The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) has announced the finalists for the 2019 WSFA Small Press Award:

• “Baggage,” by Leslie Burton-Lopez, published in When to Now: A Time Travel Anthology, Fairfield Scribes, (October 2018);
• “The Djinni and the Accountant,” by Hal J. Friesen, published in Fire: Demons, Dragons, and Djinn, ed. by Rhonda Parrish, Tyche Books, (August 2018);
• “Familiar in Her Angles,” by E.A. Brenner, published in Metaphorosis, ed. by Morris Allen, (September 21, 2018); 
• “The Hydraulic Emperor,” by Arkady Martine, pubished in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 20, ed. by  Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas (January/February 2018);
• “The Spider and the Stars,” by DK Mok, published in Glass and Gardens: Sloarpunk Summers, ed. by Sarena Ulibarri, World Weaver Press (June 2018);
• “The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat,” by Brooke Bolander, published in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 23, ed. by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas (July/August 2018);
• “The Thing in the Walls Wants Your Small Change,” by Virginia M. Mohlere, published in Luna Station Quarterly, Issue 34, ed. by Jennifer Lyn Parsons, (May 30, 2018); and 
• “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” by Alix E. Harrow, published in Apex Magazine, Issue 105, ed. by Jason Sizemore, (February 2018).  

The WSFA Small Press Award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction.  The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small  presses in the previous year (2018). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (www.wsfa.org) and will be presented at their annual convention, Capclave (www.capclave.org), held this year on October 18-20, 2019 in Rockville, MD.

The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) has announced the finalists for the 2018 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction:

• “A Vague Inclination to Please,” by Brandon Daubs in All Hail Our Robot Conquerers, ed. by Patricia Bray & Joshua Palmatier, published by Zombies Need Brains LLC, (September 2017);
• “The Cat of Five Virtues,” by Richard Parks in Tales of the Sunrise Lands: Anthology of Fantasy Japan, ed. by David Stokes, published by Guardbridge Books (July 2017);
• “Floaters Can’t Float,” by Pip Coen, published in Compelling Science Fiction, ed. by Joe Stech, (April 2017);
• “Oba Oyinbo,” by Jonathan Edelstein, published in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, ed. by Scott Roberts, (October 2017);
• “The Oracle and the Warlord,” by Karina Sumner-Smith in The Sum of Us: Tales of the Bonded and Bound, ed. by Lucas K. Law & Susan Forest, published by Laksa Media, (September 2017);
• “Probably Still the Chosen One,” by Kelly Barnhill, published in Lightspeed Magazine, ed. by John Joseph Adams, (February 2017);
• “The Secret Life of Bots,” by Suzanne Palmer, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (September 2017);
• “Through Milkweed and Gloom,” by Wendy Nikel in Submerged, ed. by S.C. Butler & Joshua Palmatier, published by Zombies Need Brains LLC, (September 2017).

The WSFA Small Press Award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2017). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association and will be presented at their annual convention, Capclave (www.capclave.org), held this year on September 28-30, 2018 in Rockville, Maryland.

SF authors, small press publishers and WSFA members have until April 8 to nominate stories for the Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award.

Eligible nominees are English-language works of short fiction up to 17,500 words long in the sf, horror and fantasy genres, published for the first time in 2017 by a small press in book or periodical form.

• Book: A small press is defined as a hard copy print or web publication house releasing no more than 45 titles in the year that the story is published.
• Periodical: Small press periodicals are paper publications with a circulation of fewer than 10,000 paper copies, or web publications with fewer than 10,000 subscriptions and/or patrons on Patreon in the year that the story is published. Periodicals must compensate authors in some manner, and authors must not contribute financially to the publications.

The winner will be chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association. Blind voting is done using texts with the identity of the author and publisher stripped.

According to The Rules: “A single representative of a small press or periodical may nominate no more than three (3) stories, which may include stories published by the press/periodical or others. This representative may be the publisher, editor, or an official designee. An author may nominate one (1) story, published by themselves or others. A WSFA member may nominate one (1) story.” Then five members of WSFA screen the submissions and produce the list of finalists.

Submissions should be sent to [email protected]

See the complete guidelines on The Rules page.

Members of the WSFA Small Press Award Committee are Courtni Burleson, Roger Burns, Cathy Green, Kimberly Hargan, Sam Lubell, and Carolyn Frank (Administrator).

The award, consisting of a small acrylic trophy, and a monetary prize of $500, will be presented at WSFA’s annual convention, Capclave. Certificates of recognition will be presented to the other finalists.

The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) has announced the finalists for the 2017 WSFA Small Press Award:

• “Foxfire, Foxfire,” by Yoon Ha Lee, published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed. by Scott H. Andrews, (March 2016);
• “Jupiter or Bust,” by Brad R. Torgersen, published in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, ed. by Scott Roberts, (March/ April 2016);
• “The Mytilenian Delay,” by Neil James Hudson, in Hyperpowers, ed. by Bascombe James, published by Third Flatiron Publishing (May 2016);
• “Only Their Shining Beauty Was Left,” by Fran Wilde, published in Shimmer Magazine, ed. by E. Catherine Tobler, (September 2016);
• “Radio Silence,” by Walter H. Hunt in Alien Artifacts, ed. by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray, published by Zombies Need Brains, (2016);
• “A Salvaging of Ghosts,” by Aliette de Bodard, published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed. by Scott H. Andrews, (March 2016);
• “The Tomato Thief,” by Ursula Vernon, published in Apex Magazine, ed. by Jason Sizemore, (January 2016);
• “Vengence Sewn With A Fey Cord,” by Christine Lucas, published in The Future Fire, ed. by Djibril al-Ayad, (April 2016);
• “The Witch’s Knives,” by Margaret Ronald, published in Strange Horizons, ed. by Niall Harrison, Jane Crowley, Kate Dollarhyde, Lila Garrott, Catherine Krahe, An Owomoyela, and Vajra Chandrasekera, (October 2016).

The WSFA Small Press Award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2016). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association and will be presented at Capclave, held this year on October 6-8, 2017 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.