World Fantasy Special Award—Professional
The World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the World Fantasy Convention for the best fantasy fiction and art published in English during the preceding calendar year. The awards have been described by sources such as The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most renowned speculative fiction awards, along with the Hugo and Nebula Awards. The World Fantasy Special Award—Professional is given each year to individuals for their professional work in the preceding calendar year in fields related to fantasy that is not covered by other World Fantasy Award categories. These have included editors of magazines and novels, publishers, and authors of non-fiction works. Occasionally, especially in the first few years of the award, some publishing companies were nominated along with individual editors and publishers. The nomination reasons were not specified in the first year of the award, and have sometimes not been specified beyond "contributions to the genre". Individuals are also eligible for the Special Award—Non-professional category for their non-professional work. The World Fantasy Special Award—Professional has been awarded annually since 1975.
World Fantasy Award nominees and winners are decided by attendees and judges at the annual World Fantasy Convention. A ballot is posted in June for attendees of the current and previous two conferences to determine two of the finalists, and a panel of five judges adds three or more nominees before voting on the overall winner. The panel of judges is typically made up of fantasy authors and is chosen each year by the World Fantasy Awards Administration, which has the power to break ties. The final results are presented at the World Fantasy Convention at the end of October. Winners were presented with a statue in the form of a bust of H. P. Lovecraft through the 2015 awards; more recent winners receive a statuette of a tree.
During the 45 nomination years, 151 individuals and four publishing companies have been nominated; 54 people have won, including ties and co-nominees. For his work at Donald M. Grant, Publisher Donald M. Grant has won three times out of eight nominations, and six other nominees have won twice. Ian Ballantine and Betty Ballantine have won twice out of two nominations each for their non-fiction and publishing work, and Peter Crowther twice out of four nominations for his work at PS Publishing. Edward L. Ferman won twice out of six nominations for his work at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Stephen Jones twice out of six for his editing and anthology work, and Gordon Van Gelder twice out of seven nominations for his editing work in both books and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Ellen Datlow has received the most nominations with ten, winning once, for her editing and anthology work, and David Pringle has the most nominations without winning with five, for his work at Interzone and for "contributions to the genre".
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the work was performed. The table includes the stated reason the individual was nominated, which may not have been the only fantasy-related professional work they did during the previous calendar year. "N/A" in the reason column represents a nomination where no reason was given. Entries with a blue background and an asterisk next to the individual's name have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominees on the shortlist.* Winners
| Year | Winner or nominee | Reason | Ref. |
| 1975 | * | N/A | |
| 1975 | * | N/A | |
| 1975 | N/A | ||
| 1976 | * | publishing | |
| 1976 | publishing and editing | ||
| 1976 | Arkham House | publishing | |
| 1976 | ' | ||
| 1976 | Lovecraft at Last | ||
| 1976 | ' | ||
| 1977 | * | Alternate World Recordings | |
| 1977 | * | Alternate World Recordings | |
| 1977 | Arkham House | publishing | |
| 1977 | ' | ||
| 1977 | DAW Books | publishing | |
| 1977 | Ballantine Books | publishing | |
| 1978 | * | N/A | |
| 1978 | ' | ||
| 1978 | DAW Books | ||
| 1978 | Ballantine Books | ||
| 1978 | Ballantine Books | ||
| 1979 | * | ' | |
| 1979 | Donald M. Grant, Publisher | ||
| 1980 | * | Donald M. Grant, Publisher | |
| 1980 | Doubleday | ||
| 1980 | Arkham House | ||
| 1980 | DAW Books | ||
| 1980 | Ballantine Del Rey Fantasy | ||
| 1981 | * | DAW Books | |
| 1981 | Underwood–Miller | ||
| 1981 | Underwood–Miller | ||
| 1981 | anthologies | ||
