The votes have been cast and counted and we have an almost complete Not the Booker prize shortlist for 2018. Here are the five books moving through to the next stage of the competition, ranked by vote:

Raising Sparks by Ariel Kahn (110)

Dark Pines by Will Dean (83)

Sweet Fruit, Sour Land by Rebecca Ley (69)

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan (67)

Sealed by Naomi Booth (64)

We once again received more than 1,500 legitimate votes – which is quite something in a voting system that requires actual effort and engagement. So thank you to everyone who participated. Extra special thanks are due to the excellent Lisa L Jones, for her incomparable spreadsheeting skills and for counting, checking and validating every vote. So far, it’s been a remarkably smooth and civilised process.

Thanks also to all the authors who had a book in the competition. And commiserations to all those who didn’t make it – not least because it was a close-run thing right until the final hours. While I’m doling out sympathy, I hope you aren’t too disappointed if you nominated or voted for a book and it didn’t get through. Take consolation from the fact that you can still maintain a significant stake in this competition as it develops.

Over the coming weeks I’m going to be reading through the books on the shortlist (in alphabetical order by author, one book a week) and posting reviews – and I hope you’ll add your own thoughts in the comments. My review for the first book, Naomi Booth’s Sealed, will be published around 20 August.

Before we get to that stage, there’s one more important thing. Our three judges from last year are currently deep in discussion about the sixth book to add to our 2018 shortlist. I’ll make an announcement about that early next week. I’ll also explain then how you can become a judge for this year’s competition and have your opinion counted alongside the public vote in the final round.

For now, anyone interested in participating should review this section from our amazing, smart and generally tremendous terms and conditions:

1. Three readers will be selected by the Guardian to form a panel of judges from those readers who have made substantial contributions to the discussion of the shortlisted books. The process by which these readers are chosen is also left studiously vague and at the Guardian’s discretion. These judges undertake to read at least three books from the shortlist before the final judging meeting.

Now, let’s can get down to the serious business of reading and reviewing. It’s going to be fascinating to see what these books are actually like.