A book is more likely to sell when it’s recommended by someone influential. According to a Nielsen survey, 88% of customers most trust recommendations from people they know.
We’ve scoured the web to gather the 25 best book affiliate programs. So, you can promote your favorite reads while earning extra cash. Along the way, we’ll also note some points to consider before paying affiliates.
TL;DR
If you love reading, why not earn money by promoting your favorite books? Check out the top bookstore affiliate programs to get started.
- Amazon Associates (Commission: 4.5% per sale, Cookie: 24 hours)
- Bigger books (Commission: 5%, Cookie: 30 days)
- Eagle Saver (Commission: 5%, Cookie: 45 days)
- Vital Source (Commission: 3%, Cookie: 30 days)
- Bookshop (Commission: 10%, Cookie: Revealed once registered)
- Books-A-Million (Commission: 5%, Cookie: 30 days)
- TextbookX (Commission: 5%, Cookie: 30 days)
- Chirp Books (Commission: 5-20%, Cookie: 7 days)
- TAN Books (Commission: 8%, Cookie: 30 days)
- eCampus.com (Commission: 6%, Cookie: 45 days)
The final step in an affiliate program is compensating affiliates for driving successful orders. To ensure your payments are processed smoothly, review these 4 key points beforehand.
- Determine payment schedule & payment threshold
- Verify affiliate sales and commissions
- Choose a widely used payment method
- Handle invoices & taxes
Affiliate marketing is a risk-free way to increase your bookstore’s revenue because you only pay when affiliates make sales. UpPromote, the most favorite affiliate marketing solution, helps you run & manage your campaign. You can recruit book-loving partners, offer dynamic commissions, and track their performance.
Top 25 Best Affiliate Programs for Book Bloggers of 2025
In a hurry? Look at the top reading affiliate programs in the table below.
| The best affiliate programs | Program name |
| Affiliate program with the highest commission rates | Spring Nature (30%) |
| Affiliate program with the longest cookie duration | DiscountMags (60 days) |
| Affiliate program with the most payment methods | BiggerBooks, Vital Source, TextbookX |
| Affiliate program with the lowest payment threshold | Bookshop ($20) |
Amazon Associates
Amazon Associates is among the largest affiliate marketing programs for books in the world. They offer millions of products and programs and provide customers with a variety of genres, topics, and editions.
Amazon commission for physical books is 4.5%. The cookie duration only lasts 24 hours from the first click.
To receive a commission, you must earn at least $10 in cheque or $100 for Amazon Gift Certificate and bank transfer.
|
Bigger books
BiggerBooks is one of the fastest-growing textbook affiliate programs in the industry. With its exclusive technology, it offers a wide range of deals on books, with up to 91% savings.
This affiliate marketing program for books is powered by CJ Affiliate. The brand offers commission rates starting at 5% and a 30-day cookie duration from the first click. Moreover, the average order value is up to $60 with free shipping.
When you sign up for their affiliate program, you will receive exclusive coupons, access to banners, buttons, links, and their product catalog to promote your affiliate link.
|
Vital Source
Vital Source is one of the largest providers of digital course materials in the world. They carry over 90% of all textbooks in use today, including eTextbooks, eResources, and digital course materials.
Their affiliate program is managed by CJ Affiliate and offers multiple benefits for affiliates. They give out a commission rate of at least 3% and a 30-day cookie period for promoting through affiliate links.
As part of their affiliate program for books, you will receive a wide range of promotional tools and offers, such as coupons, banners, and links. They also provide a product catalog and campaign with size requirements for their partners.
|
Bookshop
Bookshop connects readers with independent booksellers worldwide. In the past four years, it has raised more than $32 million for independent bookstores.
The bookshop affiliate program offers a 10% commission rate for their partners. Bookshop pays a transaction fee on all cashouts for affiliates. They use one of the highest grades of payment processing security – Stripe, with a payment threshold of $20.
|
Books-A-Million
Books-A-Million has been in business for more than 100 years and is the second-leading bookstore in the US. With more than 200 stores in 32 states, they offer thousands of books, toys, games, collectibles, and more.
