Frequently Asked Questions
Questions
What awards does SFWA give out?
What are the formal rules governing the Nebula Awards® and the Andre Norton Award?
What’s the definition of a “novella,” “novelette,” etc.?
Why are these rules so complicated?
What is rolling eligibility, and why was it instituted?
When are the awards announced?
How can I enter my work into the competition for a Nebula Award or an Andre Norton Award?
Who decides what wins, and how is the winner determined?
How does a work get onto the Final Ballot?
How does a work get onto the Preliminary Ballot?
Can I do anything to help my work’s chances?
How can I offer a complimentary copy of my work to any SFWA member who requests one?
Can I have my work posted on the SFWA web site in the private members’ section?
How can I send a copy of my work to the relevant jury?
How might withdrawing my work help its chances?
Answers
Q: What awards does SFWA give out?
A:
• The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement.
• Nebula Awards® in 5 categories: Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Script.
• The Andre Norton Award for an outstanding young adult science fiction or fantasy book. Beginning in 2006.
• The Service to SFWA Award is occasionally given to a SFWA member.
• Although it is not technically an “award,” SFWA honors an Author Emeritus, who is invited to speak at the Nebula Awards banquet.
• On three occasions, SFWA has given out the Bradbury Award for excellence in screenwriting. Its role is generally regarded as having been superseded by the Script category of Nebula Award, which was introduced in 1999.
Q: What are the formal rules governing the Nebula Awards® and the Andre Norton Award?
A: Here are the formal rules. The questions and answers in this FAQ are intended to serve as a more digestible introduction to the rules and procedures, but the formal rules take precedence in case of conflict.
Q: What’s the definition of a “novella,” “novelette,” etc.?
A: For the purposes of the Nebula Awards, the categories are defined as follows:
• Novel — 40,000 words or more
• Novella — 17,500–39,999 words
• Novelette — 7,500–17,499 words
• Short Story — 7,499 words or fewer
• Script — a professionally produced audio, radio, television, motion picture, multimedia, or theatrical script
At the author’s request, a novella-length work published individually, rather than as part of a collection or an anthology, may appear in the novel category.
Q: Why are these rules so complicated?
A. The Nebula Awards were originally conceived as a system that would be fair democratic to its core, in which SFWA members would be able to recommend works during the year for other members to take note of, and a work that garnered enough recommendations would be placed on a preliminary ballot so that members could choose the top five works. Those works are then placed on a final ballot, along with a selection from a jury whose job it is to find works that may have not been seen by many members. The ballot is voted on using what has been called the Australian balloting system, which determines the winners based on voter rankings. Over the years the rules have been tinkered with to make the results fairer, which has resulted in an increasing number of rules,
Q: What is rolling eligibility, and why was it instituted?
A. In a nutshell, it’s because the recommendation period takes time. When the eligibility period was the calendar year, It was realized that works appearing early in the year had a distinct advantage over those that were published at the end. A novel that appeared in January, for example, would have twelve months to receive recommendations, whereas a novel that was published in December would have only one. As a result, the eligibility period to garner the required number of recommendations was made a year from publication, giving all works an equal amount of time for consideration.
Q: When are the awards announced?
A: At the annual Nebula Awards banquet. The date varies from year to year, but the ceremonies are held over the course of a weekend in April or early May. The awards are given out for the best work of the preceding year; for example, the “2003 Nebula Awards” were awarded in April 2004.
Q: How can I enter my work into the competition for a Nebula Award or an Andre Norton Award?
A: There is no formal entry procedure. All works published during the eligibility period are considered by the SFWA membership and the awards Juries.
Q: Who decides what wins, and how is the winner determined?
A: The Final Ballot, usually consisting of 5 or 6 works in each category, is voted on by Active members of SFWA. Members rank the works in each category in order of preference and the votes are tallied using the “Australian ballot” method defined in the Nebula rules. (Members may also vote for “No Award” in any category.)
