Genre
Nebula Awards
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA)
In short
The Nebula Awards are given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association for science fiction, fantasy, and related work first published in English in the United States. Finalist status is noticed by booksellers, libraries, and rights buyers. Nothing is submitted: only members of the association nominate and vote, and the rules bar an author, editor, publisher, or agent from putting forward their own or a client's work. What an author can do is make sure the book's first United States publication date is unambiguous.
Next cycle not announcedChecked September 16, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Every label is a fact from the official rules, never a judgment about whether the award is worth entering. How we describe awards.
This program has not published a verified deadline for its next cycle. Use the official link before making plans.
Sign in to be emailed when entries open again.
The Nebula Awards are given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for works of science fiction, fantasy, or a related fiction genre first published in English in the United States during the calendar year. Categories are Novel (40,000 words or more), Novella, Novelette, Short Story, the Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction, Game Writing, the Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, Comics, and Poetry.
Only SFWA members nominate and vote. Full, Associate, and Senior members in good standing nominate during a window that opens no later than December 15 and runs at least through January 31, then vote on the final ballot. Any class of member can add entries to SFWA's suggested reading list, but a work may not be nominated by its own author, editor, publisher, or agent.
Works published on the internet and available to United States readers qualify, translations become eligible on their first English-language United States publication, and works written wholly or partly by generative large language models are ineligible. There is no fee and no entry form; the trophy is a physical award.
Why it may matter
The Nebula is the science fiction and fantasy award voted on by working writers in the field, and finalist status is noted by booksellers, libraries, and rights buyers. Because there is no submission, the useful preparation is confirming that the book is on SFWA's radar through the reading list (added by a member who is not connected to the book) and that its eligibility year is unambiguous.
Deadlines
No cycle has been verified for this award yet. Use the official rules link.
Worth knowing
Our reading, not a rule the organization published. We judge an award on the rubric in how we describe awards.
The rules bar any work created wholly or partly with generative AI. Authors who are SFWA members can nominate other people's work but not their own; publicists and agents are under the same restriction for their clients. Winners are announced at the annual Nebula Conference; the date is posted on the SFWA site each year. The rules page sets a framework rather than dates: nominations open no later than December 15 and run through at least January 31, and the final ballot follows within a month and stays open for at least a month. As of September 16, 2026 neither nebulas.sfwa.org (opens in a new tab) nor the rules page gave the exact dates for the 2026 award year. There is nothing to enter, so this record carries no cycle.
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 16, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.
Run this award? Confirm or correct this record.
Use your work email. If it is on the domain the record already links to, we send you a link that opens the record for you to confirm or correct. Otherwise a person reads it and gets back to you.