How does a work get onto the Final Ballot?
There are two ways to qualify. (1) A work may first appear on the Preliminary Ballot, which is voted on by Active SFWA members. The 5 works receiving the most votes in each category (or more in the case of a tie) go onto the Final Ballot. (2) In each category an awards jury may add one work to the Final Ballot. (The Andre Norton Jury may add up to 3 works in its category.) There are four juries—one for Novels, one for all three classes of shorter fiction, one for scripts, and one for the Andre Norton Award. The idea is that juries will read widely throughout the year and add worthy works that have been overlooked by the wider membership. Juries choose from works published within the calendar year of the award.
