The only just literary critic is Christ, who admires more than does any man, the gifts He Himself has bestowed. – JRR Tolkien

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Should You Put Affiliate Links On Your Author Website?

This is a common question for authors and it doesn’t really have a specific answer.

But, if you’re an author asking this question, you’ve come to the right place to find out if you should put affiliate links on your author website.

Is it OK to put affiliate links on an author website?

First of all, if you have a website – it’s good to make money from it, even if it’s just enough to cover the costs of hosting, domain renewals, email services, self-publishing your book, etc.

But, of course, you might be worried about turning away your readers with a bunch of bothersome ads. Don’t worry, it’s not something you need to over concern yourself about if you do it right. Earning an income from your website is a perfectly honest form of work.

Related – Want to Know How to Start a Successful Online Business? 

Earn Money From Author Website

The best way to still make a little extra money, make your readers happy and still sell your books is to be very selective about what kinds of ads or links you put on your website and how many.

Obviously, if all your visitors see when they come to your site is a bunch of ads in their face they’ll most likely leave right away.

I know I do because sites that are overloaded with advertisements generally don’t have any worthwhile content anyway and can’t help me with whatever I was looking for in the first place.

I have Google Adsense on this site – and now everything is automatic – it kind of annoys me how multiple ads will show on the same page. So I’m still trying to figure out a way to balance that out.

Moving on… the first question to ask yourself when you put up an advertisement or link is: How is this going to benefit my readers?  If you can answer that in a positive way, then you’ve struck gold, if not, find something else.

The one thing you have to be sure of is that you use an affiliate disclosure statement – which is very simple, and it has to be near the link, according to the FTC rules of conduct. This is usually not a problem to your visitors or anyone else.

Related: Affiliate Disclosure Statement on Your Website – FTC Rules

Following FTC Rules for Affiliate Linking

You also don’t want to have your readers going for your ads instead of your books – so how can you make a little extra, still sell your books, and not put your readers off?

It’s all a question of balance – no, we’re not talking about the Moody Blues. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about by that – sorry, I’m old school.

You simply don’t want to have your website so completely filled with promotions that your readers don’t even know what you have to offer them, but having a few reviews of things that are related to your genre are a great way to earn a little extra.

Related: Where to Earn Affiliate Money From With Your Author Website
Related: Basics for Earning Affiliate Money Through Your Website

Just don’t plaster your website with too many ads on the sidebars, and on every single page so that readers don’t know what they should be clicking on. 

And keep ads to a minimum on your pages where you’re talking about your book and yourself.

Keep your website personal, but opt in for a few ads here and there – like salt, sprinkled lightly just to bring out the flavor and add value, and don’t over do it and you’ll be fine.

If you have any questions about putting affiliate links on your author website just let me know and I’ll be more than happy to help you in any way that I can.

Wishing you all the best success!

Galadriel Grace Writing and Editing Tips for Authors and Business

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