You may have noticed the appearance of “Buy this book” widgets that appear when you hover over links to books on the blog.
Like this:
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow
Full disclosure: If you buy the books through these links I will receive a commission. I am not doing this with the expectation that it will lead to untold riches and they will in no way influence what I decide to post on the site. But I appreciate the ability to encourage people to buy books from multiple vendors, and whatever resulting money I receive will go to offsetting some of the costs associated with maintaing this blog and the forums, which are ad-free.
These widgets are intended to be mildly but not catastrophically disruptive. Please holler if you have any strenuous objections.
If you’d like to add these widgets to your own site, you can find the code here.
Art: Art dealer, France by Anonymousa
LadySaotome says
Since I use GoogleReader, I don't see the widgets. (I see the link but no "buy this book" box.) That only works if I happen to click through to the actual page.
Matthew MacNish says
I'm fine with it.
Josin L. McQuein says
It's non-intrusive to someone reading the blog, and easy to clear away if they don't want to see it. It's a great idea, actually.
Anonymous says
Widgets don't work anyway in the RSS reader.
Maya says
Go for it! That's pretty unobtrusive.
D.G. Hudson says
It's a writer's blog after all, don't people expect an easy way to get your book, if they so desire?
No problem for me. It's your robot ID for comments that I dislike. Why not comment approval?
Donna Hosie says
It makes perfect sense and all writers should have links to buy their books.
I saw a great blurb on Goodreads last week, followed links to the author's website and couldn't find a single mention of their book. One lost sale because their blogger name was not their author name.
Nathan Bransford says
D.H. Hudson-
Can't help that I'm afraid. Turn off the captcha and I'm inundated with spam. I wouldn't be able to moderate all comments in a timely fashion.
Doug says
Nathan wrote: I am not doing this with the expectation that it will lead to untold riches…
You're a published author, so certainly you already have gotten untold riches. Now you're just waiting for your multi-million-dollar advances to earn out, yeah?
Nathan Bransford says
Doug-
I'm not even sweating the earnout because my fame world over means I'll always eat for free wherever I go.
Caleb says
Great idea, Nathan. Go for it.
Caleb says
Great idea Nathan. Go for it.
Caleb says
Great idea, Nathan. Go for it.
Caleb says
Great idea, Nathan. Go for it.
Anonymous says
I think its fine. No problem. I am from Canada…can I order from any of those sites for relatively reasonable cost? Can I order from Amazon for example as a Canadian? Any idea of what the most cost-effective form would be for me?
Thanks.
Mira says
Ha! Your fame comment was funny. 🙂
I think it's cool, and I agree it's a great idea. It's unobtrusive, and sort of classy, as affiliate stuff goes.
I hope you make a bunch of money!
wendy says
Regarding 'eating for free wherever you go' comment, would anyone ever become that famous? Not in Australia, certainly. About the links, what a great idea – and timely inspiration for me. Hope you sell squillions, Nathan. Deserve to!
Marion says
Nathan, thanks for making your books available from sources other than Amazon.
I live in Egypt, and Amazon DOES NOT sell to Egypt. Not even e-books, not even purchased by credit card.
I suspect this policy is true for other countries as well.
So many e-books are available only through Amazon. Self-pub. folks need to know that Amazon DOES NOT sell to every country in the world.
Nothing against Amazon, but people need to know the limits of Amazon's sales territory.
River Byrnes says
All I get when I hold my mouse over one of your books, Nathan, is Now on sale!! and Facebook Like, unlike your sample that shows where your books are for sale. I like the idea though, and will keep that link safe for future use!
Marion, have you tried to get ebooks from other sites, like Smashwords? Smashwords is supposed to be global. I have some of my short stories up both on Amazon and Smashwords, in the hope to reach more people – and as it is, I have sold more books via Smashwords than Amazon.
Bryan Russell says
If it helps buy books, it's good. Of course, I'm obsessed, so it's a bit like asking a heroin addict if they want free delivery right to their house.
Julie Luek says
Great idea. We're writers. We want to sell books.
Anonymous says
River Berness, you's a nigga.