I’ve sold 100K books without a universal book linking tool so I’ve never really understood the appeal, but they can also be super useful for specific things so it’s worth discussing the best options to link to your book, author website, amazon page etc.
What is a universal book link tool?
Basically it works like this: if you’re only on Kindle Unlimited, you just have one link to share. That’s easy. But if you’re wide on multiple bookstore platforms, it gets messy to share all the links, especially on social media. You’ve got one chance to get interested people to click something, and if they don’t see their favorite store where they buy books from, they might just pass on your book.
A booklinker tool sets up a small landing page with a little bit of information and then all the links together in a nice place: so they click the link and go to your landing page, where they can select the destination of their choosing.
This is probably an online store but could also be a place to offer them something else; just in case they aren’t ready to buy yet; like “download the first chapter” or “get a free prequel.”
Universal link tools like this are not optin pages where you have an email optin form, but instead of tweeting out half a dozen different offers, you can use the same link everywhere – a masterlink – with a small splash page so people can take action and get what they want.
This probably works better and converts faster than sending them to a messy, bloated author website where they might get distracted, or where you might look unprofessional – because getting a smooth, professional author website is hard.
On the one hand, it’s a stupid little in-between tool that you don’t *really* need.
On the other hand, if you aren’t using one, you’re probably losing conversions and book sales which can make a big different in your bottom line (whether or not a book succeeds mostly depends on whether you can profitably continue advertisements or promotions on it).
So, here are the big boys and main contenders.
Our recommendation:
1link
1link is a relative newcomer, but it offers a few cool features.
– a nice 3D book mockup that stands out
– multiple books and links
– a space for a profile picture and heading banner.
Why we like it? Because it’s just customizable enough that you can match the style of your book cover, genre, or personal blog or website; and having your face or logo on top is great for branding. So instead of a universal link that looks like everyone else’s, you can have one that represents your brand style and stands out by looking awesome.
Sometimes, dumb little things like an animated book cover can make a big difference in reader engagement and trust, just because it’s cool. Here’s a quick example I made… you could feature book art and a review instead of author name and tagline… watch the video if you want to set one up like this.
Price: $3.99/month. (or use the code “1dollarlinks” to lock in a $1/month rate forever… (limited time offer, so if it doesn’t work it means you’re already late to the party).
Linktr.ee
The example on linktree looks like the following, so I think this is possible – to set up a book cover with info, buttons and also logolinks to major booksellers.
But here’s another example of how one author is using it, with a branded image, social media links, and links to each book.
Price: $5/month.
Booklinker.com
This is part of the Geni.us family… I don’t have a lot of examples but here is one shared by an author. I like that it has the number of clicks. It reminds me a little bit of bookfunnel – though I’m not sure you can make one page with all your books (haven’t tried, but it might work).
They have a new version that looks pretty classy….
Price: $5/month
Books2Read.com
This is a free option from Draft2Digital. It looks like you can make a branded page with a header, and then subsections for each book series, like in this example – this is a “library page” but you can make a page for each book also.
If you publish wide with a Draft2Digital account, you can use the same login for Book2Read; and as Courtney Cannon points out you can add affiliate codes easier if you use those. Some people prefer Booklinker for direct amazon links.
Price: Free
Story Origin
Story Origin allows you to make universal book links to all your favorite retailers, apparently even in the “Free” membership option. They might look like this one example I found from author Cecily Wolfe.
I think you need to create one link for each book…
Price: Free
Geotargeted book links
If you *just* need an amazon link that redirects people to their country of origin, you can try this simple book link tool from book goodies. No frills and you can’t add affiliate links (I think) but a great option for a specific result.
Best universal booklinker tool?
So like I’ve mentioned, I’m mostly in KU so I just send direct traffic to the book, or maybe to my optin list (squeeze page form). IF I started to publish wide and needed multiple links, I’d want something that…
- Let me brand the headers
- Had social media link icons
- Had logos for the big bookstores (amazon, apple, etc)
- Author image or brand logo
- Additional call to action
- Additional links
- Book summary or reviews
- Multiple books (for a series, etc)
Basically, you’ve got one page to make all your offers, but each offer will decrease the conversion… but it’s also a chance for branding (make people feel good about you and your books) by looking cool. EVEN if you have a book on Amazon, you could at least send them to country-specific links, and you might want to add a bonus or optional message so even if they don’t convert or click to your book, they click something else.
In other words… most of the time they’ll click your link expecting a book. If they get some other page instead which doesn’t look super professional, or a list of ALL your books, they probably won’t click on anything… in which case you should’ve just used direct links.
But maybe you want a simple link for Twitter, etc, and instead of just a general blog/website, you want a book-specific splashpage where they can find what they want easily. So, the verdict is still out on universal book links, but let me know in the comments which book linker tool you prefer or any others you’ve discovered!
I’m a philosophy dropout with a PhD in Literature. I covet a cabin full of cats, where I can write fantasy novels to pay for my cake addiction. Sometimes I live in castles.