| 1981 | Ballantine Del Rey | ||
| 1981 | Timescape Books | ||
| 1981 | ' | ||
| 1982 | * | ' | |
| 1982 | Timescape Books | ||
| 1982 | ' | ||
| 1982 | Underwood–Miller | ||
| 1982 | Underwood–Miller | ||
| 1982 | Donald M. Grant, Publisher | ||
| 1983 | * | Donald M. Grant, Publisher | |
| 1983 | Ballantine Del Rey | ||
| 1983 | Timescape Books | ||
| 1983 | Doubleday | ||
| 1983 | writing and reviewing | ||
| 1984 | * | The High Kings | |
| 1984 | * | The High Kings | |
| 1984 | * | The High Kings | |
| 1984 | * | The High Kings | |
| 1984 | * | The High Kings | |
| 1984 | ' | ||
| 1984 | Doubleday | ||
| 1984 | Dark Valley Destiny | ||
| 1984 | Dark Valley Destiny | ||
| 1984 | Dark Valley Destiny | ||
| 1984 | ' | ||
| 1985 | * | ' | |
| 1985 | ' | ||
| 1985 | Doubleday | ||
| 1985 | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1985 | Underwood–Miller | ||
| 1985 | Underwood–Miller | ||
| 1985 | Fantasists on Fantasy | ||
| 1985 | Fantasists on Fantasy | ||
| 1986 | * | Doubleday | |
| 1986 | editing | ||
| 1986 | Donald M. Grant, Publisher | ||
| 1986 | ' | ||
| 1986 | ' | ||
| 1987 | * | Favorite Folktales from Around the World | |
| 1987 | Ace Books | ||
| 1987 | Interzone | ||
| 1987 | Interzone | ||
| 1987 | Arbor House | ||
| 1987 | Donald M. Grant, Publisher | ||
| 1987 | ' | ||
| 1988 | * | Arbor House, Tor Books, anthologies | |
| 1988 | service to the field | ||
| 1988 | Ace Books, Armadillo | ||
| 1988 | Bantam Spectra | ||
| 1988 | ' | ||
| 1988 | Asimov's Science Fiction, anthologies | ||
| 1988 | Weird Tales | ||
| 1989 | * | editing | |
| 1989 | * | ' | |
| 1989 | Omni, anthologies | ||
| 1989 | writing | ||
| 1989 | Dark Harvest | ||
| 1989 | Dark Harvest | ||
| 1990 | * | Mark V. Ziesing | |
| 1990 | editing | ||
| 1990 | Dark Harvest | ||
| 1990 | Dark Harvest | ||
| 1990 | Underwood–Miller | ||
| 1990 | Underwood–Miller | ||
| 1991 | * | designing, Mark V. Ziesing, and Ursus | |
| 1991 | editing | ||
| 1991 | Dark Harvest | ||
| 1991 | Dark Harvest | ||
| 1991 | Interzone | ||
| 1991 | ' | ||
| 1992 | * | Weird Tales | |
| 1992 | * | Weird Tales | |
| 1992 | writing and editing | ||
| 1992 | publishing | ||
| 1992 | publishing, Pulphouse Publishing | ||
| 1992 | publishing, Pulphouse Publishing | ||
| 1992 | editing | ||
| 1993 | * | editing Dell Abyss | |
| 1993 | anthologies | ||
| 1993 | editing | ||
| 1993 | ' | ||
| 1993 | ' | ||
| 1993 | Dinotopia | ||
| 1994 | * | publishing, Underwood–Miller | |
| 1994 | * | publishing, Underwood–Miller | |
| 1994 | reviewing | ||
| 1994 | editing | ||
| 1994 | book editing | ||
| 1994 | publishing | ||
| 1994 | ' | ||
| 1995 | * | editing | |
| 1995 | Fedogan & Bremer | book publishing | |
| 1995 | reviewing | ||
| 1995 | Mark V. Ziesing | ||
| 1995 | ' | ||
| 1996 | * | contributions to the genre | |
| 1996 | editing and anthologies | ||
| 1996 | editing The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 1996 | editing | ||
| 1996 | Microcosmic God: Volume II: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon and for his work with the Literary Estate of Theodore Sturgeon | ||
| 1997 | * | ' | |
| 1997 | editing and anthologies | ||
| 1997 | contributions to the genre | ||
| 1997 | editing The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 1997 | ' | ||
| 1998 | * | ' | |
| 1998 | * | ' | |
| 1998 | editing and anthologies | ||
| 1998 | editing and anthologies | ||
| 1998 | editing and anthologies | ||
| 1998 | editing books at St. Martin's Press and editing The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 1999 | * | Golden Gryphon Press | |
| 1999 | editing | ||
| 1999 | Interzone | ||
| 1999 | editing The Avram Davidson Treasury | ||
| 1999 | editing The Avram Davidson Treasury | ||
| 1999 | Superman: The Complete History | ||
| 2000 | * | editing books at St. Martin's Press and editing The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction | |
| 2000 | Wildside Press | ||
| 2000 | DNA Publications | ||
| 2000 | |||
| 2000 | ' | ||
| 2000 | Millennium Movies | ||
| 2001 | * | ' | |
| 2001 | editing Sci Fiction and anthologies | ||
| 2001 | Subterranean Press | ||
| 2001 | Golden Gryphon Press | ||
| 2001 | Golden Gryphon Press | ||
| 2001 | Spectrum 7: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art | ||
| 2001 | Spectrum 7: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art | ||
| 2002 | * | editing the Fantasy Masterworks series | |
| 2002 | * | editing | |
| 2002 | editing | ||
