Advertisements in Ebooks-Good Idea?

[yakuzaboss]

Nope. Terrible idea. I hate the thought of spam in any of my ebooks.

[Sil_liS]

I get to read online comics for free because they have ads. I wouldn't have a problem with this happening with books.

[BearMountainBooks]

I can only pray ads in books never take off. Magazines and newspapers these days are 90 percent ads. Even the articles that are in them are mostly regurgitated. No one is paying for new material, but all the money is ad-based.

I think in the long run book quality would suffer. If publishers are focused on making money on ads, they would care a lot less about the content--and not be willing to pay much for that content because it would then be a direct EXPENSE against the ad revenue (see magazine example I mentioned.) More and more books would probably be work for hire (at low pay) rather than creative and growing stories.

I was hesitant to buy the Kindle with ads because I didn't want to appear to support ads. I probably made a mistake by buying it for several reasons.

There will always be good books, but I do believe it is important for consumers to speak with their wallets--pay for the books you love because I don't think I want someone whose focus is ads to be making decisions on how long a book is or what is in it.

[Keryl Raist]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

"Jack Reacher tore himself away from Keryl Raist's latest novel[link] and smoothly drew his Glock from its holster."

Probably something that fit a little better, but yes.

If I was writing chic lit, I might mention Libertine Cosmetics in a scene where a character is getting ready for a date.

Plus, you might also toss a link to Glock in there, too.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

Probably something that fit a little better, but yes.

If I was writing chic lit, I might mention Libertine Cosmetics in a scene where a character is getting ready for a date.

Plus, you might also toss a link to Glock in there, too.

And the fact that Glocks don't jam.


Got Glock?

[Keryl Raist]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I can only pray ads in books never take off. Magazines and newspapers these days are 90 percent ads. Even the articles that are in them are mostly regurgitated. No one is paying for new material, but all the money is ad-based.

I think in the long run book quality would suffer. If publishers are focused on making money on ads, they would care a lot less about the content--and not be willing to pay much for that content because it would then be a direct EXPENSE against the ad revenue (see magazine example I mentioned.) More and more books would probably be work for hire (at low pay) rather than creative and growing stories.

I was hesitant to buy the Kindle with ads because I didn't want to appear to support ads. I probably made a mistake by buying it for several reasons.

There will always be good books, but I do believe it is important for consumers to speak with their wallets--pay for the books you love because I don't think I want someone whose focus is ads to be making decisions on how long a book is or what is in it.

This is another area where having the author control the content would be a good thing. Your book could be ad free. Mine could have links to the songs listed in it. Someone else could have every third word linked with huge glowing neon flashing ads every five hundred words. To each his or her own.

As long as you control your content, you can get exactly what you like.

As long as you're upfront about what's in it, the readers can chose as they so desire.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Keryl Raist

This is another area where having the author control the content would be a good thing. Your book could be ad free. Mine could have links to the songs listed in it. Someone else could have every third word linked with huge glowing neon flashing ads every five hundred words. To each his or her own.

As long as you control your content, you can get exactly what you like.

As long as you're upfront about what's in it, the readers can chose as they so desire.

I'm simply not as enamored as you are. Authors often don't make enough money to survive, which means if ads become at all common or acceptable, they will become more common until they will be very difficult to avoid.

Some product mentions are already done in magazines and some YA books (there was a big hoopla about it last year when people found out that some makeup company paid to be mentioned in a popular YA book.) Probably happens more than we realize it NOW and this is before linking, flashing lights and whatnot.

All that said, I believe Sedona drives a Mercedes in Book one. Huntington drives ... I can't remember. He drove a Lexus in one of the books. If either car company would like to contact me to test for a few months/years EITHER vehicle, just let me know. I will be happy to test them out and, if deserving, put in any pertinent details in future books should my characters continue to drive them. Please include nifty gadgets because I like gadgets and they would be very likely to get some page time if I think they are way cool.

If there is any company out there that has a robo-maid, I'd really like to test that too...

[Iskariot]

I would accept advertisements if they were placed on pages kept separate from the actual content in the back of the e-book.

I will never ever accept advertisements which compete with actual content. And I would never accept distracting, immersion destroying advertisements in the middle of the book either. I would stop reading first, like I virtually stopped watching commercial tv. I consider that filth unwatchable. Books with advertisements next to the text I would consider unreadable garbage. I do not read garbage. I throw it away.

[Skydog]

Not only no, but Hell NO! Advertising and promoting has infected just about every type of content on the planet and I do NOT want it invading my enjoyment of reading.

It's a miserable, dreadful idea.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

And the fact that Glocks don't jam.


Got Glock?

I have had a Glock jam on me before.
Apache

[Quexos]

Imagine this:

To be or not to be, that is the question, Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles... and while you ponder such question, don't forget to refresh yourself with a delicious Coca-Cola because nothing beats the delicious, refreshing taste of ...

