In the last century, social marketing found that surveys of consumers would be a way to reduce the risks around a new product. They SURVEYED, and had FOCUS GROUPS, looking for a winner. It was costly.
In publishing, a VERY SMART EDITOR was the filter: he or she “bet the farm” on an author. Some were great at predicting success in the marketplace.
Now, we have CROWD-SOURCING. I am a big fan of the TV show THE VOICE. After their judges (“editors”) screen singers, they turn the competition over to THE PUBLIC. We get to vote for our favorites, and they are advanced to the finals. At a certain point, the judges’ picks are filtered by THE MASSES, in picking a winner. It is feasible to test the goods with the ultimate consumer, en masse.
Literary agents are telling us that they are bombarded by thousands of manuscripts a year and “they have to fall in love” to pick a winner which is still a speculation that they can sell the mss to a publisher, using their contacts. Everybody needs to make money. This means a HUGE “slush pile” – the mss that are queued up to be rejected. No love, sorry.
The Kindle Scout program is about crowd-sourcing the review of new novels. If someone is a winner, the cost of publishing a book is low, because they mainly do ebooks (=no inventory, dirt cheap reproduction).
My new novel – MY BOAT IS SO SMALL – is up for a Kindle Scout Campaign. YOU – YOU -- YOU can vote for this book to make the finals and get a publishing contract with Kindle Press.
JOIN ME IN THIS FUN! NOMINATE my book! If they publish it, you’ll get a free copy!! You are part of the team, making decisions about “winners.”
Please make my book a winner, at least here… Thanks!
Link for nominating my book: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/10GJ9H8B1HRC7