So, my wife Staci is really into reading. She loves sitting down with a good book. Jane Austen is usually the preference, or anything similar (she’s really into Stephenie Myer’s Twilight Books), though she’s been branching out lately. And we’ve come across an interesting situation. Being conservative and religious, we’re finding reading isn’t as “safe” as it used to be. In particular, she’s finding some of the books that are highly recommended, have sexually explicit material. It’s hard to pick out a book and get a sense for the kind of content you’re going to come up with. Even in Harry Potter books, you would come across some explicit language.
So, my wife came up with this idea: Books should have a rating system. Movies have it. TV has it now. Even video games have it. Music at least warns you of explicit material. Why not books? They’re considered entertainment media, right?
So why is this on this blog? Well, it’s always my endeavor to define PR, and I think this is PR. The first book publisher to offer a rating system, is the first book publisher to show that it really does value its readers. Public relations is about creating a relationship with publics who are affected by or who affect organizational decisions. And readers are probably the most important public a publisher can focus on.
This is going beyond getting book reviews at the NY Times and sending out press releases about a new book release, this is creating a relationship of trust with your readers that says, I know your interests go deeper than reading a story. You have values, morals, and interests that we value. The first book publisher to do this will be the first book publisher to branch out from PR as promotion to PR as strategic relationship management…and…
The first book publisher to do this should be the first book publisher to thank my wife in the acknowledgments section of the book.
[...] 3, 2008 by chartroose Please read this post and let me know what you think. Should we have a rating system for books? My answer is an [...]
here here!
That is an excellent idea! I encounter many books that “surprise” me with their content.
Self-ratings are what have kept movies from government censorship. I think this is a great idea. I’m sure it would get a lot of attention if anyone did this due to the controversy, which would spark tons of spin-off conversations on the PR implications of book ratings.
Thanks BeBeth, Clary, and Rik, I’ve been getting a lot of mixed responses on this idea, at least on other blogs responding to this. More than anything, I was hoping to illustrate the PR implications of such an idea, and I’m glad that there were at least a few people who saw past the controversy for the implications for PR. Interestingly, though, and on a total tangent, I find it funny that something so conservative could be considered so controversial.
Brian — Tell Staci that I too, (and I’m sure others out there) have the same problem when reading books! SOme books come highly reccommended and then are ruined (in my opinion) by smut that I am not interested in reading.
From a PR standpoint…I think it’s a great idea.
I was reading some of the comments on another’s blog about this post, and was kind of annoyed at the idea that authors wouldn’t feel able to write what they want because they know their work will be rated. Why should that stop you from writing what you want? Having the work rated might limit the audience, but it will still be published and available for anyone to read — regardless of the rating. Just as movies and music are. DUH!
Good point Shari. I think it’s more “fear” of anything resembling a limit to freedom of speech more than that they wouldn’t be able to publish what they want.
[...] myself in a discussion on censorship on Chartroose’s Book Barrage blog. She had linked to a post about whether or not books should have ratings, like movies do. Well, I flippantly replied: [...]