[Todd Young]

There is no way I'd be reading a book with advertisements peppered through it. I don't even understand how internet advertising works. I never click on anything, or even read the ads. If there is something flashing, or any type of animation, I find it so distracting that I scroll away from it. If I came across a flashing ad in an ebook, I think that would be the end of ebooks for me.

Product placement is a different issue. Authors presently use brand names to make their books seem more realistic. They don't get paid for it, and I'd hate to see a situation where they do. Having said that, there is one novel (Gone, a YA novel) that I think was sponsored by McDonald's. It was so over-the-top it was absurd.

[Keryl Raist]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I'm simply not as enamored as you are. Authors often don't make enough money to survive, which means if ads become at all common or acceptable, they will become more common until they will be very difficult to avoid.

Some product mentions are already done in magazines and some YA books (there was a big hoopla about it last year when people found out that some makeup company paid to be mentioned in a popular YA book.) Probably happens more than we realize it NOW and this is before linking, flashing lights and whatnot.

All that said, I believe Sedona drives a Mercedes in Book one. Huntington drives ... I can't remember. He drove a Lexus in one of the books. If either car company would like to contact me to test for a few months/years EITHER vehicle, just let me know. I will be happy to test them out and, if deserving, put in any pertinent details in future books should my characters continue to drive them. Please include nifty gadgets because I like gadgets and they would be very likely to get some page time if I think they are way cool.

If there is any company out there that has a robo-maid, I'd really like to test that too...

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't mind if the Toyota guys wanted to give me a car to test out as well...

I'd rather see authors find ways to make enough money writing to support themselves than have extra jobs, and if ads allow that, all the better.

But I'm a pretty laid-back, hard to bother type. I'm not going to put down a story I like because there's ads in it. I didn't stop watching TV because of the ads, I left because the content got so lame. I don't skip magazines because of the ads either, though once again, I will skip them for lame content.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Todd Young

There is no way I'd be reading a book with advertisements peppered through it. I don't even understand how internet advertising works. I never click on anything, or even read the ads. If there is something flashing, or any type of animation, I find it so distracting that I scroll away from it. If I came across a flashing ad in an ebook, I think that would be the end of ebooks for me.

Product placement is a different issue. Authors presently use brand names to make their books seem more realistic. They don't get paid for it, and I'd hate to see a situation where they do. Having said that, there is one novel (Gone, a YA novel) that I think was sponsored by McDonald's. It was so over-the-top it was absurd.

Oh the irony. Your signature is an ad...

And yes, some authors have been paid to mention certain products in their books or so I have read on galleycat (a publishing rag). There was similar discussion about product "placement" and whether it should be allowed. I'd actually prefer non-obvious product placement to an ad, but I'd also prefer no ads. I think it does interfere with the reading experience and can cause those who produce the product to spend more time on obtaining Ad revenue than a quality product.

I used to do reviews for a large review site (I was unpaid as were all the reviewers.) When they started making money off of movie trailers and ads, the book reviews and forums were pushed to the background and eventually the forum was closed. The book reviews continued in the background, but there were less and less discussions--pretty soon the entire site because a bunch of "ads." The more ad opportunities that came in, the further other stuff was pushed away.

Lately, I hear they are trying to go back to their "base." I'm guessing that's partly because if all you have is ads, you end up with no audience. And if you have no audience and no discussion, the ad people don't want to waste time buying ad space on your site.

I can see the same thing happening to an author. We want to write a good book, but maybe the last book didn't sell so well. We're in the hole, we need money, the next book has to do well. We want to buy that extra cool artwork and to get that artwork, well, we're going to have to put in extra ads to pay for it. Sure I think the book/prose is AWESOME, but I've got to spend a few days working in these extra ads. Maybe I can also pick up a few product placement ads. Gotta work those in and so now, instead of a great action scene, I work in a clever little Dr. Pepper can that gets run over by my character's waaaay cool Can-am Spyder--all before my character shoots the guy chasing her.

Getting the ads in the first place is going to take a few weeks of networking because I'm no Janet Evanovich. These people aren't going to come to me. I'll have to go looking. That's a few more weeks where instead of working prose, I'm working ads...

The same focus could easily happen a big publisher. Instead of the editor and author going over last minute changes to improve storyline, well, they gotta change the protag's favorite drink from Gin and tonic to MinuteMaid Orange Juice. And you gotta make your hard core PI, who now drinks screwdrivers, specify that he buys Minutemaid...I dunno. Maybe it's me but it might be hard to keep the tough guy in character as he's discussing Minute maid orange juice...

[sabredog]

If I want to see ads, then I can watch commercial TV or read a magazine.