EXAMPLE

If I want to provide a link to the paperback edition of my WW I historical novel Once A Knight on Amazon, I could give you the full URL that appeared at the top of the page just a few minutes ago:

http://www.amazon.com/Once-Knight-Aerial-Combat-Romance/dp/1934631515/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

Or I could give you the link to the book’s Kindle edition:

http://www.amazon.com/Once-Knight-Romance-Aviation-ebook/dp/B003HS5P66/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

That would work, of course, but such long links often break across lines in an email and possibly become useless. And can you imagine trying to give somebody that URL over the phone, on the radio, or face-to-face?

However, I could send somebody to the same paperback edition page using:

http://amazon.com/dp/1934631515/

Or to the Kindle edition page using:

http://amazon.com/dp/B003HS5P66/

Actually, I don’t even have to check those pages to come up with those URLs. Both use the same basic format:

http://amazon.com/dp/ASIN/

For a print edition, you just substitute your book’s 10-digit ISBN for “ASIN”, while for the Kindle edition you will need to know the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) Amazon assigned to it (I recommend keeping a list of 10-digit and 13-digit ISBNs along with the Kindle ASINs for easy reference). Amazon lists both the ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 in the Product Details section of the print edition’s page and lists the Kindle edition’s ASIN in that same section.

By the way, you can also easily add your Amazon Associates account ID to either of the above URLs simply by appending “?tag=Assoc_ID” immediately after the closing slash (substituting your own Associates ID for “Assoc_ID”). That way, you’ll get a little bit extra if they actually buy something after following that link.

However, I have more than one book and would often rather use a URL that includes all of those books. I could use the URL that results from doing a search on Amazon for my name, which yields a URL like this:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=walt+shiel

That’s even worse, and depending on your name, could yield results other than just your own books. There are two easy solutions if you have claimed your Amazon Author Central page and have an Amazon Associates account.

SOLUTIONS

After logging in to my Amazon Author Central account, I can go to my Profile tab and follow the directions at the top right under Author Page URL to claim a simplified URL that will take folks to my Amazon Author page that includes my bio, photos, latest tweets, recent blog posts, and all of my books. The link to my page looks like this:

http://amazon.com/author/waltshiel

That’s much better. People can click on any of the books and jump right to that book’s detail page…and, I hope, buy it.

But there’s one more option, that’s even better in my opinion — use your Amazon Associates account to set up an Amazon aStore that lists just your own books! In fact, that’s what you see on the right sidebar of this blog under Click to Visit — an image of my aStore that is linked so clicking on it takes you to that page on Amazon. The link for it is very simple, too:

http://astore.amazon.com/waltshielauthorc

The last entry at the end “waltshielauthorc” is one of my Associates IDs. Most Associates IDs use a format like “jvillebooks-20″ (another of my Associates IDs), but the one above was assigned many years ago when Amazon first starting issuing them. If anyone visits that aStore and clicks on any of the listed books and proceeds to buy something, I will get the Associates commission on the sale, as it built in to the code for the aStore. You can customize the look and organization of your aStore.

One final note: You may have noticed that I mentioned two different Associates IDs above (actually, I have four of them). I use different IDs for different purposes, which allows me to track where Associates sales originate. You could even set up a different aStore for each ID, although I have not yet done that.

So, stop using those complicated URLs to send people to Amazon for your books. Keep it simple while providing more information and more opportunity for a few percent more profit in your pocket. Maybe someday B&N and Apple will make it just as easy to do the same for books on their sites…but I’m not holding my breath.

Clicking the above link takes you to the Walt Shiel page on Amazon where all my books are listed (with links to them on Amazon, of course) plus links to my latest blog posts.

If you scroll down the page, you can see where I’ve added a video for one of my books.

So, how can you set up your own Author Page on Amazon? Simple, just go to Amazon Author Central and sign in using your Amazon account. This will take you to the Author Central login page:

Once you’re logged in, you’ll find yourself at the (can you guess?) home page:

At the top of that page you’ll find links to the various options:

The first thing you want to take care of is to set up your Profile.

This is where you enter your bio, blog feed URL, Twitter handle, photos and videos. In the upper right is where you can claim your custom URL. You can also update your Author Page with your upcoming events and appearances under the “Events” heading.

Once you’ve updated your profile, you can then click on the Books menu option and add your books to your Author Central account.

Once you’ve added your books, you can then click on the titles and edit the description that will display on your book’s detail page on Amazon.

