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My interest in awards begins and ends with the various longlists/shortlists. I don't really care in the slightest about "The Winner." I can't begin to count how many authors that I currently enjoy reading were first encountered (by me) on one or another award's shortlist. The fact that I already have more than enough unread works (that I already have a pretty-good idea I'm going to like) to last me a lifetime, in no way encourages me to stop using awards nominations to discover even more.
Even if they are strictly a "popularity contest," they tend to include more "sleepers" that didn't win the 5-star super-hype treatment from one of the major publishers. And they're rarely completely devoid of really good books.
The point where things go south is when people start WANTING to win, or start thinking that books that they like not getting nominated can be construed as some sort of personal affront. I call it the "Books I Like HAVE to be Award Worthy, Right?" fallacy.
For me, it's all about finding new books/authors I like. Not about wanting books/authors I already like winning awards. As such, I find award longlists/shortlists an invaluable supplement to best-seller lists, reviews, and recommendations. I think many people do.
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