The Savvy Book Marketer

Use This Simple Free Service to Boost Your Amazon Sales and Commissions

Today I'm delighted to have Nick Daws share a clever way to increase revenue from Amazon. After you read Nick's post, be sure to click the link at the end to learn more profiting from Amazon Associates.

Use This Simple Free Service to Boost Your Amazon Sales and Commissions

by Nick Daws

If you have books or e-books on Amazon, you will almost certainly have discovered one problem when promoting them to a worldwide audience.

This problem is that you can only link to one Amazon store at a time. If a visitor from the UK follows a link to your book on Amazon.com, they won’t be able to order, and a potential buyer may be lost.

If you’re an Amazon Associate, it’s even worse. Normally, if you send a visitor to Amazon via your affiliate link, you will get commission on any and all purchases they make. But if your link sends them to the “wrong” Amazon store, not only won’t you get a sale, you will have no chance of earning any affiliate commissions either.

One solution could be to provide multiple links to different Amazon stores, but this is cumbersome, and there will inevitably be some national stores you don’t have room to include.

Boost Your Profit Margin with Amazon Associates

by Dana Lynn Smith

Here’s an easy way to earn a bit more profit from your sales on the world’s largest bookstore - join the Amazon Associates affiliate program. Even if you don’t have a book on Amazon, you can still profit from this program by promoting other books or products using your affiliate link.

Just sign up for an Associates account, then create affiliate links to place on your website for your own books and any other books or products you’d like to promote. As an Associate, you will earn a commission (called a referral fee) each time someone clicks on one of your affiliate links and purchases the product. This is extra revenue, above and beyond whatever you normally make when you sell a book on Amazon.com.

Even better, you’re paid a commission on anything else the customer purchases during the same shopping session on Amazon. So if they put your book in their shopping cart, then decide to purchase a Kindle, a new printer, or some vitamins, you get commissions on those items as well.

The amount of the commission depends on the type of product and your monthly sales volume, but it ranges from 4% to 10% of the total purchase made by the customer. You can read the fine print and find a commission chart here. Just remember that you can’t use your affiliate link when you make personal purchases on Amazon.

What Should I Do About a Bad Review on Amazon?

by Dana Lynn Smith

It's frustrating to get a bad review, but it happens to most authors sooner or later.

My advice for authors is to try not to take it personally and to remember that books (especially fiction) are subjective - some people will love your book and others won't. And many book buyers realize that most books will have some negative reviews, even if most of them are positive.

If a review contains factual errors (for instance stating that a nonfiction book was missing important information) you can click the "comment" button on the review and leave a note. But be very careful not to sound defensive - just state the facts. (e.g. Perhaps you missed chapter 6 where I discussed that topic in detail.)

If you think a review was really unjustified, you can also click the "no" button next to "Was this review helpful to you?" 

If a review violates Amazon's terms you can ask Amazon to remove it. Amazon will not remove a review simply because it's unfavorable or you think it's unfair, but they sometimes remove reviews that are reported for violating their terms.

Also focus on getting more good reviews to offset the bad ones.

And finally, take an objective look at negative reviews and see if there are any legitimate comments that you might use to improve your writing.

For in-depth advice on getting book reviews and profiting from them, see How to Get You Book Reviewed, available in paperback, Kindle, Nook, and PDF format. 

4 Simple Steps to Creating a Vanity URL for Your Amazon Author Central Page

Amazon now allows authors to create a "vanity URL" or personalized web address that points to their Author Central page on Amazon.

Author Central is a great place to feature your bio, videos, and latest tweets and blog posts. It's especially important for authors with more than one title for sale on Amazon, because it shows a summary of all of your books.

My vanity URL looks like this:

https://www.amazon.com/author/danalynnsmith 

Here are four simple steps to creating your own Amazon Author Central vanity URL:

1. Login to your Amazon Author Central account. If you don't already have an Author Central account, you can create one at this same page:

https://authorcentral.amazon.com

2. Click on the Profile tab.

3. Click on the Add Link button at the top right of the page, next to Author Page URL.

4. Enter your preferred URL name and click Save. Most authors will probably use their author name in the URL, but give it some consideration first, because you can't change it once it's assigned.

Learn more about optimizing your presence on Amazon in my how-to guide, How to Sell More Books on Amazon.

 

Authors, Are You Using Your Amazon Author Central Page?

In today's guest post, Laura Pepper Wu shares some great tips about taking advantage of the Author Central feature on Amazon.com.

