How does a book become Pulitzer Prize material?

Question

And is it ever for fiction, or only non-fiction?

Answer 1

You can look at it several different ways. The romantic/idealistic view is that you write the best piece that you can with no consideration to what the reader, agent, editor, pub rep, others think. And...if you believe in the process of writing, you will write a work that would be recognized for its merits.

Another side would be to evaluate which publishers have produced the most Pulitzers, National Book Awards, PEN award winners, etc because while many of the publishers may believe in the quality of the work, some may be better at getting those works into the hands of the right people. It is why even in this day and age of big publishing houses and chain bookstores, a well written book that has Advanced Reader copies distributed with some key buyers or booksellers at independent booksellers can result in a runaway hit (and often prizes). Also, you can search recent winners and find out who their editors or agents are. This is a much more scientific approach, but promoting your book is crucial if you want to enjoy commercial or other successes.

Answer 2

One of my favorite novels, Lonesome Dove, won a Pulitzer.

Check out this website - the history behind the awards and of the man Joseph Pulitzer is pretty interesting.

http://www.pulitzer.org/

The short answer is that the Pulitzer Prize for fiction goes to a distinguished work by an American author preferably dealing with American life.

Answer 3

It has a lot of categories. There are awards for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, newspapers, photographs and more. It is a much broader and all encompassing award or set of awards, than the Nobel Prize which only offers one award a year to one writer from the entire world, and usually that is for an author who is writing about the oppressed and down trodden in a third world country.

Check out: www.pulitzer.org