Skip to Content

'The money men will demand a better strike rate'

12 December 2005

'Publishing is a form of gambling. As in any industry with creativity at it score, - advertising, music, fashion, et al - publishers are guessing how public taste can be evolved.

Huge financial investments are staked on the gut feelings of one or two people who sometimes get it right but more often get it wrong. Within publishing, this situation will not last; sooner or later, the money men will demand a better strike rate, which will trigger a rush to understand what consumers really want from their reading.

Attitudinal research will be the new battlefield. The publishers with greatest understanding of their consumers will be the winners with consumers and retailers.'

Damian Horner, a freelance marketing consultant, in the Bookseller