thePlenty.net Forums

Guys, I don't know how to bring this up, but it's been on my mind for awhile and now that the Book Depository was mentioned here, I think it might be time to just get it out of my system.

Some of you might know that I'm participating in the Amazon affiliate program, and that if you purchase books through the links I post in the news/main page or the store, a tiny bit of that revenue goes towards gift certificates -> I get a free book now and then from Amazon. Sometimes people ask how they can help with this site, and I always say that participation (here in the forum, writing in the wiki, letting me know about newsworthy Hobb stuff etc) is the best way to help - and then there's those affiliate links, which have sort of worked as a collective "thank you" in my opinion - besides, for the handful of books I've received, I've tried to choose as many related books as possible, so that I've been able to use them to fill in more details to the wiki etc. So it has been a gift that pays back to those who gave it.

Anyway, with a lot of people boycotting Amazon for various reasons (and understandably so), I've been thinking about switching over to/adding the Book Depository affiliate program. They don't give out gift certificates (at least not at this point), instead they pay you a certain percentage of the price of the books bought through your links. I hate to say it, but at this point (being unemployed etc) this might even be a better option for me, because I could use that money directly to pay for the hosting of this site and domain name. I've already made an account for the site at tBD, but since they only allow you to use text links at this point, I can't really build a store or use widgets like with Amazon, so very few people even notice those links when I post them (in the news so far). Basically, at this point if you want to buy something through the Book Depository and make sure I get some pennies out of it and you can't find a link to that book anywhere on this site, you can visit them through http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/?a_aid=theplentynet and then browse & purchase normally. Not very practical, right?
And this brings me to my point (yes, I have one!)

How would you all feel if I started to embed affiliate links to the wiki pages about the books? They would be clearly marked as affiliate campaign links, and tastefully done. Probably a couple of lines under it's own heading between "editions" and "translations" for example (the links usually refer to English language books so I think that might be the most relevant place).
Or how about a banner or a text link somewhere here in the forums? Would that be absolutely horrible and make you run away screaming?

I don't want to turn this site into one of those monsterous places that have blinking banners in every corner. I'm especially hesitant to add ads on the forum and the wiki without hearing everyone's opinion first because they feel more like property of this little community than the rest of the site.
So, I want to hear what you think! Also, if you have any other, better ideas about how to include affiliate links (esp. through the Book Depository), don't hesitate to let me know.





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Okay. I decided to put up a "fundraising ticker" here to show you where the BookDepository.co.uk commission are re: next year's hosting costs. ("Year" here means from September to September, btw, so most of 2010 is already covered.)

/dead link

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March 2014 update

A lot has changed, we've tried out several different affiliate programs, some unsuccessfully and of course book depository is owned by amazon these days. *sigh*
Anyway, here are the current affiliate links you can use to browse and buy books. As before, amazons purchases count towards gift certificates, book depository towards a paypal payment.

* <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&index=books&keywords=robin%20hobb&linkCode=ur2&tag=theplentynet-21">amazon.co.uk</a><img src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theplentynet-21&l=ur2&o=2" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

* <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=books&keywords=robin%20hobb&linkCode=ur2&tag=theplentynet-20">amazon.com</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theplentynet-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

* thebookdepository.com http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=ustheplentynet

I didn't know, but had wondered quite a bit, if you'd had a special relationship going with Amazon so thanks for clearing that up, Mervi.

I am not very up with all of this computer jargon (no?!) but I wouldn't have a problem with any additions you might make throughout the site that would allow you to benefit from gift certificates etc.

Seeing as I have purchased Kindle editions of Robin's books very recently, I feel terrible that I didn't think to ask you about it all earlier as you may have benefitted from those also! **troddles off to look at the Amazon links***

Ok, I think I understand how it all works, now! You could not have benefitted from my Kindle purchases anyway as they were not linked to thePlenty along with the books titles on offer?

Woops I feel a bit of a doofus now for not realising about your Amazon affiliate thing. Now I feel rude for promoting another book site! (It's just that it's a heck of a lot cheaper, only for Aussies though!)
But now that you mention it, I certainly wouldn't mind you switching or adding TBD !!! It's a win win for me!
I think from what you've said in your post I would trust your judgement in how far to go with adding links from the wiki or the forums. You've mentioned you hate those horrible flashing sites as much as anyone, so I know you wouldn't make it like that!!
I certainly support your efforts to have a little bit of income from this as (a) I know how much work it can be hosting a site like this and (b) I'm also unemployed right now!

Me again...sorry! I am away from home and need to access other RotE books (I'm going crazy trying to participate in discussions without them!), so, I was going to purchase a few more Kindle/e-book versions from Amazon as they don't seem to be available from the Book Depository....are you able to easily include these to your site so you can benefit from them, Mervi? No worries, if not...I have quite a few other books etc that I will be buying from the Book Depository anyway. Just thought I'd give you a chance before I bought...

To clear things up: Amazon doesn't pay anything to their affiliates for Kindle products. I mean, they pay if you actually manage to sell the device itself, but not if you sell any of the books. This came as a huge surprise to all the affiliates - we had already sold a lot of Kindle ebooks before Amazon not only changed their policy, but also withdrew the funds that had already been marked as going to be paid to the affiliates.

Nuytsia, please don't feel bad - I use the BD myself as well, and like I said, have already set up an affiliate account there as well. Before I figure out how to best implement direct links to the books in their store, the best way (if you want to help that is) is to visit them through the link I posted above. Please, please note that I don't require, demand or expect any of you to do that. It's just something you *can* do if you want - you still buy the same book with the same price you were going to pay anyway - but if you buy from Amazon through my links, it feeds my book hoarding hobby and if you buy from the Book Depository through my link(s) a small sum goes towards hosting this site.

Again, I want to stress that I'm not doing this to make thePlenty.net "profitable". I've participated in the affiliate program at Amazon for about 3 years now. I've got 2 gift certificates so far (one from the .com, one from .co.uk site). That means about 4 books I've purchased with them if I remember correctly - and I have a couple of other, smaller, sites that also contributed to that with DVD sales etc. If you want to learn more about the affiliate programs (since my explanations probably aren't very clear anyway ), here's a couple of links: the Book Depository affiliate program and the Amazon.co.uk affiliate program (both Amazon programs work in basically same way, although some things are different, for example the amounts needed for the gift certificate etc - oh, and that "up to 10%"? Never seen it. Happens only when you sell TONS of stuff each month).

(May-18-2010, 11:45 AM (UTC))Mervi Wrote: [ -> ]To clear things up: Amazon doesn't pay anything to their affiliates for Kindle products. I mean, they pay if you actually manage to sell the device itself, but not if you sell any of the books. This came as a huge surprise to all the affiliates - we had already sold a lot of Kindle ebooks before Amazon not only changed their policy, but also withdrew the funds that had already been marked as going to be paid to the affiliates.

That's a pity! Thanks for the quick reply though.

Mervi, oh yeah I didn't think that through did I? (you provided the TBD link then I said I was guilty for promoting them DUH me!)
I have changed my TBD link to the one you provided with theplentynet reference!
I know you wouldn't be making a fat pile of cash hehehehe - didn't mean to imply you can sit back and not get a job now with your web empire

Bravo with the links, Mervi...they look great and are very unobtrusive!

Well, I'm still testing. Amazon offers a lot of different kind of buttons and banners, but either they don't match the height of the BD ones or they blink. But yup, this is what I'm planning for the forum - the ads will only be displayed on the index page for now.