Image – Getty, Wako Magumi
By Porter Anderson, Editor in Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Steinberger: “A special focus”
IIn the US, Open Road Integrated Media, led by David Steinberger, announced today (8 August) an initiative called “Free Voices Geo-Targeting” in response to book bans. The idea is to help consumers find and buy controversial books “even in communities where book bans are widespread,” starting during Banned Books Week, September 22-28. Publishers can register books for the program now.
Publish perspectives Readers know that Free Voices is nothing new. As we reported on May 10, 2023, Free Voices was described at the time as “a new marketing service to fight book bans and help readers around the world discover and purchase controversial works.” What’s different about today’s move is the interesting addition of the geotargeting factor, available in 10 state markets.
The company’s timing may be particularly significant for publishing industry workers and readers in one of those 10 states. In Utah, the state Department of Education on Friday (August 2) issued a “No-Read List” of 13 books that the agency has banned in all public schools, based on a newly enacted law (“HB 29”) that, as PEN America writes, “requires each school district to remove books from at least three districts that are banned.”
The list includes works by Margaret Atwood as well as titles by Judy Blume, Sarah J. Maas, Elana K. Arnold, Rupi Kaur and Craig Thompson.
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As is often the case, issues surrounding allegedly sexual content seem to be the main reason for the bans in Utah, writes Elizabeth A. Harris at The New York Times“The order issued Friday was intended to comply with a law that took effect July 1 that says local educational authorities – including school boards and charter school governing boards – should prioritize protecting children from the harmful effects of illegal pornography over other considerations. Traditionally, schools and librarians have determined whether a book is appropriate for children based on a number of factors, including its literary or artistic merit.”
As Open Road describes its new offer to the news media, the initiative will allow publishers to market books in the ten American states that have the most banned book titles, adjusted for the population size of those states and subject to a minimum population threshold. These states, according to Open Road, are Texas, Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Utah, Iowa, Idaho and Nebraska.
David Steinberger
Commenting on the Free Voices Geo-Targeting initiative, Steinberger, who chairs the board of the National Book Foundation, is quoted today as saying: “The First Amendment and the right to free speech apply to every community in this country.
“With ‘Geo-targeting for free voteswe place particular emphasis on reaching places where readers may have limited access to books.”
Lisa Lucas
Members of the publishing community welcomed the news of the new program. Lisa Lucas, former executive director of the National Book Foundation and former senior vice president of Penguin Random House’s Pantheon and Schocken, also commented: “We have worked with Open Road in the past to reach those who wanted to buy and read Art Spiegelman’s books. Mouse. It is good that geotargeting is now being introduced to reach readers in parts of the country where book bans are widespread.”
Dominique Raccah
Dominique Raccah, CEO and publisher of Sourcebooks, in which Penguin Random House has become a majority shareholder, is also quoted here as saying that a Sourcebooks release in 2021, This book is gay by Juno Dawson, “is the third most read book in America today and one of the most banned. I am grateful that Open Road is helping to make this important book more accessible to readers.
“We are excited about geo-targeting as the next step, allowing readers to find and read books wherever they live.” (You can see the list of Top 10 Banned Books 2023, where This book is gay appears as #3 here on the ALA Banned Books Week site.)
Targeting “a specific state or region”
The “Free Voices” concept is open to publishers whose books are affected by ban campaigns. Each title included in the program is presented for four weeks. During this time, the advertising “reaches very targeted segments of heavy readers,” says the advertising text from Open Road.Unique for ‘Geo-targeting for free votes“,” the company said, “publishers will have the opportunity to engage an additional segment of readers in a particular state or region, including areas where book bans are particularly common and where certain books are being questioned.”
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The geo-targeted aspect of the renewed offering of the “Free Voices” servicewill add a geographic overlay, with additional reader segments from the 10 states where books are most banned, or, if the publisher so desires, a custom geographic segment that can be designed for each specific title.”
According to Open Road, an unspecified portion of the proceeds from the Free Voices Geo-Targeting initiative will go to the Freedom to Read Foundation, a nonprofit legal and educational program affiliated with the American Library Association.
Meanwhile, as part of the Utah ban process we referenced at the beginning of this article, these 13 titles are being removed from that state’s public education system:
- A courtyard of thorns and roses by Sarah J. Maas
- A courtyard of frost and starlight by Sarah J. Maas
- A court of fog and rage by Sarah J. Maas
- A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
- A Court of Wings and Doom by Sarah J. Maas
- Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
- What girls are made of by Elana K. Arnold
- Milk and honey by Rupi Kaur
- Forever by Judy Blume
- Inclination by Ellen Hopkins
- Stand out (Crank, Book 3) by Ellen Hopkins
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
- Cover by Craig Thompson
And at the Associated Press, Amy Beth Hanson and Jesse Bedayn write today about three more states of the ten on Open Road’s geo-targeting list: “At least three more states –Tennessee, Idaho and South Carolina — tend to involve state government in the book-banning business rather than leaving the matter to local communities, PEN America said.”
You can find more information from Publishing Perspectives on Open Road Integrated Media here, more on book bans here, more on censorship in general here, and more on the US market here.
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