Data is the key to the Written Word

Analysis of how people use audio books and eBooks enables publishers to understand how readers actually read, according to The Guardian.

This is a fabulous state of affairs for those who can access the big data associated with these reading media. For the independent writer, who receives limited slices of data from the major sales platforms, this is cold comfort.

I would love to be able to see how far each reader gets in my books and how long it takes them. I guess the likes of Amazon captures this information on a regular basis otherwise how can it calculate where people start reading the eBooks? This is a necessary requirement as Amazon figures out this location for royalty purposes.

Fundamentally, I suppose my point is simple: open up the data to all writers please – I’d love to have a look.