Required reading  

Bookslut links to this description of how the Booker Prize submissions get read (the longlist is coming out tomorrow). Obviously these things are going to be grueling, but this policy probably doesn't help:

Anyone can enter a novel for the Booker - even the gentleman who hoped that his self-published work would raise "a smile and a tear" among the judges - and, should it have any merits, notice will have to be taken. Without giving anything away, one of my sincerest wishes is that we can give the prize to someone - and some publishing firm - outside the London glamour circuit.

Self-published novels? Somehow I doubt the National Book Award is so inclusive in its consideration. It's nice to see that authors in the rest of the English speaking world have some recourse if the publishing industry fails them. But then, we do have some resourceful self-published types over here - I actually went and bought a copy of this book after reading the review. Of course, I didn't actually read much of it...