Kindle eBooks

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   Fred Smedleyposted 11 years ago

   I recently wrote an eBook on stress relief and am selling it on Amazon Kindle. Yesterday I published my first hub (about stress) and would like to promote my eBook. Is it best to link to my eBook via an Amazon capsule or via a text link in the hub? I have an Amazon Associate ID which I have activated and am currently linked to my eBook via a text link but the link shows up my Amazon Associate ID in the link, which I suspect contravenes some rule or other. Any ideas please?

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      lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I guess you need to use the Amazon capsule and not a direct link..
      But I'd wait for people who've done it before to answer.

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         Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you very much lobobrandon. I was thinking perhaps the capsule was the right thing to use but as you say, I'll wait for a few more replies and see what the general consensus is. Cheers.

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            lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Your welcome but as far as I know you have to use a capsule

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      Healthy Pursuitsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have two e-books - really two short stories that I published as Amazon Singles in hopes that they would be chosen for assisted marketing - on Amazon. Once they were rejected as Amazon Singles (it seems only the famous get chosen), I was going to blend them into one book and add a few more short stories to it, but then they started selling a  bit. So I left them alone for the time being.
      
      Anyway, I have no problem using the ASIN numbers to link them in in my hubs in an Amazon capsule. I have them linked on all three of my short stories in HP.
      
      First, edit your hub and add an Amazon capsule.
      Then open another window and go to Amazon.
      Search your author name. The e-book(s) you have in Amazon should list. Select them one at a time and copy the ASIN number, which is located in the Product Details section.
      Back in HP, in the Amazon capsule, you'll choose to list specific products rather than search. (I tried to use the search option and got several authors with my same last name, but not my books. So that's a hazard if you use this option.)
      Paste the ASIN into one of the book lines.
      Preview your link in the Amazon capsule to insure that your e-book(s) list accurately.
      Add each ASIN. If you want to preview after each ASIN, that works fine.
      Save the Amazon capsule.
      This has worked for me every time I've done it.
      Just remember that, if you plan on adding more e-books to Amazon, you'll want to go back and add your new ASIN number to the Amazon capsules in your hubs.
      
      Preview your hub to insure that it's displaying as you want it to.
      
      One more thought - if you're selling through Amazon as an affiliate, I think you'd get the benefit of income from both your book and your selling it as an affiliate, but my e-books are so low in price that I am not sure of that.

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         mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         It should work the way you describe, but apparently it doesn't for everyone or for every book (not sure which). I had no issues adding my Step Dad's eBooks, but I had already tried the way you describe for Shadesbreath's eBook and it doesn't work. In fact it says the ASIN doesn't exist, so there has to be a problem somewhere in Amazon with certain ASIN numbers. If I use the 'choose specific products' option to manually select products relevant to hubs I have written I usually find the ASIN's on eBooks result in a big pink banner appearing in my capsule saying it can't be added, (can't recall the exact wording of it right now.)
         In Shadesbreath's book I just get a message that says 'No Amazon Products Found', not even a pink banner, (very strange).

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            Healthy Pursuitsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Well, rats.

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         Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Healthy Pursuits. Once again I must also thank you for coming to my assistance. It seems as though you apply almost the same technique as mistyhorizon2003 and get similar results. Can't figure out why it's such a hit and miss procedure. Anyway, the main thing is that I have got some links to my eBook but I will also try the way you advocate.
         Hopefully you are right about the double income but like you, I have my eBook priced low to attract buyers so it won't be much of a payout.

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   Marketing Meritposted 11 years ago

   I would always use the Amazon capsule, as others have already stated, to link directly to products.
   
   However, I don't believe that there is anything to stop you from setting up an astore, which includes your book and then linking to that in your text.
   
   I would also set up the new tracking ID (for your astore) as one of the keywords you are using to promote your book.
   
   Hope this helps!

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      Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, thanks a lot Marketing Merit. Will definitely use a capsule from now on and will look into what you say about setting up an astore. It may be a little beyond my current knowledge but once I've found my way around HP I'll give it a go. Again, many thanks for your advice.

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         lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         An Astore is an Amazon store it's not related to Hub Pages

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            Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks lobobrandon. Something to bear in mind for the future. Just need to swallow a few I.T. books and I'll be well on my way.

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               lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Haha

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   Marketing Meritposted 11 years ago

   Assuming you already have an Amazon affiliate account Fred, it's actually quite simple to set up an astore.  However, one step at a time
   I'm actually rather impressed that you have a Kindle ebook published. It's been on my "to do" list for a long time now and  I still haven't got around to it!!
   Best of luck to you!

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      Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      If you want to email me I'll let you know how I only got started almost 2 months ago, published on 1 February and am making over one sale a day. Sounds like I'm plugging an affiliate product doesn't it but honestly I'm not. I'll just give you details of the course I followed. Like you, it's something I wanted to do for a while so I grasped the nettle and went for it and so far it's paying dividends.
      Regards.

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         lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Yup Fred explained it to me and thanks Fred

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            Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Sorry lobobrandon, my reply about emailing me was meant for Marketing Merit.
            Marketing Merit - I'm getting my knickers in a twist here. The post above about emailing me was meant for you.
            Cheers

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               lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Ya I noticed that's why I said you explained it to me So if Marketing Merit was interested he'd know

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         Marketing Meritposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         @Fred...Many thanks...I have sent you a message!
         
         @Lobobrandon...I'm actually a "she" but appreciate that none of my info is gender specific!!

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   SmartAndFunposted 11 years ago

   Fred, you should write a hub about it! Maybe someone already has. I'm going off to look for one now. I would love to read about your experience, though.

