Margaret Harrison, VP of digital devices at Tennessee-based Ingram Content Group, discusses the launch of MediaScout, a platform connecting studios and production companies with adaptable literary content that offers access to data on over 10 million books in 80-plus languages.

What can you tell us about your background, role and responsibilities at Ingram Content Group?

My background is in scaling storytelling with technology. I’ve been at Ingram Content Group for 10 years, during which time I’ve launched a variety of new tech services, most recently MediaScout. Prior to that, I worked in e-books during the peak of e-reading and the explosion of mobile and e-commerce.

What I love about Ingram is the scale with which we support the book publishing industry. Whether it’s getting books to public libraries or shipping a book you bought online from your independent bookstore, as the largest book distributor, Ingram touches every book in some way. We also have a lot of expertise in marketing and sales, from self-publishing to bestsellers, so we can not only get books into the hands of readers, we can also help develop an audience for those books.

What was the strategy behind Ingram launching MediaScout earlier this year?

MediaScout was born out of a need for studios and production companies to spend less time tracking down information about books, and more time developing great literary adaptations. Ingram collects information on more than 10 million books in more than 80 languages, so when we learned about the wild goose chase production companies and studios go through to get accurate rights availability and data, we knew we could help.

What is MediaScout and how does it work?

MediaScout makes it easy for studios and production companies to find their next literary adaptation. It’s an information service with millions of books from the world’s largest publishers plus undiscovered self-published authors and independent publishers. In addition to information about the book, MediaScout also shows rights availability and contact information. Our aim is to give content developers and executives quick access to everything they need. If we don’t have the data you’re looking for, we’ll track it down within a few days. You pay a monthly or annual subscription fee for access to the data.

Why is now the optimum time to launch an IP database like MediaScout and what are its  unique differentiators?

At Ingram, we’ve watched the growing success of literary adaptations on streaming sites and at the box office, and it’s a time of high demand for great stories that resonate. MediaScout has the most robust search capabilities in the industry combined with the best data. It’s why most places books are sold online use Ingram data to power book search and discoverability. What has also excited our audience is the breadth of books we list on the site, including undiscovered authors and deep backlist gems. Having unfettered access to the rights information and contacts also helps content development and gets projects greenlit faster.

What challenges and issues are the product designed to solve and how will you expand and develop the product over the next 12 months?

We know that people who work on literary adaptations spend a lot of time reading and almost as much time tracking down information. We have created a huge timesaver with MediaScout that is hopefully also fun and easy to use. During the next 12 months we plan to continue making the site better and helping book professionals save time, including more book performance data in the site as well as more rights availability.

Which companies are already using MediaScout?

We have major studios and producers in the site already. We also launched a programme this summer to offer free access to US college students taking literary adaptations classes. We want to influence the next generation of producers and content developers.

How is demand for IP from the screen sectors changing and why?

Demand for IP continues to increase, driven by audience demand to see books they love on the screen. On top of successful newer books and IP series being adapted to screen, such as The Hunting Wives, Dog Man and The Summer I Turned Pretty, the industry has seen some backlist surprises, such as Shogun and Slow Horses. Underscoring the interest in IP, the Black List created its inaugural Adaptation List last year, surfacing books published since 2005 that are primed for adaptation. We aim to surface all these potential selections and many more in MediaScout.

How does MediaScout fit into Ingram’s broader strategy for digital innovation?

Ingram aims to help publishers sell more books, and to amplify discoverability of quality content from independent authors and publishers and traditional publishers alike. MediaScout creates another avenue of discovery for content into the TV and film market, and to the extent that we accelerate adaptations, we help both publishers and studios and production companies succeed.

Margaret Harrison, VP of digital devices at Tennessee-based Ingram Content Group, discusses the launch of MediaScout, a platform connecting studios and production companies with adaptable literary content that offers access to data on over 10 million books in 80-plus languages.

What can you tell us about your background, role and responsibilities at Ingram Content Group?

My background is in scaling storytelling with technology. I’ve been at Ingram Content Group for 10 years, during which time I’ve launched a variety of new tech services, most recently MediaScout. Prior to that, I worked in e-books during the peak of e-reading and the explosion of mobile and e-commerce.

What I love about Ingram is the scale with which we support the book publishing industry. Whether it’s getting books to public libraries or shipping a book you bought online from your independent bookstore, as the largest book distributor, Ingram touches every book in some way. We also have a lot of expertise in marketing and sales, from self-publishing to bestsellers, so we can not only get books into the hands of readers, we can also help develop an audience for those books.
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