Q: How does a work get onto the Final Ballot?
A: There are two ways to qualify.
(1) A work may first appear on the Preliminary Ballot, which is voted on by Active SFWA members. The 5 works receiving the most votes in each category (or more in the case of a tie) go onto the Final Ballot.
(2) In each category an awards jury may add one work to the Final Ballot. (The Andre Norton Jury may add up to 3 works in its category.) There are four juries—one for Novels, one for all three classes of shorter fiction, one for scripts, and one for the Andre Norton Award. The idea is that juries will read widely throughout the year and add worthy works that have been overlooked by the wider membership. Juries choose from works published within the calendar year of the award.
Q: How does a work get onto the Preliminary Ballot?
A: Throughout the calendar year, Active SFWA Members “recommend” works for the Preliminary Ballot. This is a formal nomination process. A work that receives 10 recommendations within its eligibility period qualifies to appear on the next Preliminary Ballot. A work’s eligibility period runs for 12 months, counting from its official month of publication. Thus, a work that was published in June 2004 is eligible to receive recommendations until May 31st, 2005. This rolling eligibility period is intended to level the playing field so that works published at particular times of the year do not receive any benefit. As a consequence of rolling eligibility, a work published as early as February 2003 may appear on the 2004 Preliminary Ballot (if it receives its 10th recommendation in January 2004, which is too late for it to appear on the 2003 Preliminary Ballot). Scripts work slightly differently—they are eligibile for 365 days from their first on-air day or day of release. In addition, the Andre Norton Jury may add works to its category of the Preliminary Ballot.
Q: Can I do anything to help my work’s chances?
A: There are four things you can do: (see the following questions for more information)
• Offer to give a complimentary copy of your work to any SFWA member who requests one
• Supply the SFWA web site with an electronic copy of the work
• Send a copy to the relevant jury
• Withdraw your work from consideration
Q: How can I offer to give a complimentary copy of my work to any SFWA member who requests one?
A: Contact the editor of the Nebula Awards Report at nar(at)sfwa.org and inform him that you will do this. He will then list your work in the Nebula Awards Report with an annotation about the offer of a complimentary copy. If you are not a SFWA member, he will also include your email address as the contact point (that’s not necessary for SFWA members, whose contact information can be found in the SFWA directory).
Q: Can I have my work posted on the SFWA web site in the private members’ section?
A: Yes, if it is currently listed in the Nebula Awards Report (which also means the work must have been published somewhere already and it must have been recommended by a SFWA member). Contact fiction.nar(at)sfwa.org. These formats are preferred: rtf, pdf, MS Word (we will convert to a simple html format). If you have your work only in another format, query first. The private members’ section of the SFWA web site is accessible only by SFWA members, so posting there generally is not considered to be “publication” or a breach of copyright. Do not send unpublished works to this address. We are not a publisher. If you are not a SFWA member and want to find out whether your work is currently listed in the Nebula Awards Report, contact the NAR editor, nar(at)sfwa.org.
Q: How can I send a copy of my work to the relevant jury?
A: The chairs of the four juries can be contacted at the following addresses. Do not send an electronic copy of your work unsolicited. Send an email to query about mailing or emailing a copy, and what address(es) to use.
• Novels: novel.jury(at)sfwa.org
• Short fiction: short.jury(at)sfwa.org
• Scripts: script.jury(at)sfwa.org
• Young adult novels: novel.jury(at)sfwa.org and norton.jury(at)sfwa.org
Q: How might withdrawing my work help its chances?
A: The author of any eligible work may withdraw it from consideration in a given year and request that a later edition be considered for the Nebula, but only in two specific cases: (a) if it appeared as a limited edition publication, or (b) if the author finds the published version unacceptable as the result of editorial changes or production errors. To withdraw a work, email the NAR editor at nar(at)sfwa.org. See the formal rules, items 6 and 7 for more information.
