Man Booker Prize confirms inclusion of American authors Ion Trewin, literary director of the Man Booker board, said early complaints that British authors may struggle under the new rules were a "glass half-empty" approach. "Increased competition will be an even greater accolade," he said. Jonathan Taylor, chairman of trustees, added the decision was "in keeping with what is an increasingly global, international publishing and reading world." "We think these changes are going to encourage traditional and new publishers and bring more excellent, literary fiction to the attention of more readers around the world," he said. Members of the board added it was a "big change," but said it should not be "frightening" for authors. They confirmed they had been considering the move for "years," but moved seriously to consult with 40 - 50 writers, publishers and agents around 18 months ago. They also strenuously denied the change was in response to invention of The Folio Prize, set up earlier this year to encompass all novels written in English, and insisted they had not been put under pressure by sponsors. Baroness Kennedy, a trustee of the Booker Prize Foundation, said the new rules would make winning the prize "even more exciting and valuable." Mr Taylor said: "By including writers from around the world to compete alongside Commonwealth and Irish writers, the Man Booker Prize is reinforcing its standing as the most important literary award in the English-speaking world. We are excited by the opportunities that extending the Man Booker Prize will bring for readers and writers worldwide. The expanded prize will recognise, celebrate and embrace authors writing in English, whether from Chicago, Sheffield or Shanghai. The wide geographic spread of the year's shows that this is a process already underway. We are embracing the freedom of English in all its vigour, its vitality, its versatility and its glory wherever it may be. We are abandoning the constraints of geography and national boundaries. The number of books publishers are allowed to submit has also long been a concern. Our new model, in recognising literary achievement, should encourage the traditional literary publishing houses while ensuring novels from new green-shoot publishers continue to be included. The Man Booker Prize will remain open to ebooks, with publishers who have had five or more novels on the longlist over the past five years now being permitted to enter four books. Publishing houses with three or four longlisted texts will be allowed to enter three books, while those with one or two long listings being permitted two novels. Publishers who have not made the longlist in the last five years will be allowed to enter one novel. Every eligible novel must still be written in English, and be published by a UK house in the year of submission. Authors have already voiced their reservations after proposals to include Americans in the prize emerged this week, with some saying it would cause it to "lose its distinctiveness." Lord Bragg said he was "disappointed... though not that surprised," while Howard Jacobson, who won the prize with The Finkler Question in 2010, told The Telegraph it was the "wrong decision." Jim Crace, nominated this year for Harvest, told The Independent: "There's something in there that you would lose if you open it up to American authors." The Man Booker board has already strenuously denied the change was in response to The Folio Prize, set up earlier this year to encompass all novels written in English. Andrew Kidd, founder of The Folio Prize, said he was "in some ways surprised" by the Booker announcement, saying it was "interesting to note" the changes. "We created The Folio Prize to complement existing prizes, based on the principle that each has its own, unique remit," he said. By launching a prize open to English language writers from anywhere in the world, and building it around the Folio Prize Academy, our intention was to fill a perceived gap, rather than to imply that others should adopt our model.