WSFA Small Press Award

だぶりゅーえすえふえーすもーるぷれすしょう

The WSFA Small Press Award, established in 2007 by the Washington Science Fiction Association, honors short fiction (under 20,000 words) of imaginative literature first published in English by a small press in the previous calendar year.

short fictionscience fictionfantasyhorrorspeculative fiction

Established: 2007
Organizer: Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA)
Category: Genre Fiction
Selection Method: Vote
Target: Open
Frequency: 1 per year
Announcement Period: around October
Status: Active

Description

The award is open to works of imaginative literature (science fiction, fantasy, horror) published in English for the first time in the previous calendar year, limited to short fiction under 20,000 words and published by a small press as defined by WSFA. Nominees are narrowed by a panel elected by WSFA membership; finalists are then voted on by the full WSFA membership. Author and publisher identities are kept anonymous during judging. The winner is announced at Capclave each October.

Prize

Main Prize: Recognition/award (winner announced at Capclave). Specific cash prize not listed in source.

Winner announced at Capclave
Recognition within the WSFA/speculative fiction community

Selection

Selection Process

Stage	Judges	Pass Rate	Announcement
Eligibility and initial nomination	Panel elected by WSFA membership	—	Panel narrows all eligible works to a shortlist of finalists
Final voting	Full WSFA membership (members vote on finalists)	—	Membership vote determines the winner
Winner announcement		—	Winner announced at Capclave (WSFA convention) in October

Eligibility and initial nomination

Judges Panel elected by WSFA membership

Announcement Panel narrows all eligible works to a shortlist of finalists

Final voting

Judges Full WSFA membership (members vote on finalists)

Announcement Membership vote determines the winner

Winner announcement

Judges

Announcement Winner announced at Capclave (WSFA convention) in October

Criteria

Short fiction under 20,000 words
First published in English in the previous calendar year
Published by a small press as defined by WSFA (books: 3–25 titles in the year the story is published; periodicals/web: circulation/subscriber base under 10,000 and pays authors in cash)
Author and publisher identities kept anonymous during judging

Application Tips

Dos

Confirm: the work was first published in English in the previous year
Confirm: the work is short fiction under 20,000 words
Confirm: the publisher meets WSFA's 'small press' definition (books: 3–25 titles per year; periodicals/web: circulation/subscriber base under 10,000 and pays authors in cash)
Confirm: the publisher pays the author in cash (eligibility requirement)
Check WSFA/Capclave/community info to confirm announcement timing