Astounding Award for Best New Writer (original) (raw)

Who is eligible for the 2024 Astounding Award?

Writers with a qualifying professional work published in 2022 or 2023. Eligibility does not reset with pseudonyms. Each writer has a two year eligibility window after publishing a qualifying work.

What counts as a qualifying professional work?

Any work of fiction in the science fiction or fantasy genres (SF/F) published in a qualifying publication.

Which publications qualify?

Any publication meeting one of the following criteria:

• Copy print run of at least 10,000
• Publications which have a nominal pay rate, particularly those designated by the award sponsor (Dell Magazines). The nominal rate was originally taken from SFWA membership requirements, which was 0.08/wordwithaminimumof0.08/word with a minimum of 0.08/wordwithaminimumof80 total.
• A published work of fiction of a minimum of 40,000 words either sold to a small press or self-published for which the author can demonstrate net income of at least $3,000 within one year. Income can be in the form of advance, royalties, or some combination thereof.

Note that the requirement for SFWA qualifying markets has been eliminated.

What does not count as a qualifying work?

• works in non-qualifying publications
• poetry, even if it is SF/F and appears in a qualifying publication
• non-fiction, even if it is SF/F and appears in a qualifying publication
• fiction outside the SF/F genres
• fan writing of any sort
• letters to the editor
• vanity press or self-published fiction for which the author is not paid, even if the print run is over 10,000
• writing for SF/F games

Do Horror publications count for eligibility?

Supernatural horror or horror with fantasy or science fiction elements counts for eligibility. Horror without fantastical elements does not.

Does my eligibility clock start when the publication is available?

The cover date of the periodical is what counts for eligibility. So if your first publication was in the January 2020 issue of a qualifying magazine, but the issue hit newstands in December 2019, your clock starts in 2020.

I sold a serial novel to a qualifying SF magazine. Does this count for eligibility? If so, when does the eligibility begin?

A serial novel counts for eligibility with a minimum payment of $1600. Eligibility begins when the last installment of the novel is published, in keeping with the Hugo rules (3.2.6: …a work appearing in a number of parts shall be eligible for the year of the final part.)

Has my eligibility clock started if I co-wrote a story that appeared in a qualifying magazine?

Yes. The story begins the eligibility clock for all contributing (and not previously eligible) authors.

When does my eligibility start if my book is a print on demand? Is it the day it sells enough copies or the day it was first published?

The day it sells enough copies. All eligibility criteria must be met before the eligibility clock starts.

I wrote a short story that appeared in our large-circulation daily newspaper. Am I eligible?

If the print run was over 10,000, you were paid more than a nominal amount for your work, and the story was in the SF/F genre, then you are eligible.

If I wrote under a pen-name, can I still be eligible under my own name?

Yes.

I'm still confused about my eligibility. What should I do?

Send an e-mail to one of the moderators with the details of your situation. Ultimately, the Hugo Administrators have final say on any question of eligibility.