Reviewer Resources

Sunday November 28, 2010

Affiliate Programs.

First & Foremost:

Let me just say that I think it’s great that the ABA has set up the IndieBound site, an online home for many of the great independent bookstores all across the U.S. What I was not aware of, until a kind bookseller emailed me the link, is that IndieBound has an affiliate program:

http://www.indiebound.org/affiliate

You’ll need to set up an IndieBound account, and wait for approval as an affiliate (I had to wait 48hrs, YMMV) but this is an excellent program and one that I may end up using exclusively.

There are other affiliate programs, though, some that you may already be signed up for:

Amazon’s program is the easiest to sign up for, and if you only feel the need for one program, it’s likely the one you’ll use. (Some of us booksellers feel a twinge of regret as we do so, but it is easy.) If you already have a login for purchasing from Amazon, the affiliate program can be added to your current account.

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/main.html

Borders program was almost as easy; they use Commission Junction so while you apply through the Borders site, you then use the CJ interface to get links (and eventually, get paid).

http://www.borders.com/online/store/BGIView_affiliateprogram
https://www.cj.com/

[There are other booksellers on Commission Junction, including Books-a-Million, Chapters/Indigo, Scholastic, Harelquin, Lonely Planet, Overstock, DeepDiscount.com, Kobo ebooks, Zinio, audible.com, Marvel Entertainment, The Discovery Channel Store, & BBC America.]

Barnes & Noble uses the Google Affiliate Network, which was recently merged into the larger Google Adsense program. The kicker there is that first you have to apply for Google Adsense (which apparently is experiencing a backlog of 6 weeks to 2 months) and then apply for a B&N affiliate account. If you’re only looking to link to books on B&N, this seems like a bit much — but if you run your own website you might find a Google Adsense account isn’t that bad a thing to have.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/affiliate/index.asp
https://www.google.com/adsense/g-app-single-1

[also on the Google Affiliate Network are Kobo, lulu.com, WritersDigest, Discovery Channel, History Channel/A&E, & Rhino Entertainment]

NetGalley

http://www.netgalley.com/

From the Site: “NetGalley delivers secure, digital galleys to professional readers. If you are a reviewer, blogger, journalist, librarian, bookseller, educator, or in the media, you can use NetGalley for FREE to read and request titles before they are published.”

Advance reader copies, free, digitally — all for the asking. It’s a reviewer’s dream (except for the digital part; some of us still like to hold books, and read on paper – but that’s a minor quibble.)

Books By ISBN.

Need a cover image? Wondering about a book’s copyright info, publication date, other editions & formats — even if a book has been published in a different language?

http://www.books-by-isbn.com/

The interface is bare-bones basic, and the output just as plain, but the focus and simplicity of the site are its strengths.

Online Catalogues.

Edelweiss is a service from Above the Treeline and is an easy way to browse online catalogs from almost all the top 10 publishers (plus several smaller houses). Registration is free — you can even specify that you’re a blogger on the sign-up form.

http://www.abovethetreeline.com/edelweiss/

The only major publisher not on Edelweiss is Simon & Schuster; their site is at http://books.simonandschuster.com/