In 2015, Baen Books released an anthology, "The Year's Best Military SF & Space Opera", which was described by Don Sakers of "Analog" as "long overdue". Baen Books invited readers to vote for the best story from the volume. Sakers commented: "We can only hope that the award, like the anthology, will become an annual event." Williamson won the readers' poll for the short story "Soft Casualty" and was presented with an award at Dragon Con. The story deals with psychological warfare as an occupying force encounters harsh resistance tactics.