If you are selling a book or eBook through Amazon, you should absolutely be taking advantage of Author Central on Amazon.

I know, I know that you are thinking “GROAN!! Yet another social media site to keep up with.”

But actually it’s not all that much work at all, and once it is up and running (i.e. you have filled out your basic info, added a photo, imported your blog) you will rarely have to touch it again.

The benefits:

For most books and genres (there are exceptions), it is in the author’s best interests to be the ‘face’ or ‘brand’ behind the book. The more that your potential reader can identify with you, the more invested they will feel in your book, and the more likely they are to buy it.

This isn’t a hard and fast rule, and of course you must be somewhat likable in order for them to relate to, but in general it’s true! So get some pictures up, add some personable facts about yourself, and if you are already writing a blog whip that up there too.

Things to Do on Author Central:

Add your photo & biography. Be the ‘face’ of your book.

Link your blog - Import your blog using the RSS feed. You can also add your twitter feed if you wish and upload a book trailer if you have one. People who stumble upon your book on Amazon through a recommendation or through the ‘commonly bought with’ listing won’t see your personal blog or other online PR efforts. So use author central to put your best foot forward without redirecting them away from Amazon and their browsing/ shopping space.

Book Marketing Toolbox - Author Central on Amazon

If you have printed books or Kindle ebooks for sale on Amazon.com, you are eligible for an author profile page on Amazon. The profile is accessed from a section like this on your book sales pages:

You can also link directly to your Amazon profile from elsewhere. That is especially handy if you have multiple books for sale on Amazon, because you can direct people to a central point where they can find all of your books. For example, I'm putting a note in the back of my Kindle books that the most current list of my Kindle titles is available on my Amazon author page.

When readers click through to my author profile on Amazon, here's what they see:

On the left is my bio and a list of books I have for sale on Amazon. Although live hyperlinks aren't allowed in the bio, I have listed my website address, social networks and other important links in my bio. In the right column is my latest tweet and links to my recent blog posts.

To set up your own profile on Amazon, sign up at Amazon Author Central. You will be asked to identify your books and respond to a verification email, then you can set up your profile. Just upload your photo and enter your bio, blog feed address and Twitter user name. You can also link to videos and publicize your author events.

After you have set up your account, you can access it any time from http://authorcentral.amazon.com to edit your profile and add additional books. Click the Help link to reach a page with several valuable links, including one that lets you make changes to your book listings on Amazon.

Note that if you already have an extensive bio on Amazon using their older author page format, some of your previous data, such as links to reviews you have written, will disappear when you sign up for Author Central.

Learn more about maximizing your visibility on Amazon with my ebook, How to Sell More Books on Amazon.

Holiday Gift Ideas for Book Lovers

Books make the perfect gift for anyone who enjoys reading. If you aren't sure what books to buy for the readers on your gift list, an Amazon.com gift certificate is a great choice. In addition to choosing from a vast selection of books, gift card recipients can order electronics, toys, music, software, personal care items, and much more. You can send a gift card by e-mail, print it out, post it on someone's Facebook account, or ask Amazon to mail it at no extra charge. Amazon gift certificates never expire.

While many people still love dead-tree books, ebooks are all the rage this year. Did you know that you can buy Kindle ebooks as gifts? From the sales page of any Kindle ebook, just click on the "Give as a Gift" button on the right side of the screen. The gift recipient doesn't even have to own a Kindle – they can download the free Kindle reader app to use on a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry or Android phone.

Ebook readers are popular gift items this year and they aren't just for ebooks – users can also subscribe to magazines, newspapers and blogs. When shopping for an ebook reader, pay attention to whether the device downloads books through Wi-Fi Internet access or over a 3G cell phone network. There's no extra charge for using the 3G network and most 3G devices also run on Wi-Fi. Also consider the screen type, amount of memory, battery life, and size and weight of the device.

The prices of Amazon's popular Kindle ebook readers have dropped this year. The Wi-Fi Kindle, with a 6" black and white screen, is now just $139 and the 3G Kindle is $189. Kindle DX, with a larger 9.7" screen, more memory, and 3G access, is $379. And don't forget the accessories, like this cool leather cover with a built-in light. Kindles are also available at several retail stores, including Best Buy, Target and Staples. 