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      lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hmm good point

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      Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi SmartAndFun,
      That's a very good idea, perhaps I will once I've sorted out the best way to do it. Thanks.

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   Shadesbreathposted 11 years ago

   I don't think you can link to an eBook in an Amazon capsule. If you can, please tell me how, because I've got two and can't get either to come up in Amazon, not by title, not by URL, and not by ASIN.

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      lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Shades, I've done it and Ive seen your galactic mage book on Amazon - U can add it to your hubs!

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      Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Shadesbreath,
      You are absolutely right. I tried the capsule last night and no matter what link I put in, nothing worked. However, mistyhorizon2003 has posted below and raises some very interesting possibilities.

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   mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years ago

   Use a text link, (you are allowed two per hub so you might as well use them.) As for the capsule, you can add paperback copies to it (I have done that with Shadesbreath's book and my Step Father's three books), It is also possible to add eBooks to a capsule (so why not do both), but you can't add eBooks via the 'choose specific products' option, you have to do it by the 'search' route and get the terms right so your book appears, or both versions (paperback and eBook) appear in the capsule.
   
   Edit: interestingly enough I just tried a different experiment. I used the search feature in an Amazon capsule to search for one of my Step Dad's books by Author name followed by the the book title. I opted to show 2 results. Both the eBook and the 'in print' version appeared. I then saved the capsule, followed by the hub itself. After this I clicked on the link to the eBook within the Amazon Capsule. This took me to the eBook page on Amazon. Here I copied the ASIN number and went back to the hub, went into 'edit mode', changed the options on my capsule to 'choose specific products', and then when I added the ASIN code the eBook appeared no problem. I find this odd because going the normal route you cannot do this, i.e. if you go to Amazon, find the ASIN number, then on a separate page return to your hub and add it to the 'choose specific products' section you just get a big pink banner saying 'product not found' (or something like that.) No idea why it works one way and not the other.

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      Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Wow mistyhorizon2003! How clever is that. I will definitely have a play around with your method and hopefully it will work for me.
      
      I did change to 2 text links to my eBook and they both work OK but as I've mentioned above, the link has my Amazon Associate code embedded in it and I don't want to fall foul of the rules. It may appear to HP and/or Amazon that I'm trying to get two bites of the cherry by earning an Associate payment as well as the revenue from any sales from click through's from my hub. I've checked the 'violations' tab and nothing has been highlighted so fingers crossed.
      
      SmartAndFun above has suggested writing a hub about it. It would appear that you have more knowledge of the system than me so how about you doing one?

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         mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         No you won't fall foul of any rules doing that, at least not right now. I have done it with my Step Father's books, and automatic filters would quickly pop up a flag to warn me if that was against the rules regardless. Right now isn't your personal Amazon Associate code the same one you entered on Hubpages anyway? I know mine is, (I have not changed over to the HP one as I didn't know if it was an option yet and anyway I was trying to hit payout on my own Amazon code before considering changing over).
         
         I am afraid I won't have time to write on this one right now. Not least because I am already trying to complete a 30 hubs in 30 days challenge and also make them eligible for the current contest. After end of March I will be gardening for the summer growing veggies for competition and for food. Probably won't start seriously writing again until the end of the Summer, and then I plan to write on a wider variety of sites than I have been doing, (less here, more there).

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      Shadesbreathposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I just spent another twenty minutes messing with it. It simply won't come up. Shows the ASIN number in red and says "it can't display." I tried it for The Galactic Mage AND for Auction Yard. Neither works. Maybe they just hate me.

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         Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Shadesbreath,
         
         Same here. I also tried it again as per mistyhorizon2003's suggestion and it won't work for me either. Guess they hate me as well. I've gone back to text linking and it's fine.

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   Fred Smedleyposted 11 years ago

   Thanks for the reassurance re the rules. Phew! Yes, my Amazon Associate code is the same one I entered on HubPages - I've had it for a few years.
   
   Best of luck with your challenge - hope you make it. You certainly know how to fill your time don't you.
   
   I'm also looking to write on other sites; one I'm looking at is zujava.com. It's a relatively new platform and apparently is easier to negotiate than HP. A few months ago, when I was doing some internet marketing (stopped now because it was taking up too much time and I was spreading my efforts too thinly with little return) I wrote many articles and submitted them to 20 - 30 article directories. It was good fun but very time consuming because of having to re-word each one to avoid the duplicate content policies.
   
   Anyway, that's another story. Good luck with the veggie growing, see you again at the end of summer.

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   mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years ago

   This is so strange as you can see if you check out my hubs on my Step Dad's books (Check 'Bailiwick Gold' for instance) I managed to do this no problem. As I have said to Shadesbreath privately, I tried as an experiment to add his eBook to one of my hubs the way I described, but the ASIN number didn't even come up in pink as rejected, it just said it didn't exist. This is not a problem I experience with my Step Dad's books, so I can only assume there is a problem with certain ASIN numbers, and this should be queried with Amazon before trying the way I suggested (that worked.)

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      Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      mistyhorizon2003 Hi again. Yep, probably some kind of internal anomaly with HP/Amazon. Anyway, I seem to have got away with text linking to my eBook so all's well.

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         mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         At least you have the text links then, which is good. I think the other problem is Amazon, not HP, because when I had trouble finding Shadesbreath's eBook even on an Amazon search within the Amazon capsule, and then had further problems on Amazon's site doing the same thing. I only found it when I went to the paperback version's page, and then selected the Kindle version from the link below it.

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            Fred Smedleyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for that. Obviously aren't fully integrated yet but hey ho, give them time and no doubt they'll get there.

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