Ad-Supported, Web-Based Book from HarperCollins
Big-time publisher, HarperCollins has announced the first free Web-based, ad-supported, full-text business book.
From Information Today:
Citing the desire to create new revenue streams for authors, mega-publisher HarperCollins (http://www.harpercollins.com) has announced the first free Web-based, ad-supported, full-text business book. Go It Alone! The Secret to Building a Successful Business on Your Own by Bruce Judson is now available on the author’s Web site , where an affiliate link to Amazon, not the publisher, can also be found. Not only can the book be read at the site, but it can also be searched. HarperCollins Publishers is calling the project a test of a new business model. Some self-published authors also offer ad-supported books online, but HarperCollins’ move is the first by a major publisher.
The 229-page book is being supportered by contextual advertising from Yahoo with the advertising revenue to be split between author and publisher. Rather than being published in the traditonal PDF format, it’s being offered up in basic html - 229 of them.
It’s an interesting way forward for publishing, and this test case is being watched closely by all those involved in publishing.
A spokesperson from HarperCollins says:
The results will be measured by the income generated through ads, number of page views and visitors to the site, and by sales of books from the site.
Information Today continues…
As Web users have embraced the idea that “information wants to be free” and have resisted paying for digital content, businesses and even individuals with Web sites have increasingly migrated to the ad-supported model.
This will be interesting to see where it goes, but from first looks at the online book I must say I was slightly disappointed with the overall design: extremely poor, even non-existant navigation system and what’s the point of having an index at the back of the book that’s not clickable.
The good thing, in my opinion, is that the book is spread out over many pages (229 of them) in small chunks. This is good for the reader and good for the author/publisher as printinig the whole book out would be just too time consuming.
At least big publishers are thinking and it’s a step in the right direction, but I can really see this being of ultimate use by small publishing firms and self-publishers.
What’s your view on such an inititative?
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(via: Make You Go Hmm | Information Today | SmartTechWriting)
17 Responses to “Ad-Supported, Web-Based Book from HarperCollins”
By John Evans (Syntagma) on Feb 20, 2006 | Reply
A few years ago, I had a book on technical writing published by a major publisher. Eventually it went out of print, so I turned it into a correspondence course and them into a CD-ROM. I’m currently toying with the idea of putting it on a SynMed blog as a complete static ebook, which is what the HarperCollins effort is essentially.
As you say, Martin, this is a very good model for self-publishers. Interesting indeed that Rupie is getting his toes wet here.
By Martin Neumann on Feb 20, 2006 | Reply
John … Why don’t you do it - it can be a test case for all us smaller publishers, you’ll probably get a little attention from the blogosphere as well. You know I’ll push it and follow the progress here.
I’ve got a handful of ideas for myself with this very same model - but that’s something I’ll do in April/May.
I wonder if HarperCollins will be open about giving us details on whether it was successful or not - might have to get an interview with the author.
By John Evans (Syntagma) on Feb 21, 2006 | Reply
That sounds like a very good idea, Martin. A nice spin-off from EPD.
I’m seriously thinking of taking another server just for a series of these, maybe four, and largely my old How-To books, like the tech writing one. Also one for business writing. It could form a useful part of Syntagma Media.
I’m just working on the technicalities now. For example, putting the book on backwards, or just shoving it on and providing a complete contents section in the sideba? Also a search box. Blogs have some advantages over static websites, but it needs to be thought through.
By Martin Neumann on Feb 21, 2006 | Reply
Personally, I’m going the static route, I know it’s a little more work but if you can get the initial template right then it shouldn’t really matter if it’s a 50 page book or 300 pages.
I like a clean plage - lots of whitespace and I’d work on making it as easy to read for my readers. I’d also offer it as a paid download in pdf.
I’d also place a thorough contents menu in the side bar, as well as provide much better navigation.
I’m also thinking through all the possibilities as well, checking out the HarperCollins site to see how it’s set up and more importantly how contextual the ads are to the text.