Be sure to notice that you have to edit the details for each format available on Amazon (in this case, paperback and Kindle) if you want your changes to show up on the detail pages for those formats. This also means you can add information that is unique to each format, if there are differences. Just click on each format using the menu options in the upper right corner to select each edition. Editing your details through Author Central allows you to use some formatting to help you draw attention to specific details. When you click on the Edit button, you’ll get a popup:

You’ll also be able to view Sale data when you select that menu option. Amazon presents not just your Amazon sales rankings and changes but also sales by region for non-Amazon sales reported by BookScan. Amazon also collects customer reviews that you can view (and comment on) by clicking on the Customer Reviews menu option. Being able to track sales and reviews for all your books in one place is a real time-saver.

You can also set up an Author Central account on Amazon UK, although it has fewer features at present. If you speak French, you can set up an account on Amazon France (I’m thinking about setting mine up there since several of my books do sell in France and I speak French). Or you can do it in German.

So, if you haven’t claimed and populated your Amazon Author Central account(s) and claimed your custom URL…why haven’t you?

Next time, we’ll discuss ways to use other Amazon features to help you market and sell your books.

For my thoughts on the settlement and why we opted out, see:

• Google Settlement – Not So Good
• Google Settlement – No Thanks
• Google Settlement, More Thoughts

Predictably, the Authors Guild, one of the key architects of the lawsuit that started what resulted in this bad deal for self-published authors and independent publishers, fired back with the usual non sequiturs.

First, they accused Amazon of attempting to monopolize bookselling and, therefore, having to right to complain about Google’s efforts. These are quite different situations for two main reasons — (1) Amazon has never grabbed anyone’s content without first getting their permission (something Google has been doing for years now) and, thus, has not violated anyone’s copyright and (2) Amazon has never forced anyone to have their content available or sold on Amazon.com without specifically opting in to the plan.

Second, Amazon rightly protested Google’s attempts to usurp rights to dubiously tagged “orphan” works. As usual, the AG sidestepped that issue by firing back with the assertion that the agreement would bring many out-of-print (OP) books back into publication. What the AG fails to mention is one of those “inconvenient truths” — the agreement’s definition of OP is far too broad and, essentially, allows Google to decide what is and is not OP.

According to the agreement’s definitions, if your book is solely available through a print-on-demand technology (whether with one of the subsidy houses like Xlibris or via a POD printer like LSI) will NOT be sufficient to earn it an in-print designation. And the author or publisher will have little control over the in-print or out-of-print  designation.

Finally, the AG declared once again that the settlement is good because it will open new markets. Maybe, maybe not. Primarily, it will open new markets for Google to gain more control over what’s available and published. If any self-published authors or small indie presses think they’re going to see a financial windfall, they are only deluding themselves.

The big publishers may make more money under the Google Settlement. Their big-name authors may make more money. But one thing is certain — Google will find more and more ways to control access and make money doing it.

Look at Google’s history. Evaluated what they HAVE ALREADY DONE and compare that to what they could possibly do under the settlement. (Be sure to spend the time to actually read the complete settlement…try to stay awake…and then tell me you understand what you’re being roped into. If you truly do, you are probably the only person on the planet who does, including IP lawyers.)

How much do YOU trust Google?

Use Amazon’s Associate program!

If you’re not using it, or maybe don’t even know what it is, get started today!

All you have to do is use a link to your book’s Amazon page that includes your Associates ID. Amazon will credit you with an additional 4% referral fee for each sale (it goes up if you sell more during a single calendar month).

The really good part is that you will get a referral fee for every purchase your customers make at Amazon during that particular session. You will also earn 10% on sales on electronic dowloads (MP3 and video-on-demand) as well as on sales of the Kindle e-book reader itself (which currently selss for $299).

One note: Currently, Amazon does not pay referral fees for sales of Kindle e-books, which is really dumb in my opinion. But that’s their rule.

Amazon will deposit your payments directly into your bank account within 60 days of the end of the sales month, provided you’ve earned at least $10 in referral fees. If not, your balance rolls over until you do earn more than $10.