Barnes & Noble's NookColor features a bright color touch screen and sells for $249. It looks like an overgrown smart phone and it can also store and play MP3 music files. The device even includes an internet browser and several games. The backlit screen is great for reading in bed and the full-color display is ideal for magazines and illustrated children's books. But for daylight reading, it's not as easy on the eyes as other ebook readers. The glass screen will be hard to read outdoors, but they offer an anti-reflective film for it. The NookColor does not have 3G access, so you will need to be in range of a Wi-Fi network to download books or access the internet. It also requires more frequent charging than other readers.

Barnes & Noble's original ebook reader, the Nook, comes in both Wi-Fi and 3G versions and costs $10 more than comparable Kindles. Both the Nook and Nook Color have expandable memory and easily replaceable batteries. They are available in Barnes & Noble stores, Best Buy and Walmart. Barnes & Noble offers a free Nook reading app that lets you read your ebooks on computers and smart phones, and they have a lending program that lets you share ebooks with a friend for 14 days.

The Apple iPad tablet computer is also popular for reading ebooks. The iPad has a large glass touch screen, comes in both Wi-Fi and 3G models, and has range of apps available. This cool device is pricy, ranging from $499 to $829. The iBookstore has a smaller selection than the Amazon and Barnes & Noble bookstores, but many iPad users just download the free Kindle iPad app  and order their ebooks through Amazon. (And just in case Santa is reading this, I'm hoping for an iPad in my stocking.)

On the Borders website, there's a chart comparing the features of several other ebook readers, including Sony and Kobo.

How to Sell Your Blog on Amazon's Kindle

The Amazon Kindle isn't just for ebooks—did you know that Kindle users can also subscribe to newspapers, magazines and blogs? In fact, you can subscribe to my Savvy Book Marketer blog in the Kindle store.

If you're looking for additional exposure on Amazon.com and the chance to earn revenue from your blog, consider offering your blog by subscription on Kindle.

Why would anyone pay to subscribe to your blog when they can read it for free online? In a word: convenience. Sure, your readers can subscribe to your blog's RSS feed at no charge, but then they have to remember to visit their feed reader or RSS folders on Outlook to read the incoming posts. If they receive their feeds via email, it's just one more email in a crowded in-box. Many people subscribe to multiple blogs, which multiples the problem.

But if readers can have blog posts delivered to their Kindle, they can read them in their leisure time, away from their computer and email. This is especially attractive to people who travel or commute on public transportation.

Although any author can publish a blog on Kindle, blogs from nonfiction authors have the most sales potential. It's less likely that people will be willing to pay a subscription fee for a blog from a fiction or children's author, but it's certainly possible if the blog offers good entertainment or educational value. To sell blog subscriptions, it's also important to publish consistently, at least once a week, and preferably two or more times a week.

One advantage of having your blog in the Kindle store is that people browsing there or doing keyword searches may discover your blog. Even if they visit your blog online, rather than subscribing via Kindle, you've still gained a new reader.

One caveat: don't expect to get rich from this. Blog subscriptions are priced at $.99 or $1.99 per month, and the author royalty is only 30% of that. But it's low effort and could add some nice incremental revenue if you build up a following. Recurring monthly revenue is always a good thing.

If you're ready to sell your blog in the Kindle store, see this free Kindle blog tutorial for detailed instructions.

 

Learn How to Maximize Sales and Profits on Amazon

Amazon.com accounts for the vast majority of online book sales and about 22 percent of total book sales in the United States. But how can you make your books stand out from the huge number of competing books on Amazon and turn shoppers into buyers?

My new ebook, How to Sell More Books on Amazon, outlines the top strategies for maximizing your book's exposure and boosting sales and profits through this vital sales channel.

You'll learn how to:

• Increase the sales appeal of your book page on Amazon.

• Help shoppers find your book amid the millions of competing books.

• Give customers a real bookstore experience by letting them sample your book's content.

• Use reviews to draw customers to your book and persuade them to buy.

• Profit by selling your content in alternative formats.

• Enhance your personal profile and author page.

• Boost your profits with Amazon's affiliate program.

• Sell to Amazon more profitably when you bypass their Advantage program.

Get the tools you need to understand and access the range of options for promoting your book and maximizing sales and profits on Amazon. You'll even find special tips for authors publishing in Kindle ebook format. As a bonus, the last chapter offers advice on prioritizing your Amazon promotions to make the best use of your time.

Let How to Sell More Books on Amazon be your guide for maximizing your sales and profits on Amazon.

Order now in PDF format for $12.

