Re: Sell your books on your website?

**"* S* <a*@amystewart.com>**

I recently created a page on my website allowing people to buy signed copies
directly from me (actually, they buy from the bookstore my husband and I
own, but I could have done this on my own, too)

The page is here:   http://www.amystewart.com/order.html  and the Add to
Cart buttons are very easy to get from your PayPal merchant account. (and it
is very easy to create a PayPal merchant account that allows people to pay
by PayPal or credit card).  I was able to create this whole thing in a few
hours with my very minimal HTML knowledge--PayPal gives you the HTML code
for the buttons, so all I had to do was make a page with images of my books
and text.  I've already had a few orders.

And I do an affiliate link, but not to Amazon.  I really try to support
independent bookstores instead of Amazon--without independent,
brick-and-mortar bookstores handselling our books, many of us would get lost
in the shuffle. I certainly owe what little success I've had to independent
bookstores who got behind me and personally put my books in the hands of
readers. Also, thousands of independent bookstores making thousands of
individual decisions about what books to order for their store is better for
those of us with 'niche' books that might not appeal to that one buyer at a
large corporate bookstore.

So I use Indiebound's affiliate program--this is the American Booksellers
Association program, and if you don't know the ABA they are the fiesty
organization supporting independent bookstores and putting on the huge
annual trade show, BookExpo.

http://www.indiebound.org/affiliate

I would be the first to admit that Amazon is more user-friendly than
Indiebound, which is aimed at getting people to buy online or in-person at a
local bookstore.  But I still link to them.  Powells.com is another great
independent bookstore with an easy-to-use affiliate program--and people can
buy your books new or used there, which is nice if your book is out-of-print
but still available at Powells.

***************************
Amy Stewart
WICKED PLANTS:  A Book of Botanical Atrocities
Be afraid.  Be very afraid.
www.wickedplants.com

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