While
thumbing through a book that was printed in 1970 – a $1.25 mass market
paperback – I came across a fold–out advertisement in the center of the
book. It was printed on postcard stock. It was advertising membership for a book
club. The book industry should return to
those days when it both contained advertising in its books and when it promoted
book clubs.
The
ad lures you in, stating: “The Classics
Club is quite unlike any other book club.
“The
club does not offer best sellers that come and go – instead, it offers its
members a chance to stay young through great books that never grow old. These books include Utopia by Thomas Morej the complete works of Shakespeare; Benjamin
Franklin’s Autobiography; Omar Klayyam’s Rubaiyat;
Walden by Thor Can; and other fresh,
spontaneous, even outspoken works that stretch your mind and sweep away the
mental cobwebs that hold back most men.”
They
don’t write ads like that anymore!
Maybe
they should.
Books,
like anything else, need to be sold and positioned to the public in a way that
makes them irresistible.
In
case you were wondering, the club was offering an introductory fee of just a
buck,"plus a few cents mailing charges,” and newcomers would get a trio of
hard-bound books “in matched sand-colored buckram.” The books would contain the Five Great Dialogues of Plato, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, and Aristotle’s On Man in the Universe.” Future volumes would come at $3.89 -- plus
shipping.
Back
then the publisher looked to eliminate paying authors –n-fees to dead people
without copyright protections.
Additionally, the publisher didn’t need to pay an editor for finished
works nor did it need to cut in a wholesaler or book store. The publisher went straight to the public
selling proven, known and highly regarded books.
I
don’t know how profitable the ads proved to be for the publisher’s book club
but the concept seems sound. Books are
the best forum for selling more books.
You have a reader in hand, someone who buys books, and you can even
narrow down the demographics of who will see the ad based on who likely is
reading a specific genre.
Book
publishers should also consider advertising other products, services, or
publications. Granted, a book is not a
magazine or a newspaper, but upon careful selection, I’m sure a publisher can
find a select number of advertisements that it feels would support the consumer
passions of its readers.
Whereas
some media, such as traditional outlets – radio, TV, print – complain that they
aren’t getting enough ad money digitally to support the content consumers
download for free, why can’t book publishers secure revenue in an area that
really hasn’t been mined in recent times?
What
arguments lend legitimacy to a publisher’s refusal to finance itself on such
ads?
“It’s
beneath books to have ads.”
No,
it’s not, especially if it means the ads make the difference between having
books and not. Every content source has ads; books
don’t need to hold out anymore. However,
publishers can hold higher standards as to what they’ll advertise, how those
ads are presented, and how many they will run in a book.
“It
costs money to secure these ads.”
Of
course it does, but they should net more than they spend. It may be hard to set rates not knowing how
much readership a specific book will have, but that can be worked around. For instance, run the same ads in a number of
books. Charge a flat fee based on initial print runs and then a bonus based on final
sales figures over the first 6-12 months.
“Authors
may object to the ads.”
Writers
will understand that ads could keep the lights on. Cut them in on some of the ad revenue and get
their buy-in on types of ads to be permitted vs. those an author may object to.
“Ads
are permanent and can’t be recalled.”
Again,
choose ads that you feel confident don’t pose a harm or risk to anyone. But if
something happens where an advertisement is met publicly with disfavor or the product
advertised falls under some type of criticism, publishers can be sure to not
use them in reprints and remove them from digital editions immediately.
“Ads
will make books no different than magazines.”
Magazines
are not books. They are printed weekly,
monthly, and quarterly and have an expiration date attached to their
content. Books are more substantial and
have a longer shelf-life. Magazines are
based on having lots of short articles, many with photos. Books primarily use words to convey their
message. Ads won’t diminish books nor
change how people distinguish them from magazines.
Advertisements
could net the book industry a billion or more dollars. It’s time the book industry opened its pages
to this opportunity.
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and
ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You
can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2016
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