Just to clarify - so books published by companies in which the author has shares are not eligible for consideration?

Want to check this - in this new world of E-Books and internet, it's clearly going to be significant (for example, Coldplay or Radiohead or many other music performers would no longer be eligible for prizes).

You do, I assume, check share ownership of all your foreign authors, now eligible for consideration?

Are there retail restrictions too (no Amazon or iTunes)? "Is it good?" has been replaced by "Is it with a major publisher?".

You must make this clear for other aspiring authors who believe, like I did, that simply writing as well as possible is no longer sufficient to be considered a contender.

And fans of The Booker Prize, like myself, should be informed that only novels with big publishing houses behind them get considered.

If the best book of the year is not on a major imprint, it is ineligible.

Hopefully, great unknown writers will either be populist enough to get a deal (like 50 Shades of Shit) or can exist through word-of-mouth.

Far be it for The Man Booker Prize to champion great writing; simply great money behind it.

Am I correct?

Best wishes

Kenneth George King