Order now in Kindle format for $7.95.

Need help deciding which format to order?

The PDF version can be read on any computer with the free Acrobat Reader software. It includes live hyperlinks to valuable resources, screen shots demonstrating the points covered in the text and it can be printed out. The Kindle ebook can be viewed on the Kindle reader or through a Kindle app, but it can't be printed and it does not contain screen shots or live hyperlinks. 

Still not sure if this is the right book for you?

To view the table of contents and sample pages, download this excerpt.

Update on Amazon Sales Tax Issues

The affiliate program for Amazon.com (called Amazon Associates) is a great way for authors to earn extra revenue on sales of their own books and other products sold on Amazon.com. But authors in some states can't participate in Amazon Associates due to sales tax issues.

Sales tax laws vary by state, but generally any company that has a physical presence in a state (such as offices or warehouses) is considered to have "nexus" and is required to collect sales tax from all customers located in that state.

Local businesses complain that out-of-state online retailers have an unfair competitive advantage because they don't have to charge sales tax in states where they have no nexus, making it cheaper for customers to shop online. Meanwhile, state and local governments are losing billions in potential sales tax on those online purchases.

Some states have declared that if an online company has any affiliates (people or companies who promote their products in exchange for a sales commission) located in their state, it gives that company nexus and requires them to collect sales tax there.

Amazon has responded to these new laws by dropping their Associates in some states. There does not appear to be a list of eligible states on the Associates information page, so presumably Amazon will determine your eligibility when you submit the application form. However, when I logged onto my own Associates page on Amazon in mid-November of 2010, this note appeared on the page: "Residents of Colorado, North Carolina or Rhode Island are not eligible to participate in the Associates program."

Prices of Ebook Readers Continue to Fall

When Amazon's Kindle ebook reader was first introduced in late 2007, it was priced at $399. By 2009, the price was down to $259, and in June of 2010, the price of the Kindle ebook reader dropped to $189. The new Kindle Wi-Fi version has no 3G (cell phone network) access and sells for just $139.

Barnes & Noble's Nook ereader starts at $149 and the new NookColor is $249. On the Borders website, there's an interesting chart comparing the features of several ebook readers.

See this article to learn more about ebook reading devices and how to create ebooks for them. To learn how to maximize your book sales and profits on Amazon, read How to Sell More Books on Amazon.

Gain Visibility with Reviews on Amazon.com

Book reviews on Amazon.com and other online bookstores are a great selling point for authors and publishers and they can be very helpful to consumers in selecting books to buy.

As I pointed out in my recent article, The Secret to Getting Great Book Reviews on Amazon, it's important to ask for reviews of your book and to make it easy for people to write reviews for you.

On the other hand, when you write reviews of related books and products on Amazon.com, you gain visibility for yourself with consumers and with the authors of the books you review. You can even post a video review on Amazon.com.

Be subtle about mentioning your own book when writing reviews of other books. You don't want it to sound like a sales pitch or detract from the book that you are writing about. For example, you can say "As a romance author myself, I really enjoyed the way that this author…". Or you can sign your name at the bottom of your review as "Jane Doe, author of …" You can also promote your brand or book in the "signature" that appears at the top of your review, as shown here:

Learn more about how to promote your book on Amazon in my ebook, How to Sell More Books on Amazon.

The Secret to Getting Great Book Reviews on Amazon

When consumers shop for books on Amazon.com and other online bookstores, many of them read the book reviews before they make a purchase. Even if they came to the site to buy a particular book, they may read the reviews to verify that they are making a good selection.

Positive reviews are a great selling point for all types of books, but they are especially important for nonfiction books, where consumers often compare several books on the same topic. Amazon actually encourages this, by displaying other similar books on your book's sales page.

So, what's the secret to getting great book reviews on Amazon (besides writing a great book)? ASK people to post reviews and make it EASY for them by providing a link to your book page on Amazon.com. 

Amazon is by far the largest online bookseller. Anyone who has an Amazon user name and password and has purchased any product on Amazon.com can review your book there, even if they purchased your book elsewhere or got a free review copy.

Here are three ways to invite people to post reviews for you:

• When you send out review copies to colleagues and influencers seeking testimonial quotes, ask them if they will also post the testimonial or a brief review on Amazon.

• Any time someone writes a positive review of your book, ask them to post it on Amazon.

• When you receive an email or other correspondence praising your book, reply with a request to post a book review on Amazon.

