David Louis Edelman discusses a lot of the marketing techniques he used to spread word of his novel, Infoquake, which is turning into quite a critically acclaimed hit. In one of his blogs, he mentions that he tried to convince his publisher to sell advertisements in the novel itself. This topic was also talked about by this article in the LA Times.
I guess the main pros would be more money and exposure for the writer, branding and name recognition, etc.
Personally, I wouldn’t want it in my work because I can easily imagine myself reading a book and coming across the ad and being turned off by it entirely. Therefore I don’t want to subject my future readers to the same thing. Now, I realize these aren’t ads that would appear halfway through a paragraph of the plot twists or ending. Label me a purist if you must, but my thinking is that if we’ve gone so far as to create a whole level of technology designed to skip commercials on T.V. or block pop-up ads online, that people aren’t exactly going to enjoy having their reading experience invaded as well.
Would you want ads in your novel, whether one you’ve written or one you’re reading? What if it got you a larger print run or made you more recognizable in the market? What if the advertising money meant your advance was bigger, or you got royalties faster?
I see that smile.
Thanks for commenting on the article. I’m not sure how I would actually feel about seeing ads in books myself, though it seemed like an interesting idea to explore.
I would point out, however, that the surprise factor would be short-lived. Not so long ago, it was preposterous to think of seeing an ad on the Internet. Product placements in movies? It’ll never happen! Now, of course, we accept these things as commonplace.
Thanks for dropping by!
Seems marketing and such gets its fingers into everything at some point or another. I mean, we’re already seeing people who brand themselves with company tattoos and become walking billboards. Maybe advertising in novels is even a step backward from where we already are.
Of course, the next logical phase after loose-leaf ads or page prints would be integrating the ads within the story itself. Some company approaches an author and pays them X amount of dollars to have a character either named after or using a product during the course of the story. Next thing you know, we’ll have books titled “The Pepsi Can of Shannara” which is a magical drink that makes one supernaturally alert and yellows your teeth, all at the same time. (Hey, magic has to have a price, right?)
When will the madness end?
Ads strategically placed in the midst of a novel?
No, thanks.
I’ve just finished reading Pyro-Marketing. The author’s main thesis is that mass marketing is dead, dead, dead–killed by it’s own excess. Ads within fiction would be like beating the proverbial dead horse.
True enough. We’ve learned to tune out, block, skip, or otherwise delete ads from our awareness. Sure, some stuff gets to us just because it’s everywhere, but usually only things we are consciously looking for in the first place. Unfortunately, one can already start to see ways that marketing is adapting…soon there’ll be some big breakthrough or invention that revolutionizes marketing, and we’ll be off again.