Are Ads on Books a Good Idea? (China's Starting to Do It)

by SodaHead News Posted 2012/05/08 19:00:00

Related Topics: China, Publishing, Ads, my son, marina ma, Chinese, Book Cover, Infection, Video, Internet, Tablet, Borders

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	Yes	91 votes	16%
	No	485 votes	84%

Ads are everywhere. They're all over the Internet, dotted along the highway, in the middle of your favorite television shows, plastered on the walls of the mall. It's how businesses work together to generate interest and revenue. But it's also a double-edged sword, because no one particularly likes ads. We're naturally repelled. Unfortunately, it looks like the infection is spreading. The Chinese publishing industry, threatened by the success of tablets and e-books, is starting to put ads on book covers.

According to China Daily, "My Son" by Marina Lu, mother of cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma, is the first book to feature an ad on its cover. It's not as blatant as you might fear -- it's actually on the back cover, and it's apparently just the logo of a textile manufacturer. But Jinghua Aobo, a Chinese advertising agency, has already signed deals with more than 100 publishers. Right now it's just an experiment, but the potential could be worrisome. Do you think it will actually help the publishing industry, or will it backfire?

+20

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Carol 2012/05/08 20:53:54

No

+14
It's the best way to ensure a book jacket would get thrown away in my house. If I wanted ads, I'd read a magazine.
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More polls by SodaHead News

shadow76 2012/05/09 08:27:14

No

+2
NO NO NO!

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Michael=Constitution & Liberty 2012/05/09 07:19:35

No

+1
I wouldn't buy if they did.

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sockpuppet 2012/05/09 05:46:55

No

+1
Ads are NEVER a good idea. Let them put one ad in a book, and they'll soon have them on every page. Let the publishers make their money from book sales. They don't need this *extra* thing.

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Grammar... to sockpuppet 2012/05/09 11:13:12

But publishing houses are dying. Everything is going to e-publishing, which is free for the author. There's no screening... just write & upload & done. The e-book publisher makes 30% of the sales, whatever they are & hosting the site costs so little, it's nearly a no-brainer for them.

The days of the printing press are numbered... at least the way we think of printing presses.

I agree that there shouldn't be any ads on the pages though... how horrible that would be! But I can't see that there'd be any need.

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unaff to Grammar... 2012/05/09 19:46:05

+1
My current revenue for self-published ebooks on Amazon is actually 70%.

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Grammar... to unaff 2012/05/10 06:34:01

That's exactly what I said.

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ohsmith ☮ R P ☮ 2012 ☮ 2012/05/09 05:46:20

No

+1
HELL NO it would make me quit reading.

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Aksana 2012/05/09 05:36:15

Yes

Yes, they reach so many people...good strategy!

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Lisa 2012/05/09 05:28:43

No

+1
waste of good paper!

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Grammar... to Lisa 2012/05/09 11:13:34

...& in e-books?

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BornToBeWild 2012/05/09 05:08:24

No

+2
its a violation of Authors rights! Only the publishers make money from it, not the writer!

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Grammar... to BornToB... 2012/05/09 11:14:34

+1
Debatable.
I could see where the author might get a kick-back from it... or not allow the publishing house to publish the book & go somewhere else.

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BornToB... to Grammar... 2012/05/09 16:35:50

can't go somewhere else if they make it for all publishers!

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Grammar... to BornToB... 2012/05/09 17:43:11

+1
Ever heard of Amazon?
Everyone's just self-publishing these days.
Write it. Upload it. Finished. If/When anyone buys it, they pay 70%.

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BornToB... to Grammar... 2012/05/09 22:42:37

+1
umm...didn't know that! Need to check it out and see if there are any catches or loop holes.

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Grammar... to BornToB... 2012/05/10 06:35:20

+1
None.
Quick.
Easy.
Straight forward.

Good luck!

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meme14 2012/05/09 05:05:58

No

+3
Leave books alone - It would detract from the story. Books are not full of blurbs like magazines...they are stories where you are following some thread of thought and letting your imagination go..who wants to be interrupted by an ad..It's bad enough that magazines are predominantly advertisements. We are saturated as it is -

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TC1116 2012/05/09 04:54:30

No

+2
The more ads get crammed into everything, the less I want to buy. So, unless the ads are on books about ads...or coupon books...or catalogues...I would say no.

