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Question about affiliate links in ebooks

by Sean Fry
13 replies
Sorry if this is a stupid question (I'm a copywriter getting into affiliate marketing) but I have a question about putting affiliate links in eBooks.

I'm going to be promoting some physical products through shareasale.com, linkshare.com and amazon.com, and I know that a lot of savvy affiliates will create "free reports" and load them up with affiliate links, which seems like a great strategy.

But I read somewhere that it is against amazon's TOS to put their affiliate links in an ebook. Can anyone confirm this?

Also, can you (or do any of you currently) put linkshare or share-a-sale affiliate links in your ebooks?
#affiliate #ebooks #links #question
  • Profile picture of the author intergen
    Well I would be interested to know as well since I added an affiliate link in one of my Amazon books. I didn't fill it full of them but did add one and made it clear it was an affiliate link in the forward section.

    The book was approved and has been on Amazon for several months now - so it didn't get kicked. That's the good news
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  • Profile picture of the author mahol
    You can promote your affiliate links in your ebook to get leads but remember don't flood affliate link everywhere. Only 1 or 2 will be good.
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  • Profile picture of the author Eutaw
    You will eventually want to link to your own product. I agree with Mahol..only a few links works the best.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Yes, it is against their TOS. You can't use them in emails either!

    https://affiliate-program.amazon.com...tes/agreement/

    You can only use them on your site and you must have the appropriate disclaimer on your site as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Grace
    I would make sure an add a disclaimer too.
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    • Profile picture of the author NatesMarketing
      You'll need to read each affiliate's specific TOS to make sure it's ok to do.

      Then you'll want an affiliate disclaimer in your eBook: "Many of the links within this guide are to products for which I am an affiliate. This will cost you no extra, but will help me tremendously! Also, I will NEVER affiliate products that I do not currently use or see as quality products." .... something along those lines.

      But, yes...in my books...every link that I can make an affiliate link...I do.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    I haven't read over the TOS linked to above, but surely they cant stop you linking to your own site?

    For my own ebooks, I control the URL.

    By this I mean, instead of having say, somecrazyaffiliatelink.amazon.com - I set the URL to point back to my own site. So I might have something like bringthedonuts.com/aff/stuff

    And within that page, I set a redirect to point to the desired location (aff link)

    Its always best to do this anyway, so you always retain control.

    Putting affiliate links into an ebook that is shared freely across the web is only smart if you control the links. Imagine thousands of your ebooks out there and amazon decide to change the affiliate link structure?

    The affiliate links in your ebooks are worthless.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sean Fry
      Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

      I haven't read over the TOS linked to above, but surely they cant stop you linking to your own site?

      For my own ebooks, I control the URL.

      By this I mean, instead of having say, somecrazyaffiliatelink.amazon.com - I set the URL to point back to my own site. So I might have something like bringthedonuts.com/aff/stuff

      And within that page, I set a redirect to point to the desired location (aff link)

      Its always best to do this anyway, so you always retain control.
      Yeah, I agree. So amazon would be ok with that? If you use something like the pretty links plugin to create your shortened affiliate links, which are actually pointing to your own domain -- just redirecting to amazon, that is ok with them?

      Putting affiliate links into an ebook that is shared freely across the web is only smart if you control the links. Imagine thousands of your ebooks out there and amazon decide to change the affiliate link structure?

      The affiliate links in your ebooks are worthless.
      Great point.
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  • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
    You might want to consider linking to your own page where you review the products instead of a direct affiliate link. This lets you change offers when products disappear. You can add comparative, or better products, as you learn about them. You avoid the need to worry about the TOS of the affiliates, because you are not linking directly to them. Plus, you keep your readers coming back to you, focused on your message...
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    • Profile picture of the author Sean Fry
      Originally Posted by Barry Unruh View Post

      You might want to consider linking to your own page where you review the products instead of a direct affiliate link. This lets you change offers when products disappear. You can add comparative, or better products, as you learn about them. You avoid the need to worry about the TOS of the affiliates, because you are not linking directly to them. Plus, you keep your readers coming back to you, focused on your message...
      Yeah, that's another thing I was considering. Some of these affiliate networks seem to be "particular" about where exactly you're placing the links, so for those I think I'll just link to my own page.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Sean I dont know what Amazon thinks is "okay" or not. I'm not involved in their network.

    In any case, you should probably do what I've suggested and combine it with Barry's advice above.

    1. Control the links
    2. Pre-sell

    Amazon want good affiliates driving qualified traffic in order to make sales.

    Give them what they want, and you'll get what you want.
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  • Profile picture of the author khooster1
    You can easily work around this.
    Targeted the affiliate link to your website/blog.
    From there, you will provide some content/review on the product.
    Finally, direct the viewers to amazon, etc.

    You don't break the rule, but you can easily work around it with some creativity.

    All the best!
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  • Profile picture of the author vishwa
    Yes! Putting affiliate link in ebook is against their terms. I will suggest you to Redirect your link or you can also use shorten url to hide your affiliate links.
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