I am now an official Amazon Associate, which sounds quite professional but is not whatsoever! It simply means that if I review a book Amazon carries, I can put a link on my blog that goes directly to that book on Amazon’s site, and if you follow my link, and end up purchasing the book, I get a little percentage of the sale. So, it is a way of perhaps earning a tiny bit of money from my blogging…which is not why I’m blogging, by the way.
And that said…
…I want to now discourage you from purchasing books on Amazon for a number of reasons!
Reason #1 — You might be tempted to buy more than you can afford. Please don’t do that! I always get a bit annoyed when I am reading a review of a book or educational material of some sort and it is called a “must have.” There is not one item on my blog that you must have. So, don’t buy more than you should.
Reason #2 — If you live in an area with a library, borrowing the books is very often the best option. Some books you will just read so very many times that it makes sense to own them. A lot of books are great for just enjoying a couple of times through your local library. What a gift they are to us!
Reason #3 — There are many cheaper ways to stock your family library than to purchase new. I purchase very little new myself. Library sales, thrift stores, garage sales, used book stores and even online used book sites (though you have to watch the shipping costs) are all excellent ways to get already-loved books for much less than the cost of a new book.
Reason #4 — I definitely want to encourage you to support your local, independent booksellers. These are the folks that love-love-love books and that stock the best titles and are willing to carry the smaller publishing houses and new authors. If you want to encourage writers and publishers to create work that is not hyper-commercial (think stale series and celebrity authors!), then shop at your local, independent book store when possible.
Okay. After all of that, there are times when it works best to just click on Amazon and order it. Maybe it’s a gift and you want it to be brand new. If that is what you decide to do with something you see on my blog, I’d love if you’d click on my link!
Now, probably I’ll get the boot from the Amazon Associates program after all of that, but my conscience will be free at least!
Happy Reading!
orange marmalade 