• Introduction
• Marketing and Publicity
• The Judges
• Conclusion
• Recent Winners

Introduction

Fast becoming one of the most prestigious awards in the literary field, the Booker-McConnell Prize, most often referred to as simply the "Booker," is administered by the National Book League of the United Kingdom. It is "awarded to the best full-length novel written in English by a citizen of the UK, the Commonwealth, Eire, Pakistan or South Africa. American and other authors are excluded from eligibility, even if they write in English. Publishers are invited to submit entries with scheduled publication dates between January and November of the award year" (Middlemiss).

During the 1990s, awarding of the prize has become a highly controversial. Publicity stunts encouraged by the marketing power of the prize have marred the prestige of the award. Many have accused the prize committee of catering to either the needs of otherwise unknown authors in the right place at the right time or to the same few authors each year. Political agendas and profit motives have also received much attention in recent years, further fuelling the controversy surrounding the prize. Furthermore, there has been much debate over the qualification of novelists and other members of the prize committee.

Marketing & Publicity

Because of its prestige, the Booker Prize has become an enormously successful marketing vehicle for nominated authors and their publishers alike. It has been so ubiquitously sought after that the award committee has limited entrants to three per publisher for each year with the £20,000 prize being awarded in late October or early November (Middlemiss). That prize money, however, is hardly worth mentioning compared to the exponential growth in book sales that follows. It is because of almost guaranteed marketing power that the Booker is not without controversy. Even during the mid 1980s, the Booker was known to "create free publicity on a scale which makes it a major marketing tool" (Potts 27). For example, Anita Brookner had previously sold 2,000 to 3,000 of her books each, but when Hotel du Lac was announced the Booker Prize winner, sales soared to best selling levels (Goff 22).

Such an enormous potential by means of increased sales has made the Booker subject to marketing ploys heretofore unknown in the literary field. First of all, an author must make his presence known to his potential judges. It seems as though the author has to live in the literary section of London but not write about modern life there; instead, write "magically realistically." Booker winners all should have "cool, stylish, amoral pose[s]" on the book cover. Because of the increased media attention for which the authors who win the Booker seem to strive, Richard Potts, a critic for the Times Literary Supplement quips that the author should "go for extreme publicity ploys i.e. the author should shoot his literary agent on live TV--anything to draw attention" (27).

In accordance with Potts' observations, in 1996 four of the six writers on the Booker's short list had been nominated before. The other two consisted of a magical realist writing about London in the 1950s and a Northern Irish poet and critic. Both of the authors match exactly Potts "criteria." They are both well known among their colleagues, and one of them has the good fortune of being from a politically sensitive area ("Déjà Vu All Over Again" 106).

The Judges

Unlike many other modern awards, the Booker committee must consist of an author, a hardback and a paperback publisher, a librarian, the chairman of the committee, the prize's administrator and an executive from the Booker Party, Limited (Goff 12). Not even the judges of the prize can exist without controversy ("Judging the Booker Prize" 89) even though the actual administration of the prize is handed over to Book Trust, an independent charitable organisation whose mission is to promote reading and literacy (Goff 12).

All the judges of the prize are industry "insiders," but it is arguable whether those people are the most qualified to judge novels. From the strict criteria regarding the qualifications of the judges, one can only assume that Booker officials assert that no other reader of fiction has the ability to properly judge a novel in any capacity whatsoever. It also appears that the judges have the obligation to share the prize amongst authors, for no one has ever received the prize for a second time. So disgusted are some authors such as Graham Green, John Fowles, and other popular writers that they refuse to even have their book sent to the Booker committee for critique.

Conclusion

Because of the marketing potential and the industry-renowned judges, the Booker Prize now is a very high stakes award. Authors, in turn, have more reason to tailor their work to the expectations of the Booker arbiters. On occasion, the obtuse wording of the requirements of the winning book has been exploited and has resulted in ironic results. For example, because South African authors are included in those eligible to receive the Booker Prize, twice during the Apartheid regime, Nadine Gordimer and J. M. Coetzee, authors known for their anti-Apartheid stance won the award. Also, a novice author who believes that his work qualifies to win the Booker but who feels that his work will not be submitted because of his publisher's other clients, might change publishers. Even though the second publisher might not have the marketing power that the first commands, the winning of the Booker will certainly cause higher sales of the book (Goff 19). Those types of abuses definitely provide fodder for thought about the validity and the purpose of the Booker. The Booker Prize garners much attention but not always for reasons with which the prize committee would be most comfortable.

For the most part, though, Booker Prize winners are excellently-written works with well executed themes, plots, and purposes. The books themselves are well deserving of such prizes and can provide for entertaining reading or appropriate additions to a college level literature course. Sometimes, though, the Booker Prize garners much attention but not always for reasons with which the prize committee would be most comfortable.

Recent Winners

Winners of the Booker Prize over the past few years are as follows:

2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
1999 Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
1998 Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

"Last Orders is a subtle yet piercing story about the ways in which friendship and love are shaped by the past and by fate. At its center is a group of men, friends since the Second World War, whose livesrevolvebaround work, family, the racetrack, and their favorite pub. When one of the group dies, the survivors are compelled to take stock" (Amazon.com).

Works Cited

Amazaon.com: Earth's Biggest Bookstore. Internet. http://www.amazon.com.

"Booker Prize Winners." Northern California Independent Booksellers Association. Internet. http://www.nciba.com/booker.html.

Carver, Robert. "Tips For Would-be Booker Prize Winners: Stuff That Hamster." New Statesman and Society. 20 Dec. 1991: 52.

"Deja Vu All Over Again." Economist. 26 Oct. 1996: 106.

"Judging the Booker Prize." Economist. 4 Oct. 1997: 89-90.

Goff, Martin (introduction). Prize Writing: An Original Collection of Writings by Past Winners to Celebrate 21 years of The Booker Prize. London: Hodder & Stoghton, 1989.

Middlemiss, Perry. "The Booker McConnell Prize." Victoria, Australia, November 1997. Internet. http://ncc1701.apana.org.au/~larrikin/lit/prizes/Booker.html.

Potts, Richard. "Booker Time Again." Times Literary Supplement. 1 Nov. 1986: 27.

Related Sites

• The Booker McConnell Prize

Author: Warren Jacobson, Fall 1997

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