Astounding Award for Best New Writer

Writers are eligible for the Astounding Award for two years, and become eligible once they have a work of science fiction or fantasy published in a professional publication.[9] Final decisions on eligibility are decided by the WSFS, but qualifying publications must have at least 10,000 readers and must pay the writer at least 6 cents a word and a total of at least US$50.[10]

Members of the current and previous Worldcon are eligible to nominate new writers under the same procedures as the Hugo Awards.[11] Initial nominations are made by members in January through March, at which point a shortlist is made of the six most-nominated writers—five prior to 2017—with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. Voting on the ballot of six nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon is held.[12]

Works by winners and nominees of the award were collected in the New Voices series of anthologies, edited by George R. R. Martin, which had five volumes covering the awards from 1973 through 1977 and which were published between 1977 and 1984.[13] Michael A. Burstein, who was nominated in 1996 and won in 1997, commented that the largest effect of winning or being nominated is not on sales but instead that it gives credibility with established authors and publishers.[14] Criticism has been raised about the award that due to the eligibility requirements it honors writers who become well-known quickly, rather than necessarily the best or most influential authors from a historical perspective.[1]

Over the 48 years the award has been active, 202 writers have been nominated. Of these, 49 authors have won, including one tie. There have been 56 writers who were nominated twice, 19 of whom won the award in their second nomination.

Jerry Pournelle with the first award at the 1973 Hugo Awards Banquet

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than the year when the writer's eligible work was first published. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature". Although the award is not given explicitly for any particular work, and such works are not recorded by the World Science Fiction Society or Dell Magazines, a selection of works that the writer in question published in the eligibility period are listed. This list includes novels and short stories, and is not intended to be comprehensive. Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the writer's name have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominees on the shortlist.

  *   Winners and joint winners

• Clute, John; Langford, David; Nicholls, Peter, ed (2011). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (3rd ed.). ESF Ltd.