Book prizes may bring higher sales but negative reviews

Research suggests that awards such as Booker draw bad reviews from mismatched readers.

JANE Gardam, Anne Carson and the six other authors shortlisted for the £40,000 (RM220,000) Folio prize (awarded to an English language book of fiction published in the UK by an author from any country) should brace themselves: new research has found that, if they are announced as winner at next month’s awards ceremony, they will face a torrent of negative reviews from readers.