Why Authors Should Use The Amazon KDP Affiliate Program

Amazon Associates For Authors

I am sure many authors will cringe at the thought of the words affiliate marketing. But please sit back and relax for a moment because there is a KDP affiliate program that can work to your advantage.

If you are an author, you write, publish, promote, and sell your books and ebooks. Then at the end of each month, you receive your royalty payment from Amazon.

But did you know that you can top up your Amazon book sales income with one very small change to the way you promote your books?

It’s really very easy.

What is Amazon Associates?

By registering with the Amazon Associates Program, you can add a special link to all your book promotion links and posts.

With this link, you can make money online from the Amazon KDP affiliate program fees and commission sales.

I can hear you saying that the advertising commission on an ebook or book sale will be peanuts.

And you are right; it is.

But the big bonus with Amazon affiliate links is that you can earn a commission on any other items that people buy on the Amazon store.

Yes, for a 24-hour period after clicking on your book link, you can earn a commission on any other product people buy on Amazon.

Don’t worry. You are not promoting products or trying to sell products other than your books.

But if your site visitor buys an affiliate product, such as a video game or lawnmower, you earn an extra commission.

There are many different ways you can use the Amazon KDP affiliate program on your blog or website.

But let’s look first at how you can get started.

 

Registering and setting up Amazon Associates

How can you become an Amazon Affiliate?

To get started, you need to go to the Associates home page and register.

Amazon Associates homepage

 

You start your registration process by clicking the Join Now For Free button.

If you live in the US, you will choose the US program.

But if you live in other countries, there are programs for the UK, Japan, Canada, Italy, Germany, Spain, France, and neighboring countries.

You don’t need to be too worried, though.

After you have registered, you can merge all these country accounts into one link later.

Once you are registered, the first thing to do is to set up your Amazon Stripe.

It will appear at the top of your screen every time you are logged in and visit an Amazon page.

amazon stripe

Now you are ready to copy Amazon’s associate product links from your site stripe to your books.

You can use them in your blog posts or on social media, or anywhere else you promote your books.

 

Finding and using your new affiliate link

Go to your book page on Amazon, and if all is set up correctly, you will see your new stripe at the top of the page.

stripe

 

There is a selection of links you can use, such as text, image, or a combo.

You can also directly share your book page on social media. If you add responsive native ads, they will resize on any device.

Creating a text link is super easy. Click on Text, and you will see this drop-down box.

kdp affiliate program text links

 

You have the option to use your full link, but usually, a short link is better for the landing pages you want to use.

Now you can embed this link into text on your blog or even as a link on an image.

If you have your book covers on your blog sidebar, just add a new affiliate link to each one.

You can also create links using your book cover image. All you need to do is copy the HTML code and paste it into your blog pages.

iamge

 

Lastly, you can create responsive ads that will resize perfectly on mobile devices.

Amazon KDP affiliate program with Stripe

Your ads are set up and working, so where’s the money?

Once your links are set up, you will earn a small extra commission on your book sales. Yes, small.

But if someone clicks on your link and then makes another purchase of any products within 24 hours, your account will be credited with an earnings fee.

Here is a brief report from my account to show you an example of how you can earn an Amazon Affiliate commission.

kdp affiliate program sales commission

 

The table above is only a small snapshot. I have to say that some months can be very good, while others are not so good. There is a little bit of luck involved in any affiliate marketing program.

On occasions, I have earned excellent commissions on such items as televisions, electronic devices, and even once, a complete home video surveillance system.

Once your links are up and running, there is nothing more you need to do. Your new book links will be working for you 24/7 for a very long time to take advantage of what Amazon customers buy.

 

Making more from your Amazon Associates account

If you would like to try your hand at Internet marketing, you now have all the tools. But you don’t need to go overboard.

When you write blog posts, you mention a lot of topics and subjects. Some might be good candidates for you to recommend high-quality products or product reviews.

