{"id":5754,"date":"2021-09-17T13:38:54","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T17:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/?p=5754"},"modified":"2025-09-19T11:22:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T15:22:04","slug":"guide-to-the-bram-stoker-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/17\/guide-to-the-bram-stoker-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide to the Bram Stoker Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"border-width:1px;background-color:#d0c2e0\">Thanks for your interest in this guide! The rules have been updated since I first created it. I&#8217;ve tried to include any changes, but be sure to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.horror.org\/awards\/rules_current.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">check the official rules<\/a> to make sure you understand them. The HWA also has a guide <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebramstokerawards.com\/submissions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the biggest awards in the horror\/speculative fiction community is the <strong>Bram Stoker Award<\/strong>. Given out annually by the <a href=\"https:\/\/horror.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Horror Writers Association<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stokercon.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">StokerCon<\/a>, this award is highly coveted by all authors of dark fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1596\" height=\"2560\" data-attachment-id=\"5760\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/17\/guide-to-the-bram-stoker-awards\/stokerfront\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1596,2560\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"stokerfront\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-scaled.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-scaled.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-scaled.jpg 1596w, https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-600x963.jpg 600w, https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-768x1232.jpg 768w, https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-957x1536.jpg 957w, https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-1277x2048.jpg 1277w, https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/stokerfront-200x321.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1596px) 100vw, 1596px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by horror.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There are specific guidelines about who can nominate or be nominated. Members can log in to their accounts and read the official rules <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.horror.org\/awards\/rules_current.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">HERE<\/a> but I thought I&#8217;d break it down a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WHAT IS THE BRAM STOKER AWARD PROCESS?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>All <\/strong>HWA members recommend works<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Those works along with <strong>Jury<\/strong> recommendations move to the <strong>Preliminary Ballot<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Active &amp; Lifetime Members vote to move works to the <strong>Final Ballot<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Winners are chosen by <strong>Active &amp; Lifetime Members<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WHAT WORK IS CONSIDERED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The awards are presented in these categories: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">NOVEL<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; (at least <strong>40,000<\/strong> words)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">FIRST NOVEL<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">GRAPHIC NOVEL<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; (at least <strong>48 <\/strong>printed pages)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">YOUNG ADULT NOVEL<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; (age group <strong>14-21, min. 40,000 <\/strong>words)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\"><b>MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL<\/b><\/span> &#8211; (age group <strong>8-13, min. 25,000 <\/strong>words)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">LONG FICTION<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; (<strong>7,500 <\/strong>to<strong> 39,999 <\/strong>Words)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">SHORT FICTION <\/span><\/strong>&#8211; (max<strong> 7,499 <\/strong>words)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">FICTION COLLECTION<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; <strong>(single-author, <\/strong>At least four separate works of prose fiction, min <strong>40,000 words, <\/strong>at least <strong>25% <\/strong>of the stories cannot have appeared in a previous collection)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">SCREENPLAY <\/span><\/strong>(with a running time of at least 70 minutes. Only writers can receive the award)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">POETRY COLLECTION<\/span><\/strong>  &#8211;<strong> <\/strong>(<strong>30 pages min. <\/strong>by a single poet, <strong>or 48 pages min.<\/strong> by no more than 4 poets w\/each writing<strong> min. 10% <\/strong>of included works)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">ANTHOLOGY<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; <strong>(min. 4 works <\/strong>of fiction by <strong>2 or more<\/strong> authors<strong>; min. 60,000 words; min 60% original <\/strong>content)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">NON-FICTION <\/span><\/strong>&#8211; (<strong>min. 30,000<\/strong> words)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">SHORT NON-FICTION<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; (<strong>min. 1000<\/strong>, up to <strong>40,000<\/strong> words)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>NOTE: Work published electronically IS ELIGIBLE to be recommended, as long as you provide a URL or a link to purchasing information for the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WHO CAN RECOMMEND WORK?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Active, Lifetime, Associate, Academic, Supporting, and Affiliate members<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">THE JURY<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Jury exists to showcase work that may not have garnered enough attention<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are <strong>5<\/strong> jurors per category<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Authors can submit their stories <strong>directly<\/strong> to the appropriate jury for consideration<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Juries are made up of <strong>Active, Academic, Affiliate<\/strong>, or <strong>Lifetime<\/strong> Members, but <strong>no more than two Affiliates<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">THE RECOMMENDED READING LIST<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To appear on this list, an author must have been recommended by someone <strong>other than themselves<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If a work is already on the <a data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/horror.org\/hwa-reading-list\/\" href=\"https:\/\/horror.org\/hwa-reading-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Recommended Reading List,<\/a> you can still recommend it <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jury selections do not have to appear on the Recommended Reading List<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>One may make <strong>unlimited recommendations<\/strong> in any category, but you <strong>cannot<\/strong> recommend the <strong>same work<\/strong> in the same category more than once<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">THE PRELIMINARY BALLOT<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Eligibility:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A work must have a <strong>minimum of 8 recommendations <\/strong>to qualify for the Preliminary Ballot<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There will be a <strong>minimum of<\/strong> <strong>10 works<\/strong> in each category on the Preliminary Ballot<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">How Are Selections Made<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>at least <strong>5<\/strong> works selected by the <strong>jury<\/strong> for each category<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Additionally <strong>5<\/strong> or fewer works in each category with the most <strong>member recommendations<\/strong> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If there are <strong>less than 5<\/strong> works with 8 member recommendations,<strong> only those with the requisite minimum of 8<\/strong> recommendations will proceed to the ballot<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If any category has less than <strong>10<\/strong> works with eligible recommendations, the balance will be drawn <strong>from Jury selections<\/strong> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If 2 or more works have 8 or more recommendations (tying them for fifth place in a given category), then <strong>all works <\/strong>w\/that same number of recommendations will be included<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the event of a <strong>tie<\/strong>, more than 10 works may appear in a category.