The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in English or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,000 words or more; awards are also given out in the short story, novelette, and novella categories. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".