It’s time to decide the winner of the 2018 Not the Booker prize. Almost. Before we get to the exciting business of taking votes, we need a quick recap of the rules and events so far in the competition.
Here are those terms and conditions, and as for the “so far”, it’s been another fine year. The six books in contention are:
Sweet Fruit, Sour Land by Rebecca Ley
Three Dreams in the Key of G by Marc Nash
We’ve been treated to some ambitious and unusual literature, some promising debuts ... and some noble failures. In my opinion, anyway. But the good thing is that at this stage it doesn’t matter what I think – your votes are more important, as are the views of our panel of judges.
On that note, this year it’s been harder than ever to select only three judges because so many people have read through each book and made such excellent contributions. I have apologies and condolences for those who didn’t get the nod this time around, but also some reassurance. I heartily encourage everyone who has contributed to try again next year, because we would have been happy with many different combinations of people. And because all the reviews I’ve read have been fantastic.
Talking of fantastic, here are our three judges for 2018:
MrBrown, aka Graham Fulcher
Graham lives in Reigate with his wife, three young children (all keen readers) and golden retriever puppy. He studied maths at university and works as an actuary for a global insurance company. Last year, he was a judge for the Republic of Consciousness prize for small presses (and has an ongoing involvement in that prize). He reviews books as Gumble’s Yard on Goodreads – where he follows a number of book prizes (in particular the Man Booker, Goldsmiths and Women’s prize for fiction). He is an active member of his local church.
eggy123banana, aka Cath Barton
Cath is a writer who has just had her debut novella published. She also reviews classical music and the occasional book for Wales Arts Review. Always up for a challenge, this year she decided to read and comment on all the books on the Not the Booker shortlist. Cath lives with her husband and their cat in Abergavenny, south Wales, and enjoys walking in the surrounding hills.
Wombatel, aka Ellie Heyworth
Ellie lives near Stockholm and works as a researcher on insect microbiomes. She grew up on both sides of the Atlantic, before moving to Sweden in 2016. The long winter nights provide excellent times for reading, and she alternates novels in Swedish with trying to get through the 800-plus books on her to-read list. Beyond reading and insects she enjoys running, cooking and long train journeys.
The judging meeting will be held online at 11am BST on Monday 15 October 2018. Each judge will have one vote. That’s three potential votes for a lucky book – or maybe they’ll split ranks. There are also two more votes up for grabs – and they’re decided by you.
That voting process is simple. All you have to do is nominate your favourite book in the comments. Please make it easy for us by starting yours with “Vote:”, then specifying the title and author. Just one vote, for one book, please – and we’d love to see 50 words or so explaining your choice. As ever, please don’t worry if you’ve changed your mind during the course of the competition; 2018 seems like a very good year to remind everyone that democracy is an ongoing process, that nothing is set in stone, and it’s just fine to change your mind. I’d positively encourage it. Here’s the relevant clause from our not-at-all sickening terms and conditions:
11. The winner will be chosen via a public vote from readers who have submitted reviews of their chosen titles in combination with a panel of readers to be selected by a process outlined below. Readers may vote for only one title at this stage – changes of mind will be governed by clause four on indecision. A vote in support of one book at shortlist stage does not rule out a subsequent valid vote in support of a different book to win the Competition. Reviews may be written at any time before a vote is cast. Winner votes received after 23.59 BST on Sunday 14 October 2018 will not be counted.
Did you get that? 23:59 on 14 October 2018. That means you have just under a week to get your vote in. Let’s get to it!
