Authors shun BookSense affiliate links in favor of Amazon

Here's an honest look at why so many authors and booksellers feature Amazon Associate links on their book's Web page, rather than promoting independent bookstores via BookSense. (And this holds true for authors who detest Amazon and would prefer to champion local stores, given a good option.)

It all boils down to economics, writes Kate Whouley in a Shelf Awareness item, Online Alliances: Deal With the Devil or Pact for Profits?

The operator of one book Web site reported "making more in a month from Amazon than they made in three years from a previous BookSense link."

Further, Amazon makes it dead easy, and that's why many diehard indie customers often buy from Amazon. When Whouley looked into the BookSense.com option for her own site, she discovered it required a series of extra steps for her visitors. They had to search for a local bookseller, who might not even stock her book. If BookSense were hard-wired to fulfillment system like Amazon, customers could buy books with ease, and the independents could be giving Amazon a run for its money.