For instance, if you love your Kindle and write a review about it, you can add either a link or an image link like the one below to your article. If any Amazon customers buy the product, you earn a commission.

Kindle paperwhite

The custom ad above took me less than thirty seconds to insert.

You certainly don’t want to fill your blog posts with ads like the one above. But by using text links, you can subtly offer extra information and value to your readers.

By the way, did you know that I recently released my first ever audiobook, One Last Love? It has even received some nice reviews, so I am over the moon.

Yes, that was a terribly blatant plug, I know. Please ignore my misplaced enthusiasm, and I will return to the topic of this article.

However, it illustrates how easy adding an income-earning link into text in your blog articles is.

 

Don’t turn your blog into an affiliate site

As tempting as it might sound, you are not going to make a fortune from Amazon affiliate commissions unless you can drive traffic to your blog by the thousands.

For any blogger, and more importantly for authors, it is a means to make a little more each month. Used wisely, it can do that, but don’t expect miracles.

Concentrate on taking a step-by-step approach to slowly building your blog traffic from search engines like Google Search with some basic SEO, and write great blog articles for your readers.

Logically, the more traffic you have, the more you can earn. Then let your new book promotion links and your occasional Amazon ads go to work for you.

 

Wrap-Up

Depending on where you live, there are different payment conditions and options.

You will need to select the one that works best for you. In some countries, Amazon offers electronic payment, but in others, it is only payment by check.

However, there is an option to have your earnings paid into your gift card account, which is an option worth considering.

It might not be for every author.

But taking the time to set up your KDP affiliate program account and updating your book links to Amazon affiliate links will give you a new potential income stream.

That is certainly not a bad thing at all.

There is very little technical knowledge required. If you are blogging already, you probably have all the skills you need to get started.

Even if you aren’t blogging, you can use these links in your posts on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network you use.

There is more than one way to take advantage of Amazon affiliate links, so what are you waiting for?

 

Related reading: Amazon Keyword Tool Choices For Self-Publishing Authors

7 thoughts on “Why Authors Should Use The Amazon KDP Affiliate Program”

  1. Thanks for the article. I’m wondering…

    1. Can you include affiliate links in a kindle book? To other offers and amazon offers and get credit when people click?

    2. How about in a regular PDF ebook that you send out that has amazon affiliate links all throughout it?

    I was told that basically the only place u can have amazon affiliate links is on your own website. If u direct link to an amazon product from a YouTube video, fb page, even your own emails that go to your list, that this is against their policy.

    Just wondering ur thoughts based on your recent experiences. I’m wondering if I did it anyway if I would get the sales or if Amazon’s system would pick up that the link was on a YouTube page or fb page and then not give me credit for the sale. Also if I can put affiliate links in a kindle book at all.

    Thanks

    1. I add Amazon Associates links to my other ebooks in my Kindle ebooks, and have had no problem. But I can’t vouch for other types of links.
      As for pdf, I can’t see any reason links would not work. But social media is anyone’s guess. The terms change far to often to keep track.
      But be aware that Amazon does not pay for affiliate links to Kindle ebooks any longer. You need to link to a paperback version.

      1. I thought Amazon threatened to delete your affiliate account if the affiliate links appear anywhere other than the store site they apporve. I don’t take the risk of using links elsewhere. And… things change again… I just received an affiliate fee on a Kindle ebook link.

    2. Kate… I just googled what you asked and I think it is fine… please google the question about where to advertise, it will pop up

  2. Thanks for the great article. I don’t feel so lost, but I have a question. I currently use universal Amazon links – that is, from a site that gives me a link that will take you to the corrent Amazo store for your country location. Can I still use these links somehow?

  3. Avatar for Virginia Anderson
    Virginia Anderson

    Thanks. I’ve been wondering how to get a teeny bit of revenue off my blogs, particularly one where blatant advertising (other than for my books) is not appropriate, without going full-court press as an advertiser. I will definitely give this a try.

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