GENERAL NOTES
This is the constitution of the British Fantasy Awards, following the AGM of September 2009.
The Awards
The British Fantasy Society (BFS) and the British Fantasy Convention (FantasyCon) present the British Fantasy Awards (BFA) annually. The BFS and FantasyCon jointly finance the Awards, except for the "Best Newcomer Award", and appoint a Committee (minimum of one person) to organise the voting arrangements. In the event of the demise of either the BFS or FantasyCon, the remaining organisation will continue to present awards for as long as is practical. The ballot procedure is open to audit following prior notification.
Notes on Eligibility
BFS and FantasyCon publications are ineligible from the recommendations and voting process, although their contents (e.g. individual stories, articles and pieces of artwork) are eligible. The Awards Committee has no discretion to discount recommendations and votes for reasons other than those set out in this constitution. The "relevant year" throughout this constitution is the calendar year (January to December) preceding that in which the awards are presented. Eligible voters: members of the BFS (the vote of a member whose membership expires after the vote is cast remains valid), members of the previous FantasyCon, and those who have registered for the upcoming FantasyCon.
Changes to This Constitution
Changes to this constitution may only be made (1) by a vote at the AGM of the British Fantasy Society, taken according to the same rules of procedure outlined in the BFS constitution, or (2) by a formal vote of the committee of the British Fantasy Society. A committee vote may not be used to reverse a decision made at an AGM. An AGM vote may reverse a committee decision, but the committee decision remains effective until the current awards have been presented. The online version of the constitution must be updated at the earliest opportunity with any changes made, and any significant changes should be notified to the membership through Prism.
CATEGORIES
Novel (the August Derleth Fantasy Award)
Eligibility: fiction over 40,000 words published for the first time in the English language in any part of the world in any format (book, magazine, small press or electronic) during the relevant year. The British Fantasy Award for Best Novel is known as the August Derleth Fantasy Award.
Novella
Eligibility: fiction from 10,000 to 40,000 words published for the first time in the English language in any part of the world in any format (book, magazine, small press or electronic) during the relevant year.
Short Fiction
Eligibility: stories under 10,000 words published for the first time in the English language in any part of the world in any format (book, magazine, small press or electronic) during the relevant year.
Anthology
Eligibility: a collection of work by various authors, published for the first time in the English language in any part of the world during the relevant year. BFS anthologies are not eligible for this award.
Collection
Eligibility: a collection of work by a single author, published for the first time in the English language in any part of the world during the relevant year.
The PS Publishing Small Press Award
Eligibility: small presses active during the relevant year, and magazines and chapbooks and other one-off or serial publications published by small presses for the first time in the relevant year. Individual titles such as anthologies, collections or novels, may also be eligible for the British Fantasy Awards in the other categories specific for Novel, Collection or Anthology, etc. Note that PS Publishing withdrew from competition in this category in 2009, choosing instead to sponsor the award.
Artist
Eligibility: any artist who has produced a single piece of artwork, or a body of work, during the relevant year. This category covers artists who work in any format.
Non-Fiction
Eligibility: items eligible for this Award include non-fiction books, chapbooks, magazine or online columns or single magazine or online articles. The non-fiction item must have been published in any format (book, magazine, small press or electronic) in any part of the world during the relevant year.
Television
Eligibility: programmes of which new episodes could be legally viewed in the United Kingdom during the relevant year.
Film
Eligibility: films that were first released during the relevant year.
Magazine/Periodical
Eligibility: non-fiction and fiction magazines, print and online, that were active during the relevant year. BFS publications (such as Dark Horizons, New Horizons and Prism) are not eligible for this award.
Comic/Graphic Novel
Eligibility: comics and collections of comics, published for the first time in the English language in any part of the world during the relevant year. Note that new collections of previously published comics are eligible.
Special Award (The Karl Edward Wagner Award)
The British Fantasy Special Award is known as the Karl Edward Wagner Award. This category covers all areas and aspects of the genre that are not necessarily catered for in the preceding categories. The Award may be presented to individuals or organisations. Eligibility: this Award is not necessarily restricted to an activity in the year prior to that in which the Award is presented. The Award may go to someone who has made an important contribution to the genre throughout his/her lifetime; or it may go to the organisers of a special event or publication that took place in the relevant year. Recommendations for this Award will be sought from the membership. The BFS, FantasyCon and BFAwards Committees will determine the winner of this award. A member who sits on more than one of these committees or holds more than one position gets a single vote regardless.
The Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award
The award is for a new fiction writer who has produced previously unpublished work in the eligible year (must first be published in any print format (book, magazine, small press) in any part of the world in the English language during the relevant year. The recommendations can be for a single work or more than one, provided they meet the eligibility criteria set out above. Recommendations for this award are sought from the BFS membership. Eligibility also requires that copies of the work(s) be provided to the voting panel by the appropriate author, editor or publisher. This award is sponsored and funded by the estate of Sydney J. Bounds and the winner will receive a cheque for £100. The winner is decided by a panel of readers. This judging panel will include representatives from the Bounds estate and the BFS, and will be announced in Prism and via the BFS Newsfeed.
BFS Short Story Competition
The winner of the BFS Short Story Competition will be announced whenever possible at the British Fantasy Awards, but the competition is subject to its own rules, which are at the discretion of the BFS Short Story Competition Administrator.
VOTING PROCEDURE
Voting Schedule
The precise voting schedule each year will depend on the schedule of BFS mailings and the timing of FantasyCon.
- Recommendations sought: usually October–February
- Voting on longlist: usually March–May
- Voting on shortlist: usually June–July
- Announcement of winners: usually September
Stage 1: Recommendations
Recommendations for items to be included on the longlist are accepted throughout the year preceding that in which the Award is presented, and for a short period thereafter. They will be actively sought in the months following the AGM of the British Fantasy Society, allowing for any constitutional changes made to be taken into account on voting forms. Recommendations may be submitted by post and email, and online if the facility is available. Any number of items may be recommended in any category.
All recommendations should ideally be accompanied with publication details: year of publication, publisher, and title of collection, magazine, editor, etc, if applicable. Recommendations for the Artist and Special Awards must contain a brief description of their eligibility. If the information supplied is insufficent for the BFA committee to establish eligibility the recommendations may be excluded from the ballot form.
Recommendations may not be made for the recommender’s own material. Such recommendations will be ignored (though the voter's other recommendations will be added to the longlist as usual).
The BFA Committee will collate the recommendations and draw up a longlist. The Committee will liaise with experts in the genre to ensure that, as far as is possible, only eligible items appear on the longlist. If necessary and at the Committee’s discretion, some recommendations may be counted together as one item for the ballot paper. The Committee will also act as an oversight committee and add items to the ballot paper in any category as deemed appropriate. The decision by the Committee is final.
The Awards Committee has no discretion to discount recommendations for reasons other than those set out in this constitution.
Stage 2: The Longlist
A longlist voting form will be issued (online and/or on paper) listing recommended items. The Special Award and the Newcomer Award will not appear on the longlist voting form; they are not voted upon by members. BFS and FantasyCon members may then vote for up to three items in each category. Voters are not restricted to voting for recommended items. Votes may be submitted by post and email, and online if the facility is available. First choice items receive three points, second choices two, third choices one. The five top-scoring items in each category go forward to the shortlist of nominations.
In the event of a tie at this stage, third choice votes for the tied items will be discounted. If this does not separate them, second choice votes for the tied items will be discounted. If the items cannot be separated in this way, both will go through to the shortlist. However, if two items from the same writer are tied, the writer will be given the choice of which should go through.
The Awards Committee has no discretion to discount votes for reasons other than those set out in this constitution.
Stage 3: The Shortlist
A fresh round of voting will then take place to determine the ultimate winners. A ballot paper listing the shortlisted nominees will be issued to members (on paper and/or online). The Special Award and the Newcomer Award will not appear on the voting form; they are not voted upon by members. Each eligible voter can vote for one shortlisted item in each category. Votes may be submitted by post and email, and online if the facility is available. The item that amasses the most votes in each category in this round is the winner of the British Fantasy Award.
In the event of a tie at this stage, the number of points gathered by each tied item at the longlist stage will be used to decide between them. If that does not separate them, third choice votes for the tied items at the longlist stage will be discounted. If this does not separate them, second choice votes for the tied items at the longlist stage will be discounted. If the items cannot be separated in this way, they will be announced as joint winners.
Stage 4: Announcement and Presentation
The Awards are presented at FantasyCon or at a suitable alternative event if FantasyCon is cancelled in any particular year.
The Awards take the form of a statuette. If for any reason there are insufficient funds to allow the manufacture of the statuettes, the Awards may take another format, which will be decided upon jointly by the BFS and FantasyCon Committees.
