Coding the Booker Prize

Update 29th Sept: New codes being entered in the list below as they happen. 10th October is the deadline.

Update 23rd Aug: We are adding longlist coded titles as they arrive in the database, so watch out for the appearance of 'View Match' entries below, as the month unfolds.

It's Booker Prize season again, and I always think that the announcement of the longlist for the Man Booker prize is a sign that summer is drawing to a close. The consolation is that the 17 books announced on August 10 should keep us so entertained that we don't notice the evenings drawing in so much.

This year's Booker longlist -- of new novels by British and Commonwealth writers -- has been declared one of the strongest yet by the world's press, and so we are keen to see how this year's Booker longlist compares with winners in previous years, such as:

2004 Winner: The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
StoryCode UK Matches, StoryCode US Matches
2003 Winner: Vernon God Little by D.B.C. Pierre
StoryCode UK Matches, StoryCode US Matches
2002 Winner: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
StoryCode UK Matches, StoryCode US Matches

The 2005 longlist is reproduced below. We we want codes for all the titles before the short list announcement on 8th September. Can you help?

1. The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
2. The Sea by John Banville
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
3. Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
Code it now UK, Code it now US
4. A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry
Code it now UK, Code it now US
5. Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
6. In the Fold by Rachel Cusk
Code it now UK, Code it now US
7. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
8. All For Love by Dan Jacobson
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
9. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
10. Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
11. Saturday by Ian McEwan
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
12. The People's Act of Love by James Meek
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
13. Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
14. The Accidental by Ali Smith
Code it now UK, Code it now US
15. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Code it now UK, Code it now US
16. This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches
17. This is the Country by William Wall
Code it now UK, View UK Matches, Code it now US, View US Matches

Further details can be found in a press release issued by the Man Booker Prize website.

Happy coding, and enjoy what's left of the summer.

Christopher Norris

Book Synopsis copy - Help needed

One of my tasks at StoryCode is to make sure every book that gets coded is shown with a picture of its book jacket (if one is available) and a brief summary of what the book is about. Sometimes, though, I draw a blank, especially when a book is so old that it's out of print and I can't find out anything about the book from researching on the internet.

Although this situation is rare, when this happens I have started to ask anyone who had read such a book to send me their synopis, so that the recommendations for the story are easy to understand at a glance when matched against the review. I post the following copy at recommendation pages for stories like this:

Sorry, this book is currently out of print. If you have read this book, we would love to receive a short book review synopsis from you. Please send your synopsis of 75 words or less to us: Email feedback.

A few weeks ago, I found it impossible to find out anything about three out-of-print romantic fiction titles that had been coded at StoryCode. So I posted the request for book review copy, and within 24 hours I received fabulous review copy for all three books from a StoryCode user called Darla Stokes.

This type of exchange is only the beginning. In the future, there will be plenty more types of opportunity for you to interact with StoryCode, so keep your eyes peeled for further news.

Christopher Norris

The Godfather's Secret History - Where's the logic?

Below is a question we were asked by a StoryCode visitor recently. It is one that is much like many that are crossing the minds of visitors to the sites, so I thought I would post my reply to help with understanding how StoryCode works.

Hi

I looked at your website and am intrigued at how you get 84% storycode match with The Secret History and The Godfather (US match, UK match)? I would read the first, but not the second. I agree with the storycode match of The Secret History and Miss Smilla, although I couldn't put my finger on why. As I look down the lists as I link from page to page, I see many books that I have read but not necessarily because I enjoyed others on the list.

I am intrigued because as a book marketer, I know that the real complexity in marketing books is how and why the buying public choose their reading matter. Your site has all the potential; I'm just curious to know why you would link two books such as these, just as an example.

Kind regards

Thank you for the question.

StoryCode makes no individual editorial judgements about likely matches. The Coding process, available by clicking on the Code a Story tab on either of the US or UK sites, asks readers to provide a score for each of 40 questions about the story they have read. This then creates a database record with the story's 'DNA' which we then match with all the other stories in the database.

The fact that The Godfather and The Secret History are matched at 84% is a feature not of an editorial decision by one of the StoryCode team but on the 16 codes (so far) for The Secret History entered by readers around the world and the 7 codes for The Godfather. The fact that these stories are maintaining an 84% match following the entry of 23 codes suggests that, like it or not, the stories are a good match based on the questions asked.

Please bear in mind that StoryCode is not making conventional stylistic, subject, or genre comparisons of a story, but very sensitive, equally-weighted comparisons of 40 variables.

Over time it is likely that the match for these stories will change, but at the very heart of StoryCode's power is the possibility that it will make legitimate, but lateral, recommendations such as the one you have discovered.

And your judgement that you would not read The Godfather is up for grabs in my book. I never imagined I would read A Christmas Carol (see my post below from July 5th), which, much as The Godfather, has way too much prior knowledge from movie and TV interpretations. I did read it though, as a consequence of its unlikely match with Animal Farm, and was delighted. I was also very satisfied by the logic of the match, having read both.

I suggest you go away and code The Secret History for yourself, it takes about 5 minutes, (UK coding, US coding) and then read The Godfather. When you have done this come back and tell us what you thought of the match. I read The Godfather 20 years ago and have not read The Secret History, so don't know for sure, but from our growing experience of how StoryCode is unfolding, I reckon you have a surprise in store.

Steve Johnston

Foyles of London pilots StoryCode

Starting today, Foyles of London, the most famous bookshop in the world (don't take my word for it, ask Google) is launching an instore and window display promotion of StoryCode matches. A selection of 30 titles will feature on tables and in windows with bespoke point-of-sale materials. I will post some photographs here in the next few days. To complement the promotion we have produced a re-skinned version of the StoryCode.co.uk site to match the Foyles branding and which integrates with the Foyles.co.uk e-commerce store. You can visit the site at Foyles.StoryCode.co.uk.

Steve Johnston