This post, by Publetariat founder and Editor in Chief April L. Hamilton, originally appeared on her Indie Author Blog on 1/9/14.
Here are two new questions authors need to add to their vetting process when considering hiring out for author courses, services and how-to books:
Do you have an affiliate program for this product or service I’m considering, and if so, how much of the sales price will be paid to the affiliate advertiser?
Imagine that the answers to those questions are, “Yes, I do have an affiliate program, and half of the price you pay is sent back to the affiliate whose link you followed.”
So far, so bad. Now imagine the price you’re being asked to pay is $940, and $470 of that fee will be paid to the affiliate.
Pick your jaw up off the ground because I’m sorry to tell you, this is not some far-fetched scenario. Today I received this exact offer to become an affiliate advertiser for someone offering author and book marketing/publicity products and services.
I get affiliate requests pretty frequently but anyone who reads this blog or visits the Publetariat site regularly knows I don’t say “yes” to many of them. Today’s request is just about the best example I’ve seen to date for explaining why.
Here are the pertinent excerpts from the email invitation, with my comments below each. Note that any boldface emphasis in the quoted passages has been added by me.
Click here to read the full post on the Indie Author Blog.