Ad Supported “Free” Book arrives online…

I ran across this news item today…

February 13, 2006 — Perhaps information really does want to be free. 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 (http://www.BruceJudson.com), 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.

For now, the project is limited to the one book, with publisher and author sharing the advertising revenue. The author’s contract was specially amended to accommodate the arrangement. Company spokesperson Erin Crum said: “We are exploring how online advertising programs can add value for publishers and authors. 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. If successful, this kind of digital product might be a new format that supplements the paperback edition.”

While this is an intriguing business model, I must confess that I personally don’t have the patience to use my laptop to read through anything more than a few pages on a screen. The format doesn’t lend itself to downloading and printing it on your printer, so this doesn’t strike me as particularly useful. Good for creating buzz for a new book, but I would prefer to have a hard copy in my hands that I can leaf through at my leisure.

Actually, back in my days at ClickZ, we published two free books that were ad supported. They were paperback, nicely printed on high quality paper and had full page ads interspersed throughout. I can’t say they were a big money maker. They were breakeven propositions. But I always felt the idea had merit and — if I ever have the chance to do it again — will probably do so with a little sharper eye on keeping production costs down.I personally don’t think this will trigger a rash of “free” books being published online, but I salute their efforts.

Other opinions about this effort can be found here and here.