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Marketing, Ideology and Parental Concerns
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From: Charles Bayless <charles.bayless_at_ttmd.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 16:42:42 -0500
Marge,
An interesting case study that I think might have pertinence to other books out of the mainstream. One comment from a single person doesn’t support a conclusion that ideology is an explanation for poor sales. All we know (or I infer from your post) is that your book was published, well supported by your publisher, critically received and then not purchased at a commensurate level by the reading public. We would like to know why the widely scattered, highly diverse reading public did not elect to purchase the book despite all the positive factors going for it. Ideology seems pretty far from the list Ockham might have constructed. I suspect this sheds light on the challenges publishers face that we may not be fully acknowledging.
This analysis might illustrate the complex issue of reading and identity interwoven with how we struggle to interpret what is going on in the marketplace of books. How do we know what we know and how can others know it. I have not read your book; from the reviews, it sounds great. But I think there is a much closer explanation of low sales at hand than ideology. Ideology is rather an ambiguous explanation. What is the ideology? What is a “people’s ideology”; it seems like there are just a lot of people with a lot of different opinions. There are also a lot of different opinions as to what constitutes “misinformation.”
All we can conclude with the information available is that people weren’t interested in buying the book. Ideology hypothetically might be one reason. But I think the ten Amazon reviews provide most of the explanation (8 five stars and 2 four stars). For a general buyer, here are the red flags I would pick from the Amazon reviews and from the commentary in Picnic Basket. One of the things I suspect happens is that we discount the weight people put on negative commentary even in the context of a positive review. In a bountiful environment of books, people are probably mostly looking for reasons not to select. Consequently negative comments, even if overall positive, can be a death knell.
· “every time I read the synopsis I'd start to feel the dread of one more incredibly depressing story that I was going to have to immerse myself in.”
· “I managed to talk myself out of starting it a number of times.” If that is from an enthusiastic reviewer who was already interested in Central and South American history and popular resistance to tyrants, then imagine how the book must have appeared to anyone without that predicate commitment.
· “her content connects to multiple topics: the history of the Maya, the role of weaving in Mayan Culture, the Guatemalan Civil War, Día de los Muertos in Guatemala, the Sanctuary Movement, and Civil Rights activism.” That’s a pretty targeted set of interests.
· “Overall this is a good book and I would recommend it to any adult and any of the more mature young adults.” The book is pitched for fifth-ninth graders.
· “Though there are many concepts that would be hard for the younger teen to read, I would still recommend it for some.”
· “The glossary at the end of the book allows students to understand the language more easily.”
· “She is one of my avid readers, and though I was intrigued, she said the book was boring to her.”
· “Historical Fiction is NOT my genre of choice, and after reading Journey of Dreams, it still isn't.”
· “I enjoy historical fiction but just couldn't get into Journey of Dreams as much as I had anticipated I would.”
· “I suspect it would be of interest in ESL classes.”
· “I enjoy recommending books to middle school students that take them out of their comfort zone and this book fits will challenge their thinking.”
· “it troubles me to see illegal immigration used as a solution.”
· “However, I had a hard time getting into the book; for me, the beginning was very slow and I felt like the author was trying to be too literary.”
· “The glossary was very helpful and would be necessary for children.”
· “This is a wonderful book for schools with high ESL populations”
· “I have always enjoyed historical fiction, but have struggled getting my students to love it as well.”
· “it is so important we go back in our history and truly understand the waves of immigrants. There is so much hate and it is from a complete lack of understanding and knowledge of history.”
Obviously I have cherry picked. Overall there was a lot of positive commentary and a lot of stars. But if people are skeptical of the genuineness of reviews and if they are seeking reasons to not buy, I think the above quotations are probably a lot more explanatory than ideology. I am not suggesting that parents would normally have taken the ten minutes to check out the Amazon reviews or seek out the comments on Picnic Basket. But if those two sources are representative, then I think that there are a lot of signals indicating that there are other more material issues standing in the way of sales than ideological resistance.
I would speculate the parental concerns might look something like:
1. Think the book is too old for the targeted audience. I would guess this is by far the most material concern.
2. Not interested in Guatemalan history.
3. Not interested in harrowing stories.
4. Not interested in stories with complex moral situations, particularly for a fifth grader.
5. Not interested in discussing genocide.
6. Not interested in dealing with violence and cruelty.
7. Not interested in historical fiction.
8. It’s an immigrant story pitched to immigrants.
9. It’s another caustic commentary about the US and how it treats immigrants.
10. It’s another civil rights story, we already read about that in February.
11. Don’t believe in open borders.
So is the explanation for low sales ideological opposition? Possibly. But I am guessing that items 1-6 are probably the most relevant issues for most parents. This is purely speculative. Identifying the real barrier to sales is critical though. If the issue is ideological opposition, then sales can be increased by better target marketing to those perceived as ideologically sympathetic. If, on the other hand, this is really an adult book that is not getting traction with children, then target marketing by ideology won’t increase sales at all if what parents really object to is maturity of content. If all the above eleven are misperceptions on the part of parents, then the marketing plan has to anticipate how to forestall such conclusions by the reading public.
I am not attempting to slam Journey of Dreams, but I think it exemplifies how detailed information and critical thinking might lead to different answers than we might first leap to. I also think that the issues raised here might be common ones to any books out of the positive mainstream norm. What could Frances Lincoln (or any supportive publisher) have done better to forestall such issues? I ask that as a real question. It would be interesting to construct a marketing plan if those are the real book buying public’s concerns. In fact, for those of you who are connected with a university with a business school, perhaps this might be an interesting case study for a marketing class. Just exactly how would you market this?
