Why aren self-published authors allowed to vote in the Whitney Academy?
A. This rule exists for the convenience of the Whitney Committee. While we know that there are many high-quality self-published books available–two of them were finalists in 2007!–the internet and vanity publishers have made it possible for anyone to quickly and easily publish a book. And, unfortunately, the Whitney Committee just doesn’t have time to evaluate between the genuinely good self-published novels and the vanity publications.
