If I offered you a raise of between 5% and 6% for spending a trivial amount of extra time (we’re talking only seconds) you wouldn’t turn it down, would you? I didn’t think so. Yet that’s exactly what an author who isn’t setup as an Amazon Associate and using proper links when linking to their books on Amazon from their websites, Facebook pages, and elsewhere is doing. Amazon has made a few changes in the associates program over the years. Some of those changes haven’t been so good (they’ve dropped the percentage commission an associate gets) but some have been good (it’s easier than ever to get and use associate links). This post will walk you through the absolute basics, but it will increase the amount you make for every copy of your book you personally sell from your website through Amazon. If you’re going to bother putting links to your books on your website, why not grab a few percent more when they get clicked on? Continue reading “I’ll Show You the Money: Monetizing with Amazon”
Tag: monetizing book links
How I Didn’t Make a Million Dollars Running a Book Blog
Recently Martin Crosbie wrote a post where he talked a bit about money, communes, and paying it forward. In that article he raised some questions about the fine balance between ethics, money, and the reasonable desire to make a buck or two. The article generated some good discussion in the comments. Another discussion away from IU about the economics of running a website made me realize that many people don’t understand the financial reality. This post is going to discuss this, a bit about monetization of a blog or website, and give a hint for what readers can do to support the websites they like and frequent. Continue reading “How I Didn’t Make a Million Dollars Running a Book Blog”
Amazon.com Monetize! Tutorial
In my first post about utilizing the tools given to us by Amazon.com, I covered setting up your Author Central page. No matter how many books you have available, you should take advantage of this. The tutorial is here. I’ve also shown you how to set up your own book store using Amazon’s engine. That tutorial is here.
Now that you’ve gotten yourself set up, the next step in this grand scheme should be monetizing links. Yes, this applies to you. You have a blog, right? A web site? A web presence? Anything you post anywhere with a link to your book or author page on Amazon.com should be monetized. Why not make a commission on your own books? And better yet, if you’re providing another author the platform to promote their work, why not see some commission off any sales you generate for them? Honestly – if you post a link to my book on YOUR blog or web site – THANK YOU. Go nuts…post them all! And go right ahead and monetize them. You deserve a commission for doing me that favor. Capiche?
Amazon makes this ridiculously easy to do. You can use your existing account to set up your “Amazon Affiliates/Associates” account, which you should have already set up in order to make your book store. If you haven’t done that yet, please use the link above to the book store tutorial and follow the instructions there. Amazon gives you the ability to set these accounts up for the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and more. We are only going to cover the US today – but in essence, the techniques are the same. Continue reading “Amazon.com Monetize! Tutorial”