Just stumbled upon this:
US Contest seeks to be “American Idol” of books
If online readers like the manuscript’s first chapter, the author is voted through to the next round. Two more chapters are posted and the public narrows the field in the same fashion.
They’re asking for “fiction with broad commercial appeal”, which really could be just about anything given that it really only needs to appeal to those in the gather.com community - be interesting to see what filters through at the end - I’ll have to try and remember to check on it.
