The John W. Campbell Award is presented to the Best New Science Fiction or Fantasy writer. John W. Campbell was an influential science fiction writer and editor of Astounding Science Fiction.
The award is given at the World Science Fiction Convention by Dell Magazines where the Hugos are presented. The award was first presented in 1973.
New writers are eligible for books published in either of the two previous years. So an author has two chances to win.
Naomi Novik was nominated in her first year of eligibility (2007) and won. Her first book Temeraire was published in 2006.
She was also a nominee for the 2007 Hugo Best Novel.
Here are the writers nominated for the 2008 award:
