The Mediated Book

This paper, originally written in May, 2009, addresses the rise of the mediated book. With the rise of Google Book Search and ebook readers like Amazon’s Kindle, we will still browse and read books, but we will do so through a screen. Digital texts are inherently on-demand works and mediated texts can be updated instantly with new, continuously timely advertising. Advertising as a percentage of GDP has been relatively constant over time while print’s share has declined steadily. The rise of the new mediated books will change how we finance books and will change our understanding of the relative roles of content and technology in driving adver-tising.