Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Devoted husband and faithful friend. As the author of ten published novels and over seventy published short stories and articles, Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. won literary awards and had a devoted following of readers. He chaired SFWA’s Nebula Award Committee, ran SFWA’s Bulletin, helped run SFWA’s website and for six years held SFWA’s dirtiest and most [...]

Nebula Rules

Complete Nebula Awards® Rules Including the Ray Bradbury and Andre Norton Awards (Revised & Updated)

The Nebula Awards® Rules as of October 2011 are listed below:

1. The SFWA President shall, in compliance with the Bylaws and established operating procedures, appoint a Nebula Awards Commissioner to oversee and administer the Nebula Awards® and to carry out the duties as outlined herein and any other related responsibilities that may arise during the course of said administration. During the term of responsibility, no works by the Nebula Awards Commissioner shall be eligible for nomination. Members of the SARC who appear on the FINAL BALLOT must recuse themselves from any subsequent vote that concerns eligibility or interpretation of rules in the category in which they appear for that year’s Nebula, Bradbury, or Norton Awards. These cases shall be referred to the Board of Directors for resolution, along with a report from the NAC stating the issue and the reason for the recusal.
2. The SFWA President shall, in compliance with the Bylaws and established operating procedures, appoint a three (3) person SFWA Awards Rules Committee (SARC), to rule on questions pertaining to the Nebula Awards® rules. The Nebula Awards Commissioner will serve as a secretary to this committee, but shall not be a voting member.
3. The SFWA Board of Directors, at their discretion, may create additional awards in special categories, to be voted on by the Active members in good standing. These additional awards will not be Nebula Awards.
4. The Nebula Awards year shall begin on January 1 and end on December 31 of the year for which awards will be presented.
5. Nebula Awards will be made in the following categories:
1.  Short Story: less than 7,500 words;
2.  Novelette: at least 7,500 words but less than 17,500 words;
3.  Novella: at least 17,500 words but less than 40,000 words
4.  Novel: 40,000 words or more.
1. At the author’s request, a novella-length work published individually, rather than as a part of a collection, anthology, or other collective work, shall appear in the novel category.
6. Eligibility
1. All works first published in English, in the United States, during the calendar year, in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, or a related fiction genre are eligible for the Nebula Awards® in their respective categories.
1. Works such as comic books, graphic novels, and similar type works shall be placed in an existing category as deemed appropriate by the Nebula Awards Commissioner, based primarily on their word count.
2. The Nebula Awards Commissioner will decide the eligibility of a questionable work.
2. Works first published in English on the Internet or in electronic form during the calendar year shall be treated as though published in the United States.
3. Word counts for translated works shall be based on the English word count.
4. Works not yet released to the general public, such as review copies for a forthcoming work or works published in a password protected or limited distribution workshop, shall not be eligible for nomination or the final ballot until the work is actually released and available to the general public.
5. The novel-length version of a previously published short story, novelette, or novella shall be eligible upon the novel’s first English-language publication in the United States. A novel re-issued in expanded or modified form shall not be eligible unless previously withdrawn in accordance with the rules. A short story, novelette, or novella based on a previously-published version of the work shall not be eligible.
6. Works are eligible whether or not their authors are members of SFWA. Works are eligible whether or not they have been previously published outside of the United States.
7. Withdrawals
1. 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:
1. If it appeared as a limited edition publication, or
2. If the author finds the published version unacceptable as the result of editorial changes or production errors.
2. An author must present a written request for withdrawal to the Nebula Awards Commissioner by November 1st or within thirty (30) days after the publication, production, or broadcast of the work, whichever is later.
3. For a later edition of a withdrawn work to be eligible, the author must present a written request for reinstatement to the Nebula Awards Commissioner.
4. Nominations shall not be accepted for a work withdrawn from eligibility, nor shall nominations on file for any such work be carried over to the future.
5. An author may permanently withdraw a work from eligibility by delivering a written request to the Nebula Awards Commissioner. No work so withdrawn shall ever again be eligible for the Nebula Awards.
6. If a work published late in the year is withdrawn after November 1st and has received nominations, those nominations will be null and void. The member(s) who nominated the work will be allowed to make replacement nominations.
8. All Active and Associate members of SFWA in good standing are eligible to make nominations during the NOMINATION PERIOD.
9. A secure, web-based form will be provided for all classes of members to offer “suggested reading” throughout the year. ANY class of member will be eligible to add entries to this database, which shall be checked monthly for duplicates and errors by the Nebula Awards Commissioner.
10.  Works may not be nominated or formally suggested by their authors, editors, publishers, or agents.
11.  The official NOMINATION PERIOD will open on November 15th and continue until February 15th. Nominations will be accepted via a secure web-based form.
1. Only Active and Associate members in good standing shall be eligible to nominate works for the FINAL BALLOT.
