The most important tip in this blog post is #4! If you read nothing else, please read that one!

Here is everything you didn't know you needed to know (or even want to know?) about sharing the URL (link) to your self-published book on Amazon

Your book launched! Congratulations! I am proud of you. You’ve come so far, you’ve done soooo much.

And, by now you probably understand that small ongoing (ideally, joyful!), actions – done over time – will help your book continue to sell. You’re devoted to sharing your book with others, because your book is one of the ways that you serve people (I see you)!

Here are 4 practical details that will help you share your book better, and prevent potential issues that can arise with your reviews on Amazon (see Tip #4, which might be the most important!).

These may also potentially clear up some small confusions you have about this simple (but, of course, not completely straightforward) part of the process.

1) Amazon Book Links are Specific to a Country

Once your book went “live” on Amazon, you wanted to immediately start sharing the links with everyone you know. Yes! That is the way to do it!

Did you that there are different links to your book for every market, which is based on country?

Example – US and CAnada:

In order to direct your reader to the US market, where they can buy your book in USD, the shareable link looks like this:

https://www.amazon.COM/Almost-Done-Writing-Self-Publishing-Nonfiction/dp/1999272404

In order to direct your reader to the Canadian market, where they can buy your book in CAD, the shareable link to the same book looks like this:

https://www.amazon.CA/Almost-Done-Writing-Self-Publishing-Nonfiction/dp/1999272404

Where relevant, I always try to include links to both markets, to make life as easy as possible for both Canadians and US readers.
E.g., “Find my book here! Amazon CAD | Amazon USD”

2) Amazon Book Links are Specific to Format

In the above examples, the links are specific to paperback books.

Ebook links are different, so if you are specifically trying to share one format or another, keep this in mind.

Example

This link below goes specifically to the ebook format of my book (on the Canadian market page): https://www.amazon.ca/Almost-Done-Writing-Self-Publishing-Nonfiction-ebook/dp/B096HGD8DN

3) Amazon Book Links contain your book’s ASIN

See that 10-digit code at the end of all these URLs? Amazon’s system gives each book/format a unique identifier called an ASIN.

Example

https://www.amazon.com/Almost-Done-Writing-Self-Publishing-Nonfiction/dp/1999272404

In the above link, my paperback book’s ASIN is 1999272404.

In the below link, my ebook’s ASIN is B096HGD8DN.

https://www.amazon.ca/Almost-Done-Writing-Self-Publishing-Nonfiction-ebook/dp/B096HGD8DN

4) Amazon Book Links sometimes contain time stamps, which YOU NEED TO DELETE!

This might be the most important tip of this blog post. This tip comes from co-founder of Reedsy Ricardo Fayet’s helpful book How to Market a Book.

When you share links to your book, delete everything in the URL that comes after the ASIN (see below, in bold)!*

The reason is, it contains time stamp information, which would allow Amazon to recognize if too many people are using that (time-stamped) link to leave reviews. You could get penalized for that.

Example

https://www.amazon.ca/Almost-Done-Writing-Self-Publishing-Nonfiction-ebook/dp/B096HGD8DN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Conclusion

I find it helpful to keep track of all my book links and ASIN numbers in a spreadsheet.
To find out what your book’s ASIN is, just check out the part of the URL that comes right after the “dp” in the link.
Before sharing your book links, make sure you delete the timestamp data that appears after your book’s ASIN.*

*This doesn’t apply if you’re using the Amazon Associates program to market your book, but that’s a topic for another blog post!

Andrea’s book Almost Done Writing: Now What? A Guided Workbook for Self-Publishing Authors (Nonfiction) is LIVE! If you need some supportive handholding for the publishing process of YOUR book, you need THIS book: Amazon CAD | Amazon USD