Hugo Award Categories

The official rules

The official definition of the rules for the Hugo Awards can be found in Article 3 of the Constitution of the World Science Fiction Society. What follows is a plain English interpretation of those rules. In case of any ambiguity, the Constitution does, of course, take precedence.

Types of category

There are three main types of Hugo Award category:

1. Individual works, for example a single book or film, in which case the Award is given for that work;
2. People, for example Best Professional Artist, in which case the Award is given for the work that person has done in the year of eligibility. Please note that “year of eligibility” qualification. If X happens to be the most famous SF artist in the world, but he has produced no work in the year of eligibility, then he should not be nominated.
3. Serial publications, for example Best Fanzine, in which case the Award is given for the entire run of that publication in the year of eligibility, not for a single issue.

Year of eligibility

All Awards are given for work in a given year. Individual works are eligible only in their first year of publication. For people and serial publications the Award is given for all achievements in the year in question. Works first published in a language other than English are also eligible in their first year of publication in English translation. Please note that if a book is first published in hardcover and then later in paperback then it is eligible only for the year in which the hardback was published. If you want to vote in the Hugos and can’t afford hardbacks, try your local library. They may well be able to help. For any work, the year is from the printed publication date if there is one, or else from the copyright date. (Many printed works are actually available before their printed publication date, but this does not matter for Hugo eligibility.)

Because such a huge proportion of the people who nominate on the Hugo Awards are in the USA, and because those people often do not get to see works first published outside the USA until a year later when those works get US publication, WSFS has been experimenting with extending the eligibility of works first published outside the USA. This extension has to be renewed annually by the WSFS Business Meeting, and historically has not always been extended since the rule was adopted allowing it. Check the Hugo Award nominating ballot for the current year to see whether works published in prior years outside of the USA are eligible if they were published for the first time in the USA in the current year.

Note that the Hugo Awards are labeled for the year they are presented, not for the year in which the works were published. For example, the 2007 Hugo Awards are generally for works first published or appearing in 2006.

Serialized works

Works such as TV series, comics and sometimes even whole novels are sometimes published in multiple parts making up a complete story arc. The individual elements of such a story arc are always eligible for their year of publication. However, voters may want to nominate a complete story arc. In such cases it is the publication date of the final installment of the series that counts for eligibility purposes.

If an individual installment of a story arc achieves a nomination on its own then the complete story arc will probably be ruled ineligible if nominated. This is because the voters have clearly indicated that the installment stands on its own as a complete work and is not part of a longer work. (The same would apply if, for example, book 1 of a trilogy were to be nominated on its own.)

Web sites and e-books

Works published electronically rather than on paper have always been accepted as nominees. A decision of the 2009 WSFS Business Meeting formally acknowledged this by ratifying a Constitutional Amendment that added the words “or the equivalent in other media” to various category definitions.

Length of work

Several of the category definitions are based on the length of a work. Don’t worry if you have not counted the number of words in a story that you want to nominate. Firstly you can check with some recommendation lists such as the ones linked to on this site. If the story is listed there it will almost certainly be in the right category. And if that doesn’t help, guess. The people who administer the voting are there to help, and they will generally move your nominations into the correct category if you have them wrong.

Professional work

Some Hugo categories are divided by whether the work done was professional, semi-professional, or fannish. The definition of what is “professional” work is left up to the voters. (Until recently, it was based on whether the publication had a net press run of at least 10,000 copies; however, the rise of electronic publication and the number of obviously professional small press publications with press runs of less than 10,000 copies led WSFS to stop attempting to define “professional” in a technical sense. Instead, the voters decide whether they think a work or person qualifies as “professional” or not.)

(See the Best Semiprozine category for the definition of semi-professional.)

Science Fiction? Fantasy? Horror?

While the World Science Fiction Society sponsors the Hugos, they are not limited to sf. Works of fantasy or horror are eligible if the members of the Worldcon think they are eligible.

