Social Web Stands In for Metrics for Ebook Publishers

摘要

I spent a couple of years working in book publishing during my 20s. I learned a lot while I was there, but one of the things that surprised me most was that the book industry operates solely on the gut feelings of its editors and publishers. That was fine when book publishing was more a gentleman's hobby than a legitimate business, but these days, book publishers are integral parts of the money-making media empires of people such as Rupert Murdoch. I can't think of another industry that operates this way-making big financial decisions based on one guy saying, "Hey, I like this-I think other people might too." This even surprised some of the people I knew back home. I remember having dinner with a friend and her parents one night, and her mother-a longtime marketer-asked, in utter shock, "You mean they don't do any market research?" Nope. Zilch. Zero. Nada.