The Blooker Prize
What We Did
The Blooker Prize (blookerprize.com) – the world’s first literary prize for “blooks”, or books based on blogs, websites or other online content.
“Congratulations on doing a very rare thing: starting a prize that meets a need rather than existing so that a company can put its name on it. In a world saturated with arts prizes the Blooker actually has something new to say. ”
—Reporter for The Times, after covering the Blooker's launch
Outcome
The first Blooker Prize, awarded in 2006, won global media attention on a scale that… well, staggered all involved. Even a rival called it “absolute genius”. The 2007 Blooker then won even more; the BBC alone covered it over 20 times.
In just two years, the Blooker made a global name, respected by bloggers and mainstream media alike.
Coverage for it repeatedly drove huge traffic to sponsors Lulu.com, helping Lulu's traffic rise almost seven-fold in barely 18 months and its business grow over 10% PER MONTH.
Googling the Blooker at one stage delivered 755,000 search results. The word “blook” entered the Collins English Dictionary, whose editors credited the Blooker for its rise.
“Julie and Julia”, the first Blooker winner, is now a hit Nora Ephron movie, starring Meryl Streep.
“Cooker Beats Hooker to Win Blooker ”
—Headline when Julie Powell's book on cooking beat Belle de Jour to win the first Blooker
Coverage
Including:
- 755,000 Google search results
- Over 5,000 blog-posts
- Over 1,000 pieces of mainstream coverage
- Over 20 pieces of BBC coverage one year alone
Key Points
- 755,000 Google search results
- Top story on Google News
- Over 5,000 blog-posts
- The word 'blook' enters the Collins English Dictionary
- First winner now a movie, with Meryl Streep, Amy Adams
