The Wall Street Journal reports: "As e-books proliferate, advertisers are experimenting with ways to pitch to consumers while they read, a trend that could change the publishing business but faces opposition from some traditionalists. Marketers are exploring a variety of formats, including sponsorships that give readers free books. Videos, graphics or text with an advertiser's message that appear when a person first starts a book or along the border of the digital pages are also in the works. Ads can be targeted based on the book's content and the demographic and profile information of the reader."
This is slightly worrying. I can imagine reading a Sherlock Holmes e-book and being interrupted by a video of an actor playing Sherlock offering to sell me a brain-training DVD.
Too far-fetched?
Maybe.
So far, they are experimenting with an introduction and closing page, each with an ad; inserting ads between chapters (I'm starting to get depressed...) and targeted ads (Kafka readers might be offered a good deal on Prozac...).
The article says many author contracts stipulate that the author must approve any ads. Might be worth making sure that's in your contract.
The factor that works against such ads being included is that most books don't sell enough copies to interest an advertiser. However, a publisher might agree to include an ad across a whole bunch of titles and build up the numbers that way.
For authors, it's something to keep an eye on so it doesn't sneak up on us. It may be inevitable, but I think we need to fight to keep it from disrupting the reading experience; otherwise it'll go the way of American television, where you can barely blink before there's another ad break.
(For more information on what you need to know about writing and marketing your book, see my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other online and offline booksellers.)