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Who Votes: on the Preliminary Ballot? <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Active<\/strong> and <strong>Lifetime <\/strong>Members<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-theme-palette-1-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4ff5ca903a042c02d5c6431edc3a24ce\"><strong>NOTE: One may announce that their work has made it to the Preliminary Ballot, but not that it is &#8220;Bram Stoker Recommended&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">THE FINAL BALLOT<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Eligibility<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>top 5<\/strong> works in each category with the most member recommendations proceed to the Final Ballot<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If <strong>2 or more works are tied for 5th place<\/strong> in a given category, each is placed on the Final Ballot in that category<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The number of works in a category <strong>may exceed 10<\/strong> in such an event.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Who Votes on the Final Ballot<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Active<\/strong> and <strong>Lifetime <\/strong>Members<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">THE WINNERS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The work with the <strong>greatest number of votes<\/strong> in each category will be declared the Award&#8217;s recipient<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If<strong> 2 works<\/strong> receive at least <strong>33.34%<\/strong> of the vote in one category, both are declared Award recipients in <strong>a tie<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>PROMOTING YOUR WORK<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There are specific rules about <strong>promoting<\/strong> (acceptable &#8211; spreading the word) about your work and <strong>soliciting<\/strong> (unacceptable &#8211; making a deal) to get your work recommended for an award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/horror.org\/award-etiquette\/\" target=\"_blank\">HWA Award Etiquette:<\/a> <\/span><br>You may mention that your work has appeared on the Bram Stoker Awards\u00ae preliminary or final ballot. But you <strong>can&#8217;t <\/strong>promote your work at all as \u201cBram Stoker Recommended.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Ways to share your work include:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HWA Newsletter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>advertisements are allowed, but asking &#8220;For Your Consideration&#8221; is not allowed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HWA Jury<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>author(s), editor(s), agent, or publishers can submit their work directly to the appropriate Jury<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HWA Facebook page<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Saturdays<\/strong> only<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1 announcement <\/strong>for each eligible work with the phrasing \u201cI\/we am\/are offering a copy of this work to you for Bram Stoker Award\u00ae consideration.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>New Release announcements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li> you may send a notice to the HWA&#8217;s <strong>&#8220;Fiendish Endeavors\u201d<\/strong> or <strong>\u201cRecently Born of Horrific Minds\u201d<\/strong> columns<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>sections of the HWA Newsletter; <strong>New Releases<\/strong> series of blog posts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book Releases &amp; Short Story<strong> announcements<\/strong> via the <a href=\"https:\/\/horror.org\/members-only\/2017\/05\/29\/promote-yourself\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Promote Yourself<\/a> section of HWA for Members Only<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Email<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>downloading an <strong>updated Member List<\/strong> and only emailing those who have <strong>opted in<\/strong>. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">NOTE: <\/span>Using a mailing list program seems to be an easier way to email the large member list<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HWA Forum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Members can post <strong>one<\/strong> promotional announcement for each of their eligible works<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Websites<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I haven\u2019t seen any rules for promoting one\u2019s work <strong>on their website<\/strong>, but be sure to read the full rules before doing so in case I missed something<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Big No-Nos<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>&#8220;Spamming&#8221;<\/strong> any member of a jury (i.e.: directly contacting a jury member to have your work considered) &#8211; your work will immediately be disqualified<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You are <strong>not allowed<\/strong> to promote your work for a Bram Stoker Award on social media (or via unsolicited emails or other forms of contact)  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I&#8217;ve Made The Recommended Reading List &#8211; Now What?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If your work makes it to the <a href=\"https:\/\/horror.org\/hwa-reading-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Recommended Reading List<\/a>, there are <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/horror.org\/award-etiquette\/\" target=\"_blank\">a few things you can do to share your work<\/a> to the voting members:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Offer a link <\/strong>to download your story\/book\/writing to the voting members\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This can be an email address (where voting members can request a copy), the Amazon page for the work, your website or the publisher&#8217;s website<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Send this info to compiler@horror.org<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You do NOT need to be an HWA Member to provide a link<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Bram Stoker Awards Rules<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I tried to cover everything in the rules but I encourage you to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thebramstokerawards.com\/submissions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">read the official rules<\/a> for anything I missed or for updates that have occurred since I posted this guide and to be as well-informed as possible before you start on the journey of promoting your work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good luck and have fun!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thanks for your interest in this guide! The rules have been updated since I first created it. I&#8217;ve tried to include any changes, but be sure to check the official rules to make sure you understand them. The HWA also has a guide HERE. One of the biggest awards in the horror\/speculative fiction community is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-writing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Guide to the Bram Stoker Awards - MaryRajotte.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/17\/guide-to-the-bram-stoker-awards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guide to the Bram Stoker Awards - MaryRajotte.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thanks for your interest in this guide! The rules have been updated since I first created it. I&#8217;ve tried to include any changes, but be sure to check the official rules to make sure you understand them. The HWA also has a guide HERE. 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