On traditional book advertising

Why adverts for books so rubbish? They are all the same, just a big picture of the front cover and maybe an author photo if they're a not too minging. Or a large author photo and a small front cover if they're a celebrity.

How is this going to sell books? Okay it will raise awareness for the existing fans, I have seen a couple of Tess Gerritsen adverts on the London Underground and I've thought 'oh cool.' I'm a big Tess Gerritsen fan but I still didn't rush out to buy it.

The people who create advertising agree with me: http://copyranter.blogspot.com/2006/09/book-advertising-hackiest-of-hack.html

This article is from 2006, but in light of what I learned at a UK media agency last week, it's still very relevant.

And with shrinking book sales, this has to change.