Indigo Books has a 10-member junior advisory board made up of teenagers. And it seems to be working. The stores showed a 21 percent growth (after removing Harry Potter from the equation) in the 9-16 category. Here is a very interesting quote from the article:
- "According to Heather Reisman, chief executive at Indigo, the company wouldn't snub a novel that deserved exposure. But if the junior advisory board members are all holding their noses, she says: 'the difference in the amount of exposure and promotion (the book gets) can be quite significant.' Last year, for example, Reisman says a particular title -- which came 'highly, highly touted' by its publisher as the next big thing -- was only judged lukewarm by Indigo's senior reviewers. When the junior advisory board also gave it a collective thumbs-down, the book was taken off the fast track.
Ms. Reisman is a very smart woman.
