An updated and expanded version of this post is now available at It’s ASIN: four ways to get a global link for your Amazon ebook.
If you have ever provided a link to your book on Amazon from your website or tweet or Facebook or wherever you may have faced the problem of which Amazon site to link to.
It’s easy enough to make a link — you just use the URL: www.amazon.com/dp/ASIN where the ASIN part is the Amazon Standard Identification Number of your book.
The problem is that this link will take a reader to the Amazon.com website only. If the link has been clicked by someone in the UK, for example, they won’t be able to buy your book on Amazon.com due to Amazon’s territorial restraints. If they’re really keen on your book they might go to the Amazon.co.uk site and search for it, or, more likely, they’ll just forget about it.
There is, however, a way you can have a single link for your book that will take readers straight to their local Amazon site where they will be able to buy your book. The service is offered at the website Booklinker, which is owned by GeniusLink.
All you have to do is paste your book’s link from any Amazon website, such as the Amazon.com example above, and you will be presented with one short link for your Amazon book or ebook that will work for all territories.
I have been using this service for some time and it works well. If you try it and find the link isn’t working, check your linking URL and make sure you put http:// in front of the link and it should be fine.
The Viewbook service is an Amazon affiliate and they make a small commission if someone buys your book after clicking on one of their links, which doesn’t affect any payment to you on your books. It does mean you lose out on your own Amazon affiliate links for your book but you might consider that’s a small price for increased sales and the convenience of a single link.