The Bookseller.com

1st December 2008

Sophie Rochester

Sophie Rochester worked at Routledge, Jonathan Cape and 4th Estate publishers before moving to a digital agency and then Colman Getty in 2002. Now freelance, she is content editor for the Man Booker Prize website and working with publishers Corvo Books, Long Barn Books and NMM Publishing.

A website for all seasons

14.08.07

Last week saw the announcement of the Man Booker Prize longlist of 13 titles – the 'Man Booker Dozen'.  Chair of the Booker judges this year Howard Davies likened their arrival at the longlist to the delivery of a child, with Ion Trewin 'as an unlikely bearded midwife'.  In a neighbouring ward, we also gave birth to the new Man Booker Prize website (www.themanbookerprize.com).  Anyone who has been involved in the redesign and build of a major new website will understand that the process is often similar to a painful labour, but the final result is exactly what we wanted – a fresh look and a new content platform for the Man Booker Prize's international facing website. 

The site relaunched with several new sections and a full revamping of the rest of the site.  The site now holds a 'News' section which features stories not only directly linked with the prize calendar but also those linked to the activity of previous winners or nominees.  From the moment the Man Booker longlist is announced the literary world is buzzing, but we wanted to show our awareness that it doesn't stop dead in October. Throughout the year previous winners, shortlistees, longlistees and next generation Man Booker novelists are all busy with book deals, launches, film adaptations and author tours and we wanted the site to reflect this.

We also launched 'Perspective', a new online magazine carrying features from leading industry spokespeople and author interviews with Man Booker winners and nominees. At launch there were articles from Peter Straus (Honorary Archivist), Ion Trewin (Administrator) and Liz Foley (Vintage Classics), as well as an exclusive interview from last year's winner Kiran Desai who shared her incredible year with our readers. Our next interview will be with Tindal Street's longlisted author, Catherine Flynn.

For the first time this year online resources are available for librarians who are now able to download Man Booker resources such as posters and readers guides, and six library-based reading groups have been recruited to be 2007 prize partners.

We also want to celebrate those booksellers who are particularly fanatical about the Man Booker Prize, by featuring them in our forthcoming 'Bookseller of the Week' slot. Successful booksellers will feature in the 'Prize' section with a photograph and details of their specific promotion or Man Booker story. (More details below)

At launch three competitions were posted (to win copies of Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, McEwan's Atonement and a full set of Vintage Classic Twins) - all of which received a phenomenal international response. Overnight the email inbox fills with entries from every last corner of the world – from Texas to the Shetland Islands, New Zealand to Singapore, India to Portugal.

Last week's media coverage also demonstrated how any content on the site is scrutinised by the world's press. Not only were quotes lifted from the Chair's blog and articles written in Perspective, but it felt as though journalists were trying to find 'clues' as they waited for the longlist - as if there might be some secret Man Booker messages in there if you read the text backwards (there aren't any by the way!).

The busiest area of the site is certainly the relaunched Debate area. The forum is full of lively comment and for the betting man (or woman) one of the best places to work out what might be shortlisted. Blogger 'JohnSelf' predicted five out of the thirteen titles on the longlist – perhaps something that not even this year's judges would have been able to do. 

Finally, but importantly, the new-look site now holds an enormous archive of information on previous longlists, shortlists and winners going back in the prize's 39 year history. And additional features will be added to the site over the coming months to tie in with the celebration of the prize's 40th anniversary in 2008. The new site is just the first part of a total overhaul of the Man Booker Prize's online presence and we hope that users will not only enjoy using it, but furthermore become part of it. 

If you're interested in featuring as the Man Booker Prize 'Bookseller of the Week' then please send brief details of your Man Booker in-store display or event, along with a photograph (no larger than 100kb) to editor@themanbookerprize.com.

Send an email to the same address if you're interested in contributing to Perspective magazine or if you have a story for our news section.

Booker Prize