Entry forms

Nominations for the Convenors’ Award for Excellence opened on 10 August 2025. Please read the rules for this special award.

ENTER THE CONVENORS’ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE HERE

Aurealis Awards entries opened 10 August 2025 and closed on November 30 2025 – please note that the eligible works are INCLUSIVE of all works published in December. 

The Sara Douglass Book Series Award is not running in 2025.

How do I enter a work into the Aurealis Awards process, and where do I send my entry form?

For all regular categories, you must enter using this online entry form by midnight AEST November 30 2025 and supply a copy of the work(s) entered to each judge in the relevant category/categories by December 21, 2025. Once you have formally submitted an entry via the online form, the judging coordinator will contact you with the postal addresses for the relevant judges and details for digital submissions. Entries will not be considered unless the entry fee is paid (if applicable – does not apply to short fiction, Children’s, Sara Douglass Book Series Award or Convenors’ Award for Excellence entries).

What works are eligible?

Any work of speculative fiction written by an Australian citizen or permanent resident and published for the first time in English between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025 is eligible to be entered.

Who can enter works?

Anyone can enter a work, however registrants must agree to send or submit a copy of the entered work to each judge in the category or categories the work is entered in. Details of judges postal addresses will be provided after works are registered.

There is no entry fee for the Convenors’ Award for Excellence, the short fiction entries, or entries in the Children’s category. There is an entry fee for works entered in all other categories. Note that if you enter a book in more than one fee-paying category, you must pay the entry fee for EACH category entered.

In an effort to ensure panels have sufficient time during the entry period to give due consideration to all entries, from 2025 this entry fee will be scaled. Works published between January 1 2025 and September 30 2025 must be entered by September 30 2025 to avoid the entry fee increase applied from October 1 2025. Works published in October, November and December will not be subject to the entry fee increase.

A link to pay the entry fee will be sent to you after you register the entry. The judges postal addresses will not be sent to you until you provide the judging coordinator with proof of payment.

A list of entries appears on the Aurealis Awards website and is progressively updated during the year. Only formally entered works will be considered for the awards.

Can I submit works digitally?

Yes, digital entries are encouraged in all categories. Details of file types (epub preferred) and where to send them will be provided after works are registered (and if required, paid for).

Entry deadline

Online entries for the Aurealis Awards will open soon and must be lodged via the online entry form by midnight 30 November 2025 AEST. Copies of entered works must be received by the judging panels at the addresses provided no later than 21 December 2025.

For the Convenors’ Award for Excellence please read information and access the entry form for this award on the Rules and Conditions page when entries open.

For the Sara Douglass Book Series Award, awarded every three years, please read the information here. The Sara Douglass Book Series Award is not running in 2025.

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The Aurealis Awards 2025 are for works of speculative fiction by authors, editors and illustrators, who are Australian citizens or permanent residents, first published in English between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.

Finalists will be announced on the website in early 2026, and the winners announced at GenreCon in Brisbane in February 2026.

By entering a work in the Aurealis Awards process, you undertake to supply a copy of the work to each of the judges of the relevant category/categories, i.e. you’ll need to supply copies of the work for each judge in each category entered.

Works may be entered in more than one category, but we encourage you to only choose the most relevant, rather than make across-the-board, blanket entries. Note that each entry into a fee-paying category will incur an entry fee.

All judges accept digital copies of entries. File types (epub preferred) and where to send them will be forwarded to you after entry (and payment, if required).

For more details about rules and eligibility, please read the rules and conditions and visit the FAQ.

The Aurealis Awards always aim to be as inclusive as possible. If you are aware of any work that should be entered in the 2025 process but which does not appear on the list of entries please contact the judging coordinator with details so we can encourage the author/publisher to enter it.