Thanks to Amazon.com’s Associate program, if you use this page to buy my book from Amazon they pay me a commission that’s more than I earn on the royalty from each book. (A lot more.)
That's a quote from Steve Krug, about his book Don't Make Me Think, but I've noticed similar sentiments from a range of authors, including Veen, Zeldman, and Derek, who all spoke rather eloquently about the subject at SXSW.
The most curious thing about this concept is not that the make more from their affiliate fees than their royalties, (creators have always gotten screwed by distributors) but rather that the concept hasn't caught on in other media. I'm surprised the less-famous musical acts on the major labels don't encourage their fans to buy the CDs through their web sites.
Of course, that's probably because music acts are even more screwed than authors, and a lot of those bands' official websites are owned by the labels anyway. The whole thing seems like even more of an argument for self-publishing. Surely there's some sort of MP3.com for authors?
And are there bands that are promoting their affiliate links as revenue sources? Maybe i just haven't heard of them... clue me in.
