Russ
Istar
Sorry, but it seems like you're the one in ignorance here if you actually think trad pubs spend much at all on studying readers. Maybe a publisher here or there does something. There are a few that are actually good, like Baen, at interacting with readers. But for the most part the Big Pubs and their imprints don't have the faintest idea, nor do agents. If they knew how to appeal to readers and knew how to effectively sell to readers, far more books would be big successes. It's really all a guessing game. They're throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something will stick.
Since you are clearly an expert in this field can you tell us the source of that information? How about you tell us which company does the most public surveys of reader desires and how they buy, who they do them for and roughly what they cost? Who is the biggest player in that field. Surely you can tell us that much?
According to you it must be Barilla!
And yes, I am perfectly well aware of the amount of books being sold online these days. That's why I'm going to self-publish. However, trad pubs have been fighting that transition tooth and nail from the beginning. That's why they colluded to raise ebook prices. Trad pubs are still fighting it. They would much rather the industry be predominantly print based and brick and mortar store based, as that's the aspect they have the most control over.
Their attempt to enhance and raise their profits, and control their market, does not make your comment about them only caring what book stores buy (at most 20% of their market) any less absurd.
Of course no one said it. If they had actually admitted it then I wouldn't have had to point it out.
So instead you can mind read it out of them and place it in the worst light possible to build a straw man argument. That seems like a good faith way to discuss an issue.
Your argument comes down to "everybody else, especially the professionals are too stupid to know what they are doing. Listen to me instead." That is pretty unpersuasive.