Episode 6: Clay Tablets and Metadata Overwriting

BookSmarts Podcast

• 20 min

Play episode

This episode starts with a story about clay tablets and builds a connection all the way up to a modern metadata issue. The story is about how a team of researchers utilized cutting edge mathematics to trace the trade itineraries and sales transactions left behind by Assyrian merchants 4,000 years ago. Using this information, the team was able to determine the location of cities that were hidden to time, and were able to find corollaries between the size of those ancient cities and those same cities today. This is a fascinating look at how data can change the way you look at issues. You can read the paper here: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w23992/w23992.pdf This story is a great example of what can happen when you take a more data-centric approach to an issue. As many publishers have learned over the last decade, taking better control of your data is imperative to your success. The best way to do that is with a title performance monitoring tool. One important issue that impacts publishers every day, often without them even knowing it, is data overwriting. Joshua talks extensively about this issue, and provides listeners with five suggestions to help them more effectively deal with their book data being overwritten. Looking at only part of the picture can prove costly, and lacking access to the right data when you need it can leave you feeling vulnerable. Firebrand’s Eloquence on Alert platform is the most powerful title performance monitoring tool available. See how your marketing events relate to your sales rank, reviews, and more. Get real data, and real insights, into what’s happening with your books on book retail sites. Learn more and sign up for a demo at eloquenceonalert.com.