Learn more about how to promote your book on Amazon in my ebook, How to Sell More Books on Amazon.

 

Selling Books for Ebook Readers

 With the introduction of the Apple iPad, competition among ebook reading devices is heating up.

When the Kindle ebook reader was first introduced in late 2007, it was priced at $399, but by 2009 the price had fallen to $259. In June of 2010, Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle ebook reader to $189, and they have started selling Kindles at Target stores across the U.S. The Kindle (shown to the left) holds about 1,500 ebooks and the screen measures 6 inches diagonally.

The new third-generation Kindle appeared in late August of 2010, along with a Kindle Wi-Fi version that has no 3G (cell phone network) access and sells for just $139.

The larger Kindle DX model holds 3,500 ebooks and the screen measures 9.7 inches diagonally. The newest version of the DX was released in July and the price dropped from $489 to $379.

If you don't have a Kindle, you can still enjoy Kindle books on your computer, iPhone or Blackberry. Just download the free Kindle reader application.

Barnes & Noble's Nook ereader starts at $149 and the new NookColor is $249.

Sony developed one of the first electronic books in the early 1990's. The current Sony Reader device comes in three different models and the prices were lowered in early July. The wi-fi enabled Daily Edition dropped from $349 to $299, the Touch Edition dropped from $199 to $169, and the Pocket Edition went from $169 to $149.

On the Borders website, there's an interesting chart comparing the features of several ebook readers.

What does all this competition this mean for publishers? As ebook readers become more affordable, sales of the devices should increase, which will broaden the market for ebooks.

According to the Association of American Publishers, ebook sales for April of 2010 were $27.4 million, an increase of 127.4 percent from last year. With the rapid growth of ebook sales, it's clear that publishers can't afford to be left behind as consumer reading habits change. So, how do you make your book available for these ebook readers?

You can create your own Kindle files, following Amazon's instructions, but your file will only be in Kindle format. Amazon is now offering a 70% royalty option to authors on Kindle books - see this page for details on how to qualify.

To learn how to distribute your ebook through the Barnes & Noble online bookstore, send an email to [email protected].

One of the easiest ways to make your book available for multiple ebook readers is to publish through Smashwords, which makes ebooks available in several formats, including those compatible with iPad, Nook, and Sony Reader. (Soon they will also offer distribution in Kindle format through Amazon.) You'll need to format your text according to the Smashwords Style Guide. See this article for more information about how Smashwords works.

Another option is to hire someone to do the ebook conversion for you. Joshua Tallent at ebook Architects has been converting and formatting ebooks since 2002 and he can handle a variety of formats including Kindle/Mobipocket, ePub, eReader, LIT, and Smashwords. You can buy his Kindle Formatting: The Complete Guide or hire him to handle the formatting for you.

See these articles for more information:

Adventures with Smashwords - Signing Up as a Small Publisher by James Byrd

Adventures with Smashwords - Publishing an E-Book by James Byrd

Adventures in Smashwords - Getting Premium Distribution by James Byrd

E-readers and Tablets Could Become This Decade's MP3 Players, Says BCG Survey

Book Sales Statistics

5 Steps to Create an Amazon Bestselling Book Campaign

In today's guest post, I am delighted to have Lynn Serafinn, founder of Spirit Authors, share her expertise in creating Amazon bestseller campaigns. 

Many people hire me to create and manage their Amazon book campaigns, or to support them as a book promotion coach/consultant. In either case, I have noticed many of my clients experience a steep learning curve at the beginning of their campaigns, as they try to get their heads around all the components and how they work together.

For that reason, I thought it might be a good idea to write a short article giving an overview of the initial steps I use when I put together an Amazon campaign, so you can become an Amazon bestseller like my clients.

The basic concept of an Amazon book campaign is to drive people to a special page you will create that tells them about your book, and to get them to return to that page to buy your book on the specified day of your launch. The reason why you want them to come on a specified day is to drive up your Amazon sales rank. The reason why people will want to return to your page (as opposed to just going to Amazon to buy your book) is that after they buy your book, they can come back to your page to claim some great bonus gifts.

Who is offering the gifts? A group of “JVPs”, or “Joint Venture Partners” you have brought together. Finding and choosing JVPs is a topic I cover in the first week of Module 4 at Spirit Authors. For now, let’s assume you already have a good selection of JVPs who have confirmed their participation in your launch, and let’s move on to our 5 steps to get your campaign going.