Is Kindle Advertising next on the Horizon?
The marketing world is salivating at the possibility of invading into a new frontier – e-books. As the e-book industry grows, marketers are experimenting with ways to pitch their wares to consumers while they read–a trend that will undeniably change the face of the e-publishing industry, as we know it.
eBook Advertising
Traditional publishing is struggling. With sales of traditionally published books under pressure, and the introduction of the affordable e-readers, marketers are fired up to venture into the once forbidden medium. This new potential revenue market may just the enticement needed for publishers to jump into the exploding e-book marketing arena.
In the past, advertisers met with little revenue success and fierce opposition from authors when they tried to incorporate advertising in books. It is unclear if they would be any more successful today.
Marketers are exploring new avenues including videos, graphics or text with an advertising message that appears when the person first opens the book or along the edge of the digital pages. In fact, several digital bookstores are already including advertising in books downloaded through their store. Others are experimenting with techniques to insert ads between chapters, or provide target ads using profile information the user provides on their website.
A Tough Road
Ads in e-books will be a tough sell. What was once typical (books with ads) is now atypical. For starters, most books sell only a few hundred thousand books, not enough to interest most advertisers. Also, many author contracts state the writer must approve any ads. (Does Yours?)
The other issue is an ad placed initially in an e-book becomes dated and irrelevant years later. However, with digital books, the problem can be addressed by inserting ads that are appropriate by targeting the readers interests, but even that tactic may not sway readers.
Whether this move will be acceptable to either the reader or author is unclear. It is apparent the process is going to be a lot more complicated than a typical ad in the back of the book. Many authors, as well as readers, find e-book ads an unwelcome distraction, and unless marketers can conquer the annoyance factor, ads in e-books may not happen.
Your Opinion?
What is your opinion on including advertisements in your e-books? I am torn from seeing the client possibly using new frontiers to market their product. But on the other hand, I wouldn’t want to clutter my own work with advertisements bent on capitalizing on my hard work.
Are you for or against e-book advertising? Leave a comment.
I am completely against the appearance of advertising in ebooks. When I’m reading a book that I paid money for, I do not want to be bothered with advertising. If advertisements start appearing in my ebooks, I will stop buying them and switch back to print books.,
Hi all:
At this time I have five novels on the market, some of them hard copies at bookstores along with e-books at Amazon and other online book sellers. However I personally believe that it will be a mistake to start advertising in e-books, I know I wouldn’t like to see it in any of mine.
Raymond Mayotte
“The Legend Of The Vampire Khufu”
http://www.raymayotte.com
I am totally FOR ads in ebooks! It’s a great opportunity for authors to earn much needed revenue. Kindle users want ebooks to be at rock-bottom prices, like 99 cents and stuff. Free and what-not. Well, that’s not sustainable for the content creator. Sorry about that. If they want to run back to print books, so be it, and they’ll pay premium prices over there. So, it’s a win-win for authors (traditional and indie) and publishers (large & small).
I’m so happy about this prospect! There is little to no money to be earned for authors writing ebooks at all. But ads open up a whole new revenue stream for writers! YAY!
I think the ads that Kindle plans to turn out will be placed in the “screen saver” portion of the device. You can opt to purchase a Kindle without ads, or at a lower price, with the ads.
However, I wouldn’t discount ads in the book as well. For me personally, I don’t care for them. I think it would annoy my readers too much — but that is just me.
Thanks for your input. — Suzanne