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Investing in “robust” research into underserved communities such as Black, Asian and ethnic minority readers is vital if publishing is to become more representative and books historically seen as a “risk” are to be published, a FutureBook audience has heard.
Speaking as part of a panel entitled Investing in Data to Demolish Barriers about a new as-yet-unpublished survey of “a nationally representative sample of 3,000 people and 500 people exclusively from ethnic minority groups” carried out by Hachette, the latter of which was referred to as a “booster report”, Bethan Ferguson, head of consumer insight at Hachette UK, said: “It is imperative to invest in fresh data to address issues we know exist in publishing.”
She described the research findings as “a really rich and deep data set we’re actively applying to our business”, which it is hoped will “supercharge what we’re trying to do”, adding that rather than relying anecdotally on things thought to be the case, the data would not only enable greater accountability but help form “a statistical and collective understanding from which we can all move forward”; create “a shared collective truth that makes us all responsible for changing the story and turning the dial”.
Emily Moran, head of marketing at Dialogue Books, said having such data could empower publishers to be more confident making decisions that would historically be considered “risky” and which publishers might be “scared to try”.
“People aren’t very willing to take risks, and you can’t get investment to take these risks and to try without the data, so I think for us, having this data, it backs up what we’ve done before and we can say ‘this book, you might not think it works in the existing framework the industry has, but this data shows that there are readers out there who will want this.’ We just need to experiment and try and invest in new ways of reaching them,” she said.
Moran continued that reframing success was imperative to making space for more voices and stories, adding: “It’s about reframing what success looks like. When you’re approaching a project, there might be a real social value of what you’re doing. But because obviously we’re in business, we have to make money, that is the priority. But maybe if there’s a greater focus on other ways of looking at things – so if a piece of work has the amazing potential to create a readership or find a readership that you wouldn’t normally work with, then, in a marketing sense, I think that has value. It has longer-term value than just creating sales.
“And so I think, using this data, we will be able to make a case for that kind of thing, and show that what we’re doing can have such an amazing social value, that it’s worth it.”
Millie Seaward, Dialogue’s head of publicity, added that the data gathered offered “a validation to keep going and find new ways of finding new readers”. She said she would be using the data to look into how they can work further with bookshops, as “they are a really amazing space and are doing a lot of active work in the community, and [it’s about] how we reach the people who may feel that they aren’t being served by them”.
Lewis Iwu, an author and debater who carried out focus groups as part of Hachette’s research, said data formed the “core of of a sustained response” to inequality in any industry, calling it “a foundation for how organisations can become more equitable and inclusive” and citing the way, for example, strides have been made in maternal healthcare and on the gender pay gap as a result.
He continued, however, by saying that data gathering alone wasn’t enough, and that it was just the start of what should be a sustained effort. “Where the danger is is where you get the data and think ‘job done’. Admiring the problem is really easy. Very smart people, really creative minds, are good at admiring the problem. One thing that came out really strongly in the focus groups is that we’re tired of talking, and we want to see action and results. So that’s where data can play a hugely powerful role,” he said.