Book advertising on the Straight Dope

[Ed Zotti]

We're starting a push to market The Straight Dope as the place for publishers and authors to advertise their books, and with that goal in mind are offering a low introductory ad rate. Here's the basic pitch and ad guidelines, plus the same in PDF form. We're going to add a navigation link soon that will take you to an archive of books advertised on TSD. Banner ads promoting the offer will start appearing soon. How effective the site will be as an ad medium we can't say, but here's a chance for us all to find out without anyone spending too much money. Members of the SDMB community with books they'd like to tout are cordially invited to participate. Operators are standing by.

[Rhythmdvl]

Thanks Ed, I believe this is something long asked for.

Since there is mention of Amazon in the PDF, is there a mechanism for non-Dope advertised books to kick something back? That is, lots of book mentions and references are made in threads. Lots of us go buy from Amazon based on those. Lots of us want to support the board... wait, I'm sure you've read the teeming requests for this before ... is it on its way?

[Ed Zotti]

There apparently is some vBulletin add-on that makes it easy for posters to generate Amazon links that net us a small kickback. I haven't seen it in operation but my friend Kevin, the Web genius who has been working on various site improvements, says it's a fairly easy thing to install and he'll do so when he gets a minute.

[Polycarp]

Originally Posted by Ed Zotti

There apparently is some vBulletin add-on that makes it easy for posters to generate Amazon links that net us a small kickback. I haven't seen it in operation but my friend Kevin, the Web genius who has been working on various site improvements, says it's a fairly easy thing to install and he'll do so when he gets a minute.

Excellent. I wouldn't count on great revenues from it, but for the minimal effort, it's "free money" for the board.

May I suggest a rule? I'm sure you want to get ad revenue for books, and having authors promote their books "for free" in posts goes against that. At the same time, the sense of community makes it something we like to know about each other -- Eve and Reality Chuck, to name two, are published authors, and it's pleasant knowing that they are bringing out something new. So here's my suggestion:

Authors may post one thread, once, in MPSIMS or Cafe Society as appropriate, announcing a new book coming out. Other than that, they may make reference to their books in passing in threads not focused on their book where it is a logical connection. (E.g, if someone asked in a GQ about Vernon and Irene Castle, mentioning Eve's book on them is appropriate.) Authors who avail themselves of this should purchase ads to the extent they can afford if self-publishing or vanity publishing, and should make a good-faith effort to get their publishers to buy CL ads if the publishers control the promotional purse strings.

Does that sound like a reasonable policy, aiding the Reader without unduly trammelling discourse on the boards?

[dropzone]

So I no longer need to feel guilt plugging the books by Kathy Reichs I helped with? Just for jumping through hoops when I try to find something good about the latest episode of "Bones?"

[Loach]

Will this be blocked from members?

[TubaDiva]

It's open to everybody who has a published book.

[Loach]

Originally Posted by TubaDiva

It's open to everybody who has a published book.

I meant would members and charter members see it or will it be blocked like the other ads. Will this be embedded in posts or will they be separate ads? This seems to be a good idea to me but I'm having trouble visualizing how it will look.

[TubaDiva]

Ads would be all over the site -- ads are not blocked on content pages, only on the board.

[Loach]

Originally Posted by TubaDiva

Ads would be all over the site -- ads are not blocked on content pages, only on the board.

Got it. I spend 99% of my time on the board. I sometimes forget the main site exists.

[Sage Rat]

How does Quantcast determine our demographics?

[leander]

You're leaving an awful lot of money on the table, Ed.

[pesch]

Glad to see this. I just signed a contract for my first book and the Dopers would probably be interested in it. The only down side is that it probably won't be published until late 2010.

[Voyager]

This is excellent. There is usually a "Whatcha Reading" thread in CS which is a great place for Amazon links.

Can I mention my wife's books, when appropriate?

[TubaDiva]

Sure.