You’re an author. Not an internet marketer! Or are you?

HOW AFFILIATE MARKETING CAN HELP BOOST YOUR BOOK SALES

I get it, being an author is demanding. You are already busy enough as it is writing your books, blog, responding to your publicists interview and by line article requests (if you’re lucky) and probably running a business or full time job as well as family. So why would you bother with affiliate book marketing? I mean after all, you’re not an internet marketer! Or are you?

If you are selling paperbacks, ebooks, courses etc, then you my friend are an online marketer! You already know that establishing and magnifying your unique personality online is super important to build loyalty. So you’ve built an author website, blog/ social media presence in order to engage with your readers, so why wouldn’t you monetise it by setting up an affiliate program that can help you earn a little on the side?

All it takes is a few hours to set up and a few more to to add links to your site and you are on your way to make a monthly little bonus income you had not planned for, providing you promote it through your channels. It’s also a great link to give to your publicist so that any articles can end with the your unique affiliate link.

And for all those who love a bit of data information to get you over the line, some affiliate programs can offer in depth analysis and reports that provide you with further information into where your website/blog traffic is coming from. Incredibly useful information for businesses, authors as curious publicists like me. 

There are many Affiliate Programs authors and businesses but because I specialise in author publicity, I will be focusing on the Booktopia Affiliates Program in this post to be used as a tool to direct your hardworking marketing assets to produce sales in this post. 

But what is it and how does it work?

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a form of performance-based marketing where a business (in this case Booktopia)  rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts.

For authors, this means when a reader visits your website, then goes to Booktopia via a special link on your site and buys your book from Booktopia, you get a commission from Booktopia on the sale.

Using all of your marketing assets, such as your website and social media, you can refer your readers to purchase your books through their business, and earn a commission from the sale (on top of what you are already earning from selling that book).

In a nutshell, you are rewarded for providing your readers with an outlet to purchase your books, using the marketing and public relations strategies you have already devoted much of your time and resources to establish, whilst promoting a business that can help you sell copies of your book. It’s a no brainer really. 

It’s a great idea to set this up as early as possible so that your publicist can have the link available when promoting your book to media outlets and influencers. Having the link in every byline article or influencer ‘swipe up’ could bring you some great results.

How does a Booktopia Affiliate work?

Booktopia gives you a unique link to your book being sold on Booktopia. This link can be embed onto your website wherever you like. You can also share it on your social media platforms. When visitors use that link to buy your book, you receive up to 7.5% commission on the sale (On top of what you’re already earning through the sale on Booktopia.) 

Why Sell on Booktopia?

Booktopia is a fast-growing online book retailer who in the last few years, have fulfilled over 3.5 million orders and deliveries. Additionally they have received numerous awards from credible bodies like the Australian Business Awards, Online Retail Industry Awards and more. If you are an Australian author, chances are you are already very familiar with Booktopia… or you should be! 

It’s Free baby! 

There is no fee for joining Booktopia’s Affiliate Program. The only investment is your time. With all of the effort you have already put in it makes sense to use the platform to further reinforce all of your other marketing and PR efforts.

You can head to their Affiliate page by clicking here.

Shipping rates are lower

Australians have many issues with Amazon, one of them being the shipping fees. Nobody wants to pay a lot for shipping and Booktopia’s fees are set to a flat rate of $6.95 for any Australian address.

Loyal fans in Australia 

It’s a great place to promote and see your book and tap into an audience that is loyal and large, giving your book more expose and the potential for more sales. It also has the advantage of familiarity and safety for buyers having been in the game for awhile now. 

Is a Booktopia Affiliate worth it for authors?

As with all things PR and marketing involving a book marketing campaign is is a process and the success depends entirely on how much you put into it. If you are signing up to make a huge profit, then it’s probably not the place for you. But if you committed to promoting your unique link in a way that utilises all of your marketing assets and strategies then it can give you a nice little bonus as well as the benefits of selling and promoting you book on a platform where your target audience visits. So go ahead and link it to your subscriber list, send it to your publicist or the journalist who is doing a write up on you, let you followers know about it and embed it into the book page on your website ‘buy now’ button now! 

What about other affiliate programs, like Amazon?

There are other affiliate programs for authors such as Book Depository and Amazon. You’ll need to research them to see which ones will work for you as they all work differently and their applications processes are different also. 

Is a Booktopia Affiliate worth it for authors?

As with all things PR and marketing involving a book marketing campaign is is a process and the success depends entirely on how much you put into it. If you are signing up to make a huge profit, then it’s probably not the place for you. But if you committed to promoting your unique link in a way that utilises all of your marketing assets and strategies then it can give you a nice little bonus as well as the benefits of selling and promoting you book on a platform where your target audience visits. So go ahead and link it to your subscriber list, send it to your publicist or the journalist who is doing a write up on you, let you followers know about it and embed it into the book page on your website ‘buy now’ button now! 

Note: I do not have an affiliate partnership with Booktopia, nor do I  benefit in any way by promoting the Booktopia Affiliate Program. I am recommending it based on the information I have from author clients who have used it as part of their book campaign marketing efforts.