Abstract:

Historically the UK book trade has been poorly served with information about the market - in terms of both actual sales and buyer behaviour and attitudes. There were many assumptions made about the market, for example, who is buying what books, and for whom, and most assumptions were based not on fact but on folklore and trade instinct. Publishers came to realise that if they were to succeed in a climate of ever- increasing competition they needed to be far more aware of the market dynamics, and in particular who their potential buyers were. This paper is basically in four parts: the first looks at what data the market needs; the second at what action was taken to correct the lack of information; the third indicates some of the results, which have changed perceptions of the market; the fourth provides an example of how some of the data were used in practice.