Keep us posted on your activities, John.
By John Evans (Syntagma) on Feb 21, 2006 | Reply
That’s a good point. I don’t think I could face all that work on a static site, though. I well remember the toil involved from a few years back. Blogs have spoiled us with their ease of publishing.
If the site is to live by advertising, contextual ads are vital. By using the More tag, you can get four ads into each post and have each of them displayed in a page of ten.
Still working it out. :-)
By Scott Allen on Feb 23, 2006 | Reply
This is pretty cool. A model for the future? Could be.
We went a slightly different route. It took a little convincing, but we got our publisher, AMACOM (American Management Association’s publishing wing) to make our book, The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online, available for free download. I don’t know if it’s a first for a major publisher, but certainly one of the first.
BTW, Martin - I’m sad to see HOV go, but I certainly understand your reasoning, and I look forward to reading ePublishingDaily.
By Martin Neumann on Feb 25, 2006 | Reply
John … I’ve taken a quick look at the HarperC web-book overnight. I think the ads aren’t contextual enough. Other have come to the same conclusion.
I wonder if such a project is to succeed some major filtering has to be done with the ads. I’m not sure how AdSense filtering works (or if it’s advanced enough) though.
By John Evans (Syntagma) on Feb 26, 2006 | Reply
I’ve found that if the keywords are consistent enough, Adsense follows pretty well. If the topics swing about a bit, it reverts to blog-standard blog ads which pay nothing and nobody clicks on.
By Martin Neumann on Feb 26, 2006 | Reply
I guess that’s why a web-book on blogging would probably do poorly :-)
What about then going more with affiliate marketing, say cj.com - at least you decide what to place.
By John Evans (Syntagma) on Feb 27, 2006 | Reply
Yes, I use Amazon a lot. They pay 6.5% on digital cameras, which, if you’re already writing about them, makes sense.
I’m launching 3 or 4 more blogs this week in new fields like crafts, self-help and classical music, so I’ll be chasing up a lot of affiliations.
Btw, Martin, (tangent): do you know how to disable the header backfill in Wordpress without losing the title and description for the search engines? I’m blowed if I can figure it out?
By Martin Neumann on Feb 27, 2006 | Reply
John … the more I think about it with web-based books the more I’d go first with affiliates (cj, Amazon and clickbank) as my primary revenue avenues and then a little with AdSense and Chitika to supplement it.
Hmmm … looks like I shoud test this out myself shortly with one of my own ebooks. Nothing beats a real-time test :-)
Re: Your Tangent … you’re asking a guy who twiddles around with his WP hours on end and usually makes a mess of it … my best bet would be to play around in your css file (the header class) - but make a copy of the css first!!!
By John Evans (Syntagma) on Feb 27, 2006 | Reply
The good thing about Chitika is that it’s non-contextual, so you can use it on the same blog as Adsense.
Yes, I’m digging through the CSS stuff now. I’m sure the answer’s there somewhere. :-)
By Martin Neumann on Feb 27, 2006 | Reply
Especially if it’s a product-related eBook then Chitika (you pick the ads) with AdSense (contextual) should be a good fit.
CSS: Good luck with that … I’m still trying to figure out how to link my header to the home page.
By Martin Neumann on Feb 28, 2006 | Reply
Hey Scott … sorry for missing you, your comment got caught up in the WordPress Spam catcher.
Thanks for your kind words.I’ll have to get to that download soon and see what all the buzz is about the virtual handshake.
Well done on convinving your publisher to go down that route - now how do you make income on it. I’m presuming you’re looking at the big picture: more books sold in a tradtional way.
By Scott Allen on Mar 1, 2006 | Reply
That’s definitely the intent, Martin. Most people still prefer reading hard-copy books over e-books, but this gives people a chance to really check it out before making a purchase. Kind of a “test drive”.
Also, we hope it helps generate some fresh buzz about the book, and, of course, more speaking and consulting engagements, which also ultimately means more paperback sales.