Drink This New Book!

(from the incomporable MJ Rose on Buzz, Balls & Hype)
"One line I can't argue with, is this one from Jim Warren, The L.A. Times managing editor, "The last industry in America to go to for any wisdom about marketing is book publishing."

And as anyone who reads this blog knows, that's a pet peeve of mine too.

As someone who spent so many years in the advertising industry and knows the value of marketing research, I continue to find it appalling how little our industry does.

For instance, why aren't we test marketing bookcovers - which are the one and only ad for 90% of all books published. It would cost so little money to set up bookcover tests via an online service and find out if the covers convey and conote what the pubisher hopes. Nope, the powers who be rely on the people who are  entrenched in the business, who already know what the book is about, who are not in any way objective.

That's just one example.”

Amem, sister, amen.