2. Nominations shall be treated as confidential information and only the names of the works and numbers of nominations will be available for viewing by eligable members after the awards ceremony.
3. Each eligible member may nominate no more than five different works per category and may not nominate any work more than once.
4. The nominations will be counted by the Nebula Awards Commissioner, who shall compose the FINAL BALLOT.
12.  The FINAL BALLOT shall be comprised of the top six works in each category that receives the most nominations.
1. In the event that zero (0) works are nominated in a given category, then no award shall be given in that category.
2. In the event that less than six (6) works are nominated in a given category, then all works will be listed on the FINAL BALLOT.
3. In the event of a tie within a category for number of nominations, all tied works shall appear on the FINAL BALLOT, but in no event will more than a total of six works be listed per category, unless there is a tie for the final slot on the ballot in a category, in which case all such tied works will be listed no matter the number.
4. The FINAL BALLOT shall be made available for viewing no later than February 20th.
5. The FINAL BALLOT shall be made available for voting on March 1 via a secure web form. A printable version shall be made available, and members may print and mail their votes or request a printed ballot from the Nebula Awards Commissioner.
6. Only Active members in good standing shall be eligible to vote.*
7. Voting will be open until March 30th for Active Members.
8. No more than one vote may be cast per category, per member.
9. All votes will be tallied by April 1st.
10. The work in each category that receives the most votes will be declared the winner.
11. In the event of a tie after voting on the FINAL BALLOT, the total number of nominations received for each work will determine the winner. If the number of nominations is also tied, then the tie shall stand, and all such tied works shall receive the award.
13.  The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
1. SFWA shall award, in tandem with the Nebula Awards, an annual Ray Bradbury Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. This award is not a Nebula, but shall follow all Nebula rules and procedures, and be administered by the Nebula Awards Commissioner.
2. Eligible works for this award shall be dramatic works such as motion pictures, television, Internet, radio, audio, and stage productions.
3. The award will be given to the principal director and writer(s) of the production.
14.  The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book
1. The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book, established in 2006, is awarded in tandem with the Nebula Awards. This award is not a Nebula, but shall follow all Nebula rules and procedures except as follows:
1. Eligibility: The eligibility period shall be the calendar year. Any book in its first appearance in the English language published as a young adult science fiction or fantasy (or related genre) novel during that period shall be eligible, including graphic novels. Nothing shall preclude a work’s being eligible for both a Nebula Award and an Andre Norton Award. There shall be no word limit. Any questions of eligibility shall be decided:
1. By the Andre Norton Award Jury, in consultation if possible with the author, for purposes of determining whether or not a work is a young adult novel, or
2. By the Nebula Awards Commissioner, in consultation with the SARC and subject to an appeal to that committee, for purposes of determining other aspects of eligibility according to the rules.
3. In the event of a disagreement over jurisdiction, the SARC shall determine whether the eligibility question at issue falls under the jurisdiction of the Jury, the Nebula Awards Commissioner, or the SARC.
2. Andre Norton Award Jury: In consultation with the Nebula Awards Commissioner, the President shall appoint an Andre Norton Award Jury. The jury shall consist of at least three (3) and not more than seven (7) members, to consider works published during the calendar year for possible inclusion on the Final Ballot. The jury may add up to three (3) works to the Final Ballot. The jury may not add a work written by a member of the jury or a spouse or domestic partner of a member of the jury to the FINAL BALLOT.
3. Nominations: Nominations may be made by any Active or Associate members of SFWA in good standing, and shall be tallied in accordance with the Nebula Awards® rules for novels. Nominations shall be tracked by the Nebula Awards Commissioner and included as a separate category on the FINAL BALLOT.
4. FINAL BALLOT: The top six (6) works nominated shall reach the FINAL BALLOT, according to the procedures established for novels. The FINAL BALLOT shall be appended to the Nebula Awards Final Ballot, voted upon by the Active members and counted in accordance with the Nebula rules.
5. Winner: The winner shall be the work which receives the most votes during the FINAL BALLOT. Ties shall be handled in the manner established for novels.
15.  The winners of the Nebula Awards, Bradbury Award, and Andre Norton Award shall be announced at an annual Nebula Awards ceremony.
16.  The interpretation of these rules, and all questions regarding eligibility, withdrawals, nominations, ballots, etc. shall be decided by the Nebula Awards Commissioner, subject to appeal to the SARC. If an author or a director or writer of a dramatic production disagrees with a decision made by the SARC, he or she may apply to the Board of Directors for a further appeal by presenting to them a brief summary of the reasons for the appeal. At this time, the SARC shall provide a summary of their decision to the Board, and, if two members of the Board then believe that an appeal is justified, the decision shall be voted on by the Board, which may overrule the SARC. Board members who appear on the FINAL BALLOT must recuse themselves from any subsequent Board vote that concerns eligibility or interpretation of rules for that year’s Nebula, Bradbury, or Norton Awards.

These rules are “Working Policies” as defined in the current By-laws, under Article X, Section 2, and may be amended at any time by a majority vote of the Board of Directors.