[speakingtohe]

@at elfwreck

A recipe with a note about subscribing to CookSupreme Magazine (or whatever) after a chapter about a romantic dinner is great. The same recipe after a chapter about finding a serial killer's victims in a restaurant kitchen is not so great.

Obviously, goes without saying.
custom designed for each book would be a benefit, but do they always custom design newspaper ads to fit the news in each addition? Does every Harlequin have it's own unique insert?

And, since ebooks are touted as non-transferable, how much is it worth to the advertiser to be seen by a single person? It's not like adverts in magazines, where they can count on a number of issues being shared among friends, left in the waiting rooms at doctors' offices, carried by libraries, glanced at by a dozen people in line at the supermarket before they're bought. 1 ebook purchase = 1 legit reader... how much will they be willing to pay for maybe-one customer?

Newspapers are not always shared outside the family, ebooks can be borrowed from the library or shared between family members, I have yet to see Playboy in a doctor's office and the odd person advertises in the newspaper or a not that likely to be passed on magazine. Some guys don't even want their wives to see the Penthouse.

Consider the trend of free papers being handed out at major transit centers. Generally not passed on, saved, often not read, someone just wants to do the movie crossword to pass the time on the commute. They are printed, hand delivered in many cases, 50 % advertising and seem to thrive. Advertisers must be getting a little bang for their buck.
Community newspapers are generally free and most go unread into the recycle bin. Still they are chock full of adds and flyers.

Cookbooks and cooking magazines, hobbyist books/magazines, and even the computer shopper contain ads. Generally they are not resold and mostly only read by the originalpuschaser.

And human nature being what it is, people pay more for ebooks and probably have a good feeling towards the author so the ads carry more weight than than some other mediums.

Also--how does the ad inspire sales? If I'm not going to stop my reading and go visit their website RIGHT NOW, I'll have forgotten about it by the time I'm done. My reader has no web access, and even when I read on a computer, it's often with internet turned off.

It is all about saturationand increasing product awareness. Do you drop your newspaper or magazine and go instantly rushing off to the store when you see an advertisment?

Advertising is not a whole new game that has to be invented for ebooks. They just haven't gotten around to doing it. Their loss our gain