Charles
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 16:42:42 -0500
Marge,
An interesting case study that I think might have pertinence to other books out of the mainstream. One comment from a single person doesn’t support a conclusion that ideology is an explanation for poor sales. All we know (or I infer from your post) is that your book was published, well supported by your publisher, critically received and then not purchased at a commensurate level by the reading public. We would like to know why the widely scattered, highly diverse reading public did not elect to purchase the book despite all the positive factors going for it. Ideology seems pretty far from the list Ockham might have constructed. I suspect this sheds light on the challenges publishers face that we may not be fully acknowledging.
This analysis might illustrate the complex issue of reading and identity interwoven with how we struggle to interpret what is going on in the marketplace of books. How do we know what we know and how can others know it. I have not read your book; from the reviews, it sounds great. But I think there is a much closer explanation of low sales at hand than ideology. Ideology is rather an ambiguous explanation. What is the ideology? What is a “people’s ideology”; it seems like there are just a lot of people with a lot of different opinions. There are also a lot of different opinions as to what constitutes “misinformation.”
All we can conclude with the information available is that people weren’t interested in buying the book. Ideology hypothetically might be one reason. But I think the ten Amazon reviews provide most of the explanation (8 five stars and 2 four stars). For a general buyer, here are the red flags I would pick from the Amazon reviews and from the commentary in Picnic Basket. One of the things I suspect happens is that we discount the weight people put on negative commentary even in the context of a positive review. In a bountiful environment of books, people are probably mostly looking for reasons not to select. Consequently negative comments, even if overall positive, can be a death knell.
· “every time I read the synopsis I'd start to feel the dread of one more incredibly depressing story that I was going to have to immerse myself in.”
· “I managed to talk myself out of starting it a number of times.” If that is from an enthusiastic reviewer who was already interested in Central and South American history and popular resistance to tyrants, then imagine how the book must have appeared to anyone without that predicate commitment.
· “her content connects to multiple topics: the history of the Maya, the role of weaving in Mayan Culture, the Guatemalan Civil War, Día de los Muertos in Guatemala, the Sanctuary Movement, and Civil Rights activism.” That’s a pretty targeted set of interests.
· “Overall this is a good book and I would recommend it to any adult and any of the more mature young adults.” The book is pitched for fifth-ninth graders.
· “Though there are many concepts that would be hard for the younger teen to read, I would still recommend it for some.”
· “The glossary at the end of the book allows students to understand the language more easily.”
· “She is one of my avid readers, and though I was intrigued, she said the book was boring to her.”
· “Historical Fiction is NOT my genre of choice, and after reading Journey of Dreams, it still isn't.”
· “I enjoy historical fiction but just couldn't get into Journey of Dreams as much as I had anticipated I would.”
· “I suspect it would be of interest in ESL classes.”
· “I enjoy recommending books to middle school students that take them out of their comfort zone and this book fits will challenge their thinking.”
· “it troubles me to see illegal immigration used as a solution.”
· “However, I had a hard time getting into the book; for me, the beginning was very slow and I felt like the author was trying to be too literary.”
· “The glossary was very helpful and would be necessary for children.”
· “This is a wonderful book for schools with high ESL populations”
· “I have always enjoyed historical fiction, but have struggled getting my students to love it as well.”
· “it is so important we go back in our history and truly understand the waves of immigrants. There is so much hate and it is from a complete lack of understanding and knowledge of history.”
Obviously I have cherry picked. Overall there was a lot of positive commentary and a lot of stars. But if people are skeptical of the genuineness of reviews and if they are seeking reasons to not buy, I think the above quotations are probably a lot more explanatory than ideology. I am not suggesting that parents would normally have taken the ten minutes to check out the Amazon reviews or seek out the comments on Picnic Basket. But if those two sources are representative, then I think that there are a lot of signals indicating that there are other more material issues standing in the way of sales than ideological resistance.
I would speculate the parental concerns might look something like:
1. Think the book is too old for the targeted audience. I would guess this is by far the most material concern.
2. Not interested in Guatemalan history.
3. Not interested in harrowing stories.
4. Not interested in stories with complex moral situations, particularly for a fifth grader.
5. Not interested in discussing genocide.
6. Not interested in dealing with violence and cruelty.
7. Not interested in historical fiction.
8. It’s an immigrant story pitched to immigrants.
9. It’s another caustic commentary about the US and how it treats immigrants.
10. It’s another civil rights story, we already read about that in February.
11. Don’t believe in open borders.
So is the explanation for low sales ideological opposition? Possibly. But I am guessing that items 1-6 are probably the most relevant issues for most parents. This is purely speculative. Identifying the real barrier to sales is critical though. If the issue is ideological opposition, then sales can be increased by better target marketing to those perceived as ideologically sympathetic. If, on the other hand, this is really an adult book that is not getting traction with children, then target marketing by ideology won’t increase sales at all if what parents really object to is maturity of content. If all the above eleven are misperceptions on the part of parents, then the marketing plan has to anticipate how to forestall such conclusions by the reading public.
I am not attempting to slam Journey of Dreams, but I think it exemplifies how detailed information and critical thinking might lead to different answers than we might first leap to. I also think that the issues raised here might be common ones to any books out of the positive mainstream norm. What could Frances Lincoln (or any supportive publisher) have done better to forestall such issues? I ask that as a real question. It would be interesting to construct a marketing plan if those are the real book buying public’s concerns. In fact, for those of you who are connected with a university with a business school, perhaps this might be an interesting case study for a marketing class. Just exactly how would you market this?
Charles
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Received on Thu 13 Feb 2014 03:44:53 PM CST
