say they want to invite
> writers who draw members to a convention, but when I ask why Stephanie
> isn't in the list for consideration it's a deafening silence. Is it
> possible that
> SF/F fandom is just as cliquish as the lit-crit crowd, about whose
> cliquishness we complain bitterly? That would be ironic...
>



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