Publishers in China Start Printing Advertisements on Book Covers

Posted on May 5, 2012

China Daily reports that some publishers in China have started printing ads on book covers. The first book to carry an advertisement is My Son, Yo-Yo, a book written by Yo-Yo Ma's mother.

An ad agency named Jinghua Aobo has signed over 100 Chinese publishers with deals to place ads on book covers. So far, the publishers are only allowed to display company logos on the book covers. Ads for individual products or prices are prohibited.

This won't go over well with readers unless the price of books goes down for the books that contain ads. For authors, ads on book covers could mean complicated negotiations with publishers and agents over what percentage of the ad revenues the author would earn.