Speculative Fiction Awards/Anthologies with Nominations
Congrats on getting that awesome thing published! It deserves to get in front of as many readers as possible. One way to do that is via reprints and awards. In a lot of cases, anthologies and award juries do their own reading and selection. Or a convention or membership organization will only consider works nominated by their members. But there are opportunities for you to get your story out there on your own terms.
Here is my list of speculative fiction awards and best-of anthologies that take nominations from U.S. writers outside of membership groups. This includes the main sub-categories of SFFH: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, as well as their sub-genres. These awards are for previously published material only, usually from either the current year for next year's award, or from the previous year. I've tried to include the submission period/eligibility periods where available. I will try to keep this as updated as I can.
There are a few that are open only to a limited demographic, and some where you need to prod your publisher to submit for you. Some are merely official "suggestion" lists. Be sure to check awards/publishers guidelines before submitting, as they will have the most up-to-date information on timing and eligibility. But hopefully you'll find a few on here that apply to your work and self-nominate!
Last updated 10/22/2026
Speculative Fiction Awards/Anthologies with Nominations
compiled by Allison Pottern
Does not include awards where only a groups’ or convention’s members can nominate.
Only includes awards/anthologies open to U.S. writers.
Only includes awards/anthologies that take pre-published work from current a/o previous year.
No application fee unless otherwise marked
Awards for Short Fiction (+ sometimes long) — can nominate/self-sub a/o open noms
Otherwise Awards Recommendation (open sub period for 2025 & 2026, for works pubbed thru late 2026)
Bram Stoker Award Consideration (sub 2026 pubs through November/December 2026)
British Fantasy Society Awards Suggestion (March – April 2027 sub period, for prev year)
World Fantasy Award Submission (early 2027 sub period, for prev year)
Locus Readers Award Poll (Feb – April 2027 open voting period with write-ins, for prev year)
IAFA Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award (sub by Dec. 1)
Sidewise Award for Alternate History (sub no later than Mar. 31 of the year following publication)
WSFA Small Press Award (sub Jan. 12 - Mar. 31 for short works from prev year)
Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship (self/indie-pub novellas only; 100 sub cap, pubbed by Sept of sub year, for next year’s award)
Astounding Award for Best New Writer (email mods to get on eligibility list; must have eligible pubs from 1 - 2 prev years)
Best of Anthologies for Short Fiction — can nominate/self-sub a/o open noms
Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy (sub through December 2026)
Best American Short Stories (assume sub through December 2026)
Best Science Fiction of the Year (sub through December 1st/15th 2026)
Best Horror of the Year (sub through Dec 1, 2026; ask publisher to send if possible)
We’re Here: Best Queer Speculative Fiction (sub through Dec. 31st 2026)
Best Weird Fiction of the Year (fall- end of year publisher submit, January self-submit)
Brave New Weird (October 2026 submission period)
ECO26: Year’s Best Speculative EcoFiction (Dec 2026 – Jan 2027 submission period)
Awards for Short fiction (and long) — publisher nominates
Best of the Net (July – Sept 2026, publisher submit)
Small Spec Book Awards (small/indie pubs only, 300 sub cap, sub Jan 1 - 31, for prev year)
World Fantasy Award (from judge selection - April 30, for prev year, publisher submit)
Theodore Sturgeon Award (sub through March 2027?, publisher or reader submit)
Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction (for prev year, publisher submit)
Shirley Jackson Award (for prev year?, publisher submit)
PEN America Literary Awards (mostly books, one for first short story pub; publisher submit)
InkMark Award for Speculative Fiction (spec fic mags can apply + nom up to 5 stories)
Awards for Books only — can self-submit
Endeavour Award (Pacific Northwest authors, subs opens Jan, for prev year)
Le Guin Prize (March sub period, for prev year)
IAFA Crawford Award (first fantasy book, Mar - Dec sub period, for current year)
Philip K Dick Award (May 1 - Dec 15 sub period, for current year)
Lambda Awards (LGBTQ+, Sept - Nov sub period, for current year)
Dragon Awards (open noms until July, open voting until DragonCon, free reg required, for July 1 prev year to June 30 current year)
Prometheus Award (Can sub suggestions, for prev year + Nov/Dec before)
Compton Crook Award (first commercially available SFFH novel, for prev Nov - current Oct)
Awards for Poetry — can self-submit
Dwarf Stars Award/Anthology (sub in April; short poems only pub’d the prev calendar year)
Otherwise Awards Recommendation (also open to poetry; open sub period for 2025 & 2026, for works pubbed thru late 2026)
Main source: https://www.sfadb.com/Awards_Directory
