British Book Prizes Rigged?
Earlier this year, the Publisher's Lunch (a subscription-only newsletter from PublishersMarketPlace.com) questioned the ethics of British literary prizes:The Guardian's publishing blog learns how UK fiction writers get in line for the country's endless prize longlists: "Apparently agents can collude with publishers to guarantee, through publishing deals, that certain authors are put forward for specific prizes. So some authors are put forward for prizes by contractual obligation, not just because their book is a good read."The information came from the British publication Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - books: Eyes on the prize.
posted by Georganna Hancock M.S. | 10:25 AM
3 Comments:
That's so disappointing. When I purchase a highly acclaimed book, I expect a good read for my bucks. I usually put new books on hold and wait for my name to come up at my local library. Then if I'm unhappy with the book, I have not lost any money. The last book I got, 'The Emperor's Children," was a disappointment, and I'm glad that I did not buy it.
Disappointing - and quite manipulative of the buying public, don't you think.
I hardly ever let the words 'Award Winning' guid my purchases, but when I do it's in the expectation that the process was a genuine one. Now I know it isn't, I'll be even less swayed by those two little words!
Kind Regards
THJnr
I think many of us have read prize winners and, at the point of throwing them across the room, shouted with indignation "why did this crap win a prize?" Especially if we can't even get an agent to read our works.
Post a Comment
<< Home