Remarkable work is always not on the list, because if it was, it would be commonplace, not remarkable.
The application process changes the list of who applies. Your applicants reflect your methods.
The second person to write a story about a young boy and an escaped slave on the Mississippi wasn't a novelist, he was a typist.
The secret of getting on the shortlist is doing your best work fearlessly for a long time before you get on the list.