Blinkered publishers - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T12:46:36Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/537324:Topic:38514?feed=yes&xn_auth=noWell as that NY Times article…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-05-17:537324:Comment:392142007-05-17T09:27:40.319ZEric Christophersonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/datahog
Well as that NY Times article last week indicated there is very little market research being done, certainly based on the standards of other industries. So how can publishers be anything but reactionary now that they are all corporate-owned and must worry more than ever about the bottom line?<br />
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Not that better data would help. All those English lit majors trying to make sense of predictive analytics? I don't think so. :)
Well as that NY Times article last week indicated there is very little market research being done, certainly based on the standards of other industries. So how can publishers be anything but reactionary now that they are all corporate-owned and must worry more than ever about the bottom line?<br />
<br />
Not that better data would help. All those English lit majors trying to make sense of predictive analytics? I don't think so. :) I think they sometimes give t…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-05-16:537324:Comment:387552007-05-16T21:13:03.262ZRobin Burcellhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/rburcell67
I think they sometimes give these blanket statements as a way to turn down a book they just don't want. The question is why they don't want it? We know it could be just like Anne said, for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the book.<br />
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I had a publisher tell me 10 years ago, when they rejected my option book, that romantic suspense doesn't sell (which is even more of a blanket statement than opera doesn't sell.) At the time, yes, romantic suspense was on the downturn. (I think…
I think they sometimes give these blanket statements as a way to turn down a book they just don't want. The question is why they don't want it? We know it could be just like Anne said, for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the book.<br />
<br />
I had a publisher tell me 10 years ago, when they rejected my option book, that romantic suspense doesn't sell (which is even more of a blanket statement than opera doesn't sell.) At the time, yes, romantic suspense was on the downturn. (I think back then it was also called WomJep or Women in Jeopardy.) Turns out Romantic Suspense started selling real well. So, was it that romantic suspense didn't sell then, or that I didn't write the right book (surely it didn't suck ;-) or, horror of horrors, that it did suck, or maybe a combination of both? A great book will get published. But sometimes it is getting the right book in front of the right editor at the right time that makes all the difference in the world. you hear that kind of thing a…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-05-16:537324:Comment:387142007-05-16T20:39:47.017ZAnne Frasierhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/annefrasier
you hear that kind of thing all the time, but i think a more accurate statement would be<br />
that they don't know how to market it. Or that it would take some skilled marketing to find an audience for (fill in the blank). maybe that's where publishing could really take a step forward, because it seems that marketing doesn't figure out how to sell a good book -- they decide if a book looks like, tastes like, smells like a recent hit. if not, they don't waste time on it.
you hear that kind of thing all the time, but i think a more accurate statement would be<br />
that they don't know how to market it. Or that it would take some skilled marketing to find an audience for (fill in the blank). maybe that's where publishing could really take a step forward, because it seems that marketing doesn't figure out how to sell a good book -- they decide if a book looks like, tastes like, smells like a recent hit. if not, they don't waste time on it.