July 15, 2014

Not the Booker Prize returns, offers authors a mug

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The grand reward. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

The grand reward. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

Now in its sixth year, the Not the Booker Prize is back. Sponsored by The Guardian, the award––billed as “the world’s most democratic”––is largely decided by readers. Like its namesake, this year’s Not the Booker will be open to all novels written in English and published in Britain. Unlike the Man Booker, The Guardian’s prize awards its winner a mug.

The rules are simple: nominate a book for the long-list by commenting here by midnight on July 27, 2014. As clarified in the Terms and Conditions:

Only one nomination is permitted per person – and if you change your mind about what that nomination should be, we reserve the right to a) miss the post where you change your mind and b) laugh up our sleeves at your indecision.

Then––once the long-list is posted––another batch of comments will determine the shortlist. Sam Jordison will read through the shortlist, post reviews, and invite discussion. From those online commenters who contribute most substantially, The Guardian will form a readers’ panel, a process which, they assure us, will be left “studiously vague.” The decision of this readers’ panel, along with a public vote, determines the winner.

Nominations have already begun pouring in. If you want motivation to join the online fray, champion a favorite, underappreciated book, and potentially win its author a mug, then know this: the first nomination, posted at 12:45pm, went to The Goldfinch.

Ben Sandman is a Melville House intern

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