The categories

The current list of Hugo Award categories is as follows:

• Best Novel: Awarded for a science fiction or fantasy story of forty thousand (40,000) words or more.
• Best Novella: Awarded for a science fiction or fantasy story of between seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) and forty thousand (40,000) words.
• Best Novelette: Awarded for a science fiction or fantasy story of between seven thousand five hundred (7,500) and seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) words.
• Best Short Story: Awarded for science fiction or fantasy story of less than seven thousand five hundred (7,500) words.
• Best Related Work: Awarded to a work related to the field of science fiction, fantasy, or fandom, appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year or which has been substantially modified during the previous calendar year. The type of works eligible include, but are not limited to, collections of art, works of literary criticism, books about the making of a film or TV series, biographies and so on, provided that they do not qualify for another category.
• Best Graphic Story: A science fiction or fantasy story told in graphic form.
• Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form): This Award can be given a dramatized production in any medium, including film, television, radio, live theater, computer games or music. The work must last 90 minutes or longer (excluding commercials).
• Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form): This Award can be given a dramatized production in any medium, including film, television, radio, live theater, computer games or music. The work must be less than 90 minutes long (excluding commercials).
• Best Editor (Long Form): This is the first of the person categories, so the Award is given for the work that person has done in the year of eligibility. To be eligible the person must have edited at least 4 novel-length (i.e. 40,000 words or more) books devoted to science fiction and/or fantasy in the year of eligibility that are not anthologies or collections.
• Best Editor (Short Form): To be eligible the person must have edited at least four anthologies, collections or magazine issues devoted to science fiction and/or fantasy, at least one of which must have been published in the year of eligibility.
• Best Professional Artist: Another person category, this time for artists and illustrators. The work on which the nominees are judged must class as “professional”.
• Best Semiprozine: This is the most complicated category because of the need to define semi-professional. A lot of science fiction and fantasy magazines are run on a semi-professional basis: that is they pay a little, but generally not enough to make a living for anyone. The object of this category is to separate such things from fanzines, which are generally loss-making hobbyist pursuits. To qualify a publication must not be professional and must meet at least two of the following criteria:
  1. had an average press run of at least one thousand (1000) copies per issue;
  2. paid its contributors and/or staff in other than copies of the publication;
  3. provided at least half the income of any one person;
  4. had at least fifteen percent (15%) of its total space occupied by advertising;
  5. announced itself to be a semiprozine.

  This is the first of the serial publication categories. To qualify, the publication must have produced at least 4 issues, at least one of which must have appeared in the year of eligibility (this being similar to the requirements for magazine editors in Best Editor, Short Form).

• Best Fanzine: This is the other serial publication category. This Award is for anything that is neither professional nor semi-professional. The publication must also satisfy the rule of a minimum of 4 issues, at least one of which must have appeared in the year of eligibility.
• Best Fan Writer: This is another person category. Note that it does not just apply to writing done in fanzines. Work published in semiprozines, and even on mailing lists, blogs, BBSs, and similar electronic fora, can be including when judging people for this Award. Only work in professional publications should not be considered.
• Best Fan Artist: The final category is also for people. Again note that the work by which artists should be judged is not limited to material published in fanzines. Material for semiprozines or material on public displays (such as in convention art shows) is also eligible. Fan artists can have work published in professional publications as well. You should not consider it when judging this award, and also any artists who make the final ballot for Best Professional Artist may not also be on the final ballot for Best Fan Artist.

The John W. Campbell Award

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is not a Hugo. It is voted for and presented alongside the Hugos, but the eligibility rules are not governed by the WSFS Constitution. For further details of the Campbell see its own web site.

Additional Hugo Award categories

Worldcon Committees have the right to add one extra Hugo Award category each year. These extra Hugo Award categories are not permanent. This rule is not intended for regular use, but rather for special circumstances. Generally no additional awards are presented.

Special Awards

Some Worldcons give out special awards during the Hugo Awards ceremony. These awards are at the committee’s discretion, rather than by general vote. Such special awards may not use the Hugo Award rocket and are not considered Hugo Awards, but they are sometimes included in lists of Hugo Awards because they were presented at the same ceremony.