A new jury
A stronger community of readers using a richer site: www.orange.fr/prixorangedulivre
A 3-part timeline which runs from January to June 2010

Today Orange is launching the second Orange Book Award, presided over by Erik Orsenna. The Orange Book Award, created in 2009, is the first internet users' litterature prize to involve a community.

It honours works of fiction (novels and short stories) written in French and published in France between 1 January and 30 April of the current year; the winner is the book which receives the most internet users' votes. For the first time in a large scale competition, web users are invited to participate throughout the process from the early stages, when they discuss their favorite books, through the selection of candidates and then finalists, to the final vote in which they alone take part.

Internet users can chat, check out new books and recommend books to other users on the Orange Book Award site www.orange.fr/prixorangedulivre. The site also makes this a transparent competition, since its users select the winner themselves.


what’s new in the 2010 competition

a new jury
The jury is once again presided over by Erik Orsenna, a writer and member of the Académie Française. Half of the jury will be composed of people who work with books (booksellers and writers).

this year, the jury will include:
2 booksellers: Valérie Broutin (L’Horizon bookstore in Boulogne sur Mer) and Emmanuel Delhomme (Livres Sterling bookstore in Paris).
4 writers: Éliette Abécassis (Albin Michel), Serge Bramly (Lattes), David Foenkinos (Gallimard) and Fabrice Humbert, the 2009 winner (Éditions le Passage).
The 7 remaining jury members chosen by Orange will be Orange Book Community members. They will be selected from among community members who have posted at least 3 comments on the basis of their motivation for this experience.


the Orange Book Community
The Orange Book Award site, at the heart of the prize and internet users’ discussions, has become the Orange Book Community’s site. It is now a year-round site where users can find newly published works and other members' comments at any time. This means they can discuss and share their passion with the rest of the Orange Book Community every day and enjoy book recommendations.
The site will also offer a number of events and encounters including videos in which booksellers speak out, Erik Orsenna’s Chronicles, authors’ voices, jury favourites and book events.


the Orange Book Award timeline
The different phases of the competition will last from January to June 2010:
Starting on 12 January: Internet users can sign up on www.orange.fr/prixorangedulivre to discuss their favorite books. If they would like to be on the jury, they must make at least three comments on the site and submit a letter explaining their motivations.
1 March: the jury will be completed by  the selection of seven internet users from among those who have shown the best combination of motivation, writing quality and  ability to motivate readers.
30 April: the jury will announce the selection of 30 candidates.
20 May: the five finalists will be announced.
Between 20 May and 7 June: the entire internet user community will vote online to choose the winner.
 
In June, Erik Orsenna will announce the 2010 Orange Book Award winner, who will receive a 15,000 euro prize. The winning book will then be recorded as an audiobook to be distributed to people with low-vision as was suggested by the 2009 winner.


internet at the heart of the competition
Orange contributes its technical know-how and broad public to the competition. In addition to the functions it offers web users for interacting and discussing their passion, orange.fr (which has 20 million unique visitors per month) will support the Prize and present the new publications of autumn 2010.

 
the 2009 winner
Fabrice Humbert: L’origine de la violence [The Origin of Violence], published by Le Passage


Orange and books
Orange has been a partner of the Orange Prize for Fiction in England since 1996 and more recently the Prix Clara in France since 2006. The Orange Foundation works to make litterature accessible to as many people as possible by supporting audio recordings and Braille translations of books. For example, Le Monde des ados (Le Monde for Teens, www.fleuruspresse.fr) has been accessible to blind and low-vision teens since October thanks to the Orange Foundation’s partnership with the charities GIAA and HandiCaPZéro.

You can find more books, comments and news on the Orange Book Community site at: www.orange.fr/prixorangedulivre