| 2002 | Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic | ||
| 2002 | Fantasy of the 20th Century: An Illustrated History | ||
| 2003 | * | ' | |
| 2003 | Paper Tiger art books | ||
| 2003 | editing | ||
| 2003 | Subterranean Press | ||
| 2003 | Golden Gryphon Press | ||
| 2003 | Golden Gryphon Press | ||
| 2003 | editing | ||
| 2004 | * | PS Publishing | |
| 2004 | artwork in The Lord of the Rings | ||
| 2004 | artwork in The Lord of the Rings | ||
| 2004 | Small Beer Press | ||
| 2004 | Small Beer Press | ||
| 2004 | Firebird Books | ||
| 2004 | Interzone and services to the field | ||
| 2004 | Prime Books | ||
| 2005 | * | scholarship | |
| 2005 | Small Beer Press | ||
| 2005 | Small Beer Press | ||
| 2005 | editing | ||
| 2005 | ' | ||
| 2005 | editing | ||
| 2006 | * | Prime Books | |
| 2006 | Ace Books | ||
| 2006 | Ace Books | ||
| 2006 | editing at Pyr | ||
| 2006 | Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopedia | ||
| 2006 | Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopedia | ||
| 2006 | Pan MacMillan UK and Tor UK | ||
| 2006 | MonkeyBrain Books | ||
| 2006 | MonkeyBrain Books | ||
| 2007 | * | work at Science Fiction Book Club | |
| 2007 | ' | ||
| 2007 | copyediting | ||
| 2007 | DreamHaven Books | ||
| 2007 | ' | ||
| 2008 | * | PS Publishing | |
| 2008 | MonkeyBrain Books | ||
| 2008 | MonkeyBrain Books | ||
| 2008 | Borderlands Books | ||
| 2008 | Borderlands Books | ||
| 2008 | Night Shade Books | ||
| 2008 | Night Shade Books | ||
| 2008 | Realms of Fantasy | ||
| 2008 | ' | ||
| 2009 | * | Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House | |
| 2009 | * | Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House | |
| 2009 | Rhetorics of Fantasy | ||
| 2009 | Weird Tales | ||
| 2009 | Weird Tales | ||
| 2009 | ' | ||
| 2009 | Tachyon Publications | ||
| 2010 | * | editing anthologies | |
| 2010 | PS Publishing | ||
| 2010 | PS Publishing | ||
| 2010 | editing anthologies | ||
| 2010 | Ponyo | ||
| 2010 | Ash-Tree Press | ||
| 2010 | Ash-Tree Press | ||
| 2010 | Tachyon Publications | ||
| 2010 | Tachyon Publications | ||
| 2011 | * | Angry Robot | |
| 2011 | editing and anthologies | ||
| 2011 | editing at Pyr | ||
| 2011 | Bragelonne | ||
| 2011 | Bragelonne | ||
| 2011 | ChiZine Publications | ||
| 2011 | ChiZine Publications | ||
| 2012 | * | publishing in translation – Dedalus Books | |
| 2012 | editing – Jo Fletcher Books | ||
| 2012 | editing – anthology and magazine | ||
| 2012 | ChiZine Publications | ||
| 2012 | ChiZine Publications | ||
| 2012 | |||
| 2012 | |||
| 2013 | * | ||
| 2013 | ChiZine Publications | ||
| 2013 | ChiZine Publications | ||
| 2013 | PS Publishing | ||
| 2013 | PS Publishing | ||
| 2013 | Subterranean Press | ||
| 2013 | Weird Fiction Review | ||
| 2013 | Weird Fiction Review | ||
| 2013 | Weird Fiction Review | ||
| 2014 | * | art direction of Tor.com | |
| 2014 | * | Subterranean Press | |
| 2014 | magazine and anthology editing | ||
| 2014 | editing at Ace Books | ||
| 2014 | Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction | ||
| 2014 | Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction | ||
| 2014 | Centipede Press | ||
| 2015 | * | ChiZine Publications | |
| 2015 | * | ChiZine Publications | |
| 2015 | editing anthologies and Nightmare and Fantasy magazines | ||
| 2015 | Odyssey Writing workshops | ||
| 2015 | |||
| 2015 | Centipede Press | ||
| 2016 | * | ||
| 2016 | contributions to the genre | ||
| 2016 | Gods, Memes and Monsters: A 21st Century Bestiary | ||
| 2016 | |||
| 2016 | |||
| 2016 | |||
| 2016 | |||
| 2016 | |||
| 2016 | |||
| 2016 | |||
| 2017 | * | Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction | |
| 2017 | * | Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction | |
| 2017 | Aqueduct Press | ||
| 2017 | ' | ||
| 2017 | contributions to the genre | ||
| 2017 | contributions to the genre | ||
| 2018 | * | Writing Madness | |
| 2018 | * | Writing Madness | |
| 2018 | * | Writing Madness | |
| 2018 | ' | ||
| 2018 | Art Direction at Tor Books and Tor.com | ||
| 2018 | DreamHaven Books | ||
| 2018 | The New Annotated Frankenstein | ||
| 2019 | * | The Writer's Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands | |
| 2019 | Serial Box | ||
| 2019 | Serial Box | ||
| 2019 | Serial Box | ||
| 2019 | Serial Box | ||
| 2019 | |||
| 2019 | Art Direction at Tor Books and Tor.com | ||
| 2019 | Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth exhibition |