The Fear of Data | Digital Book World

One fear is that reading data will influence what gets published. This is a somewhat strange notion, as self-publishing has already removed almost any barrier to market, and more books than ever before are getting published. What the doubters really mean is that data could influence what the big publishing houses will publish in the future, such as more celebrity biographies, tales from YouTube stars and vampire novels.

The fear is that, in the future, worthy books of high literary quality will be shunned. Yet titles are getting acquired by editors even when sales data point toward the reality that they are never going to deliver a positive return. What those who have reservations about data fail to see, however, is that data will make it easier to find the audience that appreciates these books. Rather than support an expensive marketing campaign across mass retail, publishers can tailor their campaigns to the relevant audience by virtue of an improved understanding of who likes to read a certain kind of book. And just as important, publishers will also discover the optimal approach to reach that audience.