Take a quick look at my Facebook page. There, next to the Mailing List is a button saying "Store".
Why is this awesome? Well, not only can my fans easily view my bookstore and click the links to go straight to the Amazon page for each book, but the links go through my affiliate account so any purchases make me a few extra pennies.
Personally I think this is really cool, and it's pretty easy to do. In this blog I'll tell you how.
First of all, big thanks to Phyllis Zimbler Miller for this guide and YA author Elle Casey for posting this information on this thread on Kindleboards. This is basically a pictorial step-by-step guide comprised of this information.
To do this, you will need a Facebook page for your writing. That is a proper page, which people "like", not a personal page.
You will also need an Amazon Associates account. If you don't have one, sign up here.
Finally, you will need to add a Static I-Frame to your Facebook page. This is pretty easy, just click this link, the big blue button in the middle and then select the page you want to add it to. Easy.
Once you have your I-frame ready for your Facebook page, log in to your Amazon Associates account and click the "astore" button in the middle of the picture below.
In the sidebar, click on Category Pages.
Then, Add Category Page (please note, there are more options in these pictures than you'll see because I've already set a store up).
Then, Add Products.
On the next screen, choose the field you want to search and then enter your book name or ASIN. Of course, you can create a store for any products you like, not just your own books. You can see the results below when I put in one of my books. Click Add to add any products you wish. They will then appear in the Added Products box.
If you want to order your books in a certain way or add specific text, click on the book in the Added Products box on the left above, and this box will appear -
Add your order or text and click save.
When you've added all the books you wish, click on Back to Category Pages, which is at the bottom of the search results page.
Then click on Continue at the bottom of the first screen.
Next to you come a page where you can decide your colours and design, as well as give your store a name. When you're done, click Continue at the bottom of the page.
The next page you come to allows you to add extra stuff such as side bars, wishlists, and the like. I kept mine simple, but it's up to you. When you're done, click Finish & Get Link at the bottom. You're almost there!
On the next page, select the second option, "Embed my store using an inline frame". Then highlight and copy the link. To make sure your store covers the full screen, edit "width" in the link to say "100".
Now,
return to Facebook. If you've already added your inline frame, it'll
look like the "Welcome" button below (this is from my pen name's page).
Click it and you'll see this -
This terrified me, and stumped me for about twenty minutes. Don't worry, simply change "http" to "https" (maybe this is obvious to the computer types out there, but I struggle with the complexity of a typewriter ...!) The red message will immediately disappear. Click Save & Publish (the blue box on the top right) and you're done.
Now all you have to do is edit the button itself. Put your cursor over the button and you'll see a little pencil appear in the top right corner. Click it and you'll see this box -
Click "Edit Settings" and this box will appear. Now you can rename your store or at an icon or picture.
You'll remember from my first picture that I had a nice little icon for my store. This was actually a stock icon I bought from a stock photo website called Pond 5. You can do the same or add a picture of your own. Anything will do.
And you're done! Good luck with your store - I hope many people visit it (and feel free to visit mine anytime!)
Chris Ward
June 8th 2013
