Prior to then, the eligibility period for nominations was defined as being one year after the publication date of the work, which allowed the possibility for works to be nominated in the calendar year after their publication, and then be awarded in the calendar year after that. īeginning with the 2009 awards, the rules were changed to the current format, and nominated works must have been published during that calendar year. Authors are not permitted to nominate their own works, and ties in the final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received. Soon after, members are given a month to vote on the ballot, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May.

Works are nominated each year by members in a period around December 15 through January 31, and the six works that receive the most nominations then form the final ballot, with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. Nebula Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of SFWA, though the authors nominated do not need to be members. The award has been described as one of 'the most important of the American science fiction awards' and 'the science-fiction and fantasy equivalent' of the Emmy Awards. Novels which were expanded forms of previously published stories are eligible, and novellas published individually can be considered as novels if the author requests it. The Award has been given annually since 1966. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible, provided they are released on either a website or in an electronic edition. To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration, a novel must have been published in English in the United States. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer awards are also given out for pieces of shorter lengths, in the categories of short story, novelette, and novella. The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association The best science fiction or fantasy story of 40,000 words or more published in the prior calendar year

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