Topical ads at the ends of e-Books

[anamardoll]

Poll, but a bit more specific than the on-going (and very interesting) ads poll.

Would you be bothered by the inclusion of ads at the ENDS of eBooks that feature other works by the author or by similar authors?

Here I'm thinking of the retro full page ads that used to occur at the ends of books that advertised the author's next/other books and/or similar authors in the genre.

[paulsalter]

Not sure what the full page retro ads are, not sure I have seen them

For me I dont really class a list of other books by the author as ads, more useful information, if I have enjoyed a book by someone I find it useful seeing a list of other works by them

cant think of a paper book I have read which didnt include this information

[RainingLemur]

I wouldn't have a problem with this. At least, as long as it's limited to things by the author or reading recommendations instead of completely irrelevant ads.

[DiapDealer]

Feel free to put as many ads as you like following the words "The End."

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by paulsalter

Not sure what the full page retro ads are, not sure I have seen them

For me I dont really class a list of other books by the author as ads, more useful information, if I have enjoyed a book by someone I find it useful seeing a list of other works by them

cant think of a paper book I have read which didnt include this information

A good example that I run into a lot are the old "Deathlands" saga by (pen name group) "James Axler". The same name was also the attributed author of a series call "Outlanders", so every Deathlands novel for years had back pages of NEXT DEATHLANDS BOOK and SHINY OUTLANDERS BOOK and RANDOM DETECTIVE NOIR NOVEL YOU MIGHT LIKE at the back. Kind of interesting to look at now, from a retro art/advertising perspective.

[Krystl]

I kind of liked those "retro ads"--just, as you said, make them relevant.

Seeing the ad (with picture or coverwork) of the next book or related work was not disturbing and having it at the end meant/would mean that you would continue on to see it IF you liked what you had read. Especially if the book is one in a series--I can imagine here would be an excellent place to "advertise" the other books in the series.

[Krystl]

ps: can I hug George, too--just 'cause it seems like the warm-fuzzy thing to do... and who cannot use an extra hug or two?

[Elfwreck]

Ads for "more books you might like, since you liked this one well enough to finish it" are good. The only problem is when the ads have a substantial page count; there are ebooks with barely 40,000 words of text followed by 20,000+ words of notes, ads, and excerpts from other novels; some readers feel cheated when they're told a book is "60,000 words long" and they discover that 1/3 of what they paid for is ads. See: The Bloated eBook File @ Dear Author.

Other than that, people are generally happy with ads at the *end* of the book, where they can just stop reading if they're not interested. (Including me; I'm fine with ads & excerpts.) It's mostly the issue of paying to receive advertising that annoys people, with a smaller nuisance of "I thought this was a novel, not a novella and three intro chapters for other books."

A page or two of "also by this author" or even "by this other author, who writes similar stuff" (maybe you find someone else to cross-promote with) is fine.

[Krystl]

I agree completely, Elfwreck.

It should be kept in reason--a maximum of 1-2 pages. I also agree that it shouldn't be a considerable amount or that they should find a way of acknowledging the book length as compared to file length (paying for ads is a no-no).

[Synamon]

I was actually surprised that ebooks didn't have ads and excerpts of new books at the end the way paperbacks do, it certainly would be easy to include them and even link them in a Table of Contents.

[mrscoach]

I don't mind ads at the end. I often just hit the home button and skip them entirely. Occasionally I will see what else is offered. What I hate is finding excerpts from another 3, 4, or 5 books that greatly increases the length of the 'book'.

I mean, I'm reading along thinking I have another 20-30 percent of the book left when it ends. What? What's after the book? Oh, no, a million blurbs and excerpts. Nope, home time.

[Belfaborac]

I voted NO, but then I loathe ads anywhere and everywhere but in and around shops. I also think ads of this kind would be entirely superfluous, since anyone reading an ebook will also have internet access and can easily check out the author and similar books for him- or herself.

[Asawi]

I voted "Meh". If they are at the end of the book I won't read them. I don't ever read those previews, "other books by..." that are so common already.

On the other hand, even if I'd prefer not having them there they are so easy to avoid, so it's not bog deal. I'd be more bothered if I had to go through lots of pages before the actual book strarts. Wait! I already have to do that in lots of books, where other people comment on the book and/or author... Hate that!!

[bill_mchale]

Feedbooks or Manybooks, or someone already kind of does this (Though not full page adds).

As far as I am concerned, something like that would be perfectly acceptable; particularly if it involved other authors I might like (i.e., if you liked C.S. Forrester's Horatio Hornblower, make sure you check out Dudley Pope's Ramage...).

--
Bill

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by paulsalter

For me I dont really class a list of other books by the author as ads, more useful information, if I have enjoyed a book by someone I find it useful seeing a list of other works by them

Actually, I think that is the holy grail of advertising; certainly it is the sort of thing that Google is trying to achieve. The ideal in advertising is to achieve one sale per ad view. The more targeted you can make your ad, the closer you get to that goal.

--
Bill