Once you have set up an Associates account, you can log in and get links, banners, and widgets, which you can embed in your website and blog, that will include your Associates ID. However, you can easily build your own text links that will do the same thing. For example, my Associates ID is waltshielauthorc (that does not fit the current syntax, but it was assigned back when Amazon first started the Associates program). Amazon’s link-builder generates the following code for a text link to  my book Devil in the North Woods:

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001U9S99O0974655317?ie=UTF8&tag=waltshielauthorc&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0974655317">Devil in the North Woods</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=waltshielauthorc&l=as2&o=1&a=0974655317" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

That codes generates the following display (if your website hosting or blog platform allows the use javascript, Amazon also provides additional code that will produce a pop-up preview of the book’s Amazon listing — WordPress, that hosts this blog, doesn’t allow javascript so it doesn’t work here):

Devil in the North Woods

However, you can accomplish the same thing by shortening that lengthy code above to:

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0974655317?tag=waltshielauthorc">Devil in the North Woods</a>

This produces the same display as above (but won’t support the extra javascript preview feature). To build your own code for your books, just substitute the appropriate 10-digit ISBN (it’s on the book’s Amazon page if you don’t know it) for 0974655317, your Associates ID for waltshielauthorc, and your book’s title for Devil in the North Woods.

There are many other options, available in your Associates account, for how to display the link to your book, but test them to make sure your website host and/or blog platform will work with your chosen one.

So, becoming an Amazon Associate is quick, easy, and free. And you can make extra money on your own books. (And you will still get whatever income you already get from each Amazon sale, whether through your publisher, distributor, or Amazon’s Advantage program.)

And, since sales on Amazon tend to become a positive feedback loop, routing your customers to Amazon can have significant benefits — more sales on Amazon leads to higher placement in Amazon search results which lead to more sales which lead to…(well, you get the idea).

I can think of no reason not to use the Associates program to increase your revenue from book sales on Amazon. So, if you’re not using it…

…what are you waiting for?

Yes, it is true that anyone can create an account “Publish Your Blog on Amazon Kindle.” And, yes, they could then publish YOUR blog to THEIR account and, theoretically, get paid for any subscriptions.

I think the first thing you should do is — right now, don’t delay — set up your own account and claim your own blogs. I have a feeling that Amazon’s system will prevent multiple accounts from claiming the same blog. (Not that I’ve tried to purloin anyone’s blog…it just seems like a simple, logical part of such a database.)

On the other hand, if somebody does try to claim your blog on their account, they will have violated the Amazon terms and conditions, specifically:

Representations, Warranties, Indemnities, Etc.. Publisher represents and warrants that: (i) it is a corporation or other entity or a sole proprietorship or person domiciled in the United States and that the information provided for Publisher in the Application is accurate; (ii) it has not had a Program account which has been terminated by Amazon; (iii) it shall comply at all times with the terms of this Agreement; (iv) it has the full right, power and authority to enter into and fully perform this Agreement and shall comply with the terms of this Agreement; (v) prior to Publisher’s or its designee’s delivery of any content, it shall have obtained all rights that are necessary for Amazon or its affiliates to exercise the rights granted hereunder; (vi) neither the exercise of the rights authorized hereunder nor any materials embodied in the content nor its sale or distribution as authorized herein will violate or infringe upon the intellectual property, proprietary or other rights of any person or entity, including, without limitation, contractual rights, copyrights, trademarks, common law rights, rights of publicity, or privacy, or moral rights, or contain defamatory material or violate any laws or regulations of any jurisdiction; (vii) it will ensure that all Publications delivered to us hereunder comply with the technical delivery specifications provided by us; (viii) it is and shall be solely responsible for accounting and paying to any co-owners or co-administrators of any Publication or portion thereof (a) any royalties with respect to the uses of the content, and (b) their respective shares, if any, of any monies payable hereunder. Publisher shall indemnify, defend and hold Amazon, its officers, directors, employees, affiliates, subcontractors and assigns harmless from and against any loss, claim, liability, damage, action or cause of action (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) that arises from any breach of Publisher’s representations or warranties set forth in this Agreement. We shall be entitled, at our expense, to participate in the defense and settlement of the claim or action with counsel of our own choosing.

So, could somebody do it before you’ve claimed your own blogs? Probably.

Could they do it after you’ve claimed them? Probably not.

What should you do if somebody has done so? Complain to Amazon, of course, informing them that said interloper is violating your copyright. I suspect that Amazon will react promptly.

How can you know if your blog has been snatched? Go to the Kindle Store and search for your name and your blog’s name.

So, as with many things contractual, there will be those who will try to infringe on the rights of others. I rather suspect they would be most likely to go after very popular blogs, since the others are never going to gain them any measurable income…certainly nothing comparable to the financial and legal risks involved.

I, for one, am not going to gnash my teeth about it. Although I do plan to check now and again just to make sure.

By the way, this blog will be available on Kindle in a day or two if anybody really wants to pay for the privilege of reading it.