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Rachel 2012/05/09 04:44:06

No

+4
If there's an ad on my book, beyond the basic logo of the publishing house or something, the book had better be for free. Otherwise, keep your B.S. off what's mine.

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becky.kuntz1 2012/05/09 04:36:05

No

+3
you pay good money for a book... there should not be ads!

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unaff to becky.k... 2012/05/09 19:47:27

Then get ready to start paying even better money for a book. Print sales are plunging.

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BRIDGET 2012/05/09 04:22:44

Yes

+2
WRONG VOTE! I TEAR THEM OUT

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Lisa 2012/05/09 04:16:47

No

+3
People hate ads, why make even more? Get the hint China!

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Grammar... to Lisa 2012/05/09 11:15:51

+1
Funny how they're modeling their Capitalism on ours.

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Lisa to Grammar... 2012/05/09 17:18:37

so true

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Ian 2012/05/09 04:13:57

Yes

If it means we can get books for free or really, really cheap, I wouldn't mind.

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Riobhca 2012/05/09 04:06:15

No

+2
Absolutely not. Is there nothing that advertisers won't leave alone? Our society is so obsessed with materialism. It's sad when a person can't read a book without some greedy advertiser shoving ads down their throat. Leave people alone already!! We already had to stop watching TV and listening to most radio to get away from obnoxious advertisements. Stay out of books. And guess what, your obnoxious ads make me NOT want to buy your products.

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unaff to Riobhca 2012/05/09 19:48:50

BTW, it's not the advertisers that are greedy in this example... It would be the publishers.

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Bulanova (Team Hargitay) 2012/05/09 03:46:12

No

+2
"We're losing customers, so we better add crap they don't like to, err... get more customers!" Makes sense to me. About as much sense as movie theaters further jacking up the prices of their in-house snacks to compensate for people sneaking food in, which people wouldn't do if they just had reasonable prices to begin with. The world works in strange ways sometimes.

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L1 2012/05/09 03:36:08

No

+2
There are already ads everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. Let's leave books alone.

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Curmudgeon 2012/05/09 03:33:29

No

+2
Is nothing safe from becoming a place for adverts? People are bombarded with so many ads everyday that many people are just shutting them out, this includes me considering canceling my cable as I hate commercials on Tv.

I already stopped going to see movies at the theatre, it's cheaper at home and there is no annoying plug to get me to buy a car.

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gregory.ditzler 2012/05/09 03:19:28

Yes

+1
depends on how you define books, I could see a time when E books have a small section of advertisements on the pages so that all books are free thanks to advertising.

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unaff to gregory... 2012/05/09 19:51:08

Agreed. Just like this site. We use it, despite the ads because we enjoy the content. What do people think the monthly charge for SH would be without them?

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Abi 2012/05/09 03:13:28 (edited)

Yes

+1
Why not? You don't have to look at them you can just skip through that page or something!! (oh and please rave this I'm leaving SodaHead soon and I want to go up a couple of levels before I leave so PLEASE RAVE)

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GLaDOS 2012/05/09 03:13:03

No

+1
Smart, admittedly, but I think it would cheapen the actual book, if it was on a hard/soft copy.

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aliycat 2012/05/09 02:57:40

No

+2
I'm OKAY with the last few pages being about some other books or a little adverstiment for the company or the author's other series. But ads on the cover-I would never buy paperback and the hardbook's cover will be in the trash. The cover is an ad though-for the book.

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CuresCancer 2012/05/09 02:51:52

Yes

+1
A book cover is actually an ad for the book if it is done right. Want an example?
<------ Look here. LOL

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Flyingbug 2012/05/09 02:38:57

No

+4
I see enough ads everywhere else. If it's a blurb about the author's other books, not a problem. But that's it.

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Kibelle 2012/05/09 02:14:54

Yes

+2
Not that I want them but they have been around longer than I could remember. I don't have a problem with them as long as they are not too distracting.

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Sayer Stewart 2012/05/09 02:11:34

No

+1
NO!!!

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