Commission Junction manages the Books-A-Million affiliate program. This program’s commission rate is 5%, and the cookie duration is 30 days.
Books-A-Million’s marketing team helps affiliates sell books by providing banners, links, and marketing tips. The payment threshold depends on each method. The minimum for direct deposit is $50, and for paper checks is $100.
|
TextbookX
TextbookX is among the top online e-commerce sites for cheap textbooks. They offer more than 100 million books in different categories for every consumer.
The book affiliate program offers a 5% commission rate with various benefits. The conversion rate can be up to 7% and 10% during peak seasons. The average order value is over $100, which means you can earn at least $5 per sale.
To help their affiliate partners, Textbook X provides monthly newsletters with tips, special offers, unique banners, and text links.
|
Chirp Books
Chirp is a well-known audiobook retailer with millions of listeners. They run hundreds of limited-time books of various types, including romance, fiction, and more.
The Chirp affiliate program is run through CJ Affiliate. Commissions are up to 20% and 5% for returning customers. The cookie duration is only 7 days; however, Chirp offers various promotional materials to their partners.
Chirp’s affiliate partners will receive affiliate newsletters and coupons annually. The brand also gives out product feeds daily with banners and text links.
|
TAN Books
TAN Books is one of the most trusted publishers in the Catholic world. Their goal is to help people become saints through reading books.
Powered by CJ Affiliate, the Tan Books affiliate program offers a 10% commission rate and a 45-day cookie duration. Tan Books has a high average order value of $50.65 and provides a 6.4% conversion rate since 2020.
TAN Books provides their partners with a regularly updated catalog and a fully dedicated support team to help increase sales.
|
eCampus.com
eCampus is considered as a friend of college students in buying and renting textbooks and eTextbooks. They serve as the official bookstore for over 150 schools nationwide and continue to grow.
The commission rate of their affiliate program is different for each type of book:
- 5% for New Books & eTextbooks
- 6% for Used Books
- 8% for Rentals
Moreover, for buybacks, you can receive $3 per sale. eCampus’s cookie duration is 30 days. They also provide in-house management, coupon codes, banners, links, and a product catalog for their partners.
|
Waterstones
Waterstones is a leading book specialist in the UK with competitive prices. They provide shipping for any Waterstones shop order over £25 in the UK.
The commission rate is 1% for existing customers and up to 4% for new customers. The cookie duration is 14 days, and commission processing takes 28 days.
When signing up for the Waterstones book affiliate program, you can have attractive bespoke graphics and updated feeds. Waterstones also offers regular bonuses and seasonal promotions to their partners.
|
Eagle Saver
- Commission rate: 10%
- Cookie duration: Not mentioned
Eagle Saver is an online buyback merchant with the highest trust pilot rating in the industry. It offers payback for books, textbooks, Blu-rays, DVDs, audio CDs, and video games.
Second Sale
- Commission rate: 6%
- Cookie duration: Not mentioned
Second Sale is a big provider, selling more than 10 million book titles every year. The prices here are cheaper, starting at $3.78.
eBooks.com
- Commission rate: Up to 15%
- Cookie duration: 45 days
eBooks.com is a leading global bookstore with thousands of book categories. This site offers marketing and eBook fulfillment services to book publishers worldwide.
Calendar Club
- Commission rate: 10%
- Cookie duration: 30 days
Calendar Club is the UK’s biggest provider of high-quality calendars. They offer more than 6,500 products, including calendars, diaries, gifts, and more.
Bookroo
- Commission rate: 10%
- Cookie duration: 30 days
Bookroo provides monthly book subscription box services for kids ages 0 to 10. This website is targeted at moms and babies to help them develop a love for books.
AbeBooks
- Commission rate: 5%
- Cookie duration: 30 days
AbeBooks offers a wide range of products, such as books, fine art, and collectibles. Here, you can find new, used, and rare books at affordable prices.
Kobo
- Commission rate: 5-10%
- Cookie duration: 14 days
Kobo offers one of the highest-paying affiliate programs in the book industry. Their program varies, including social influencers, authors, publishers, and bloggers, as well as cashback, shopping, and coupon websites.
Biblio
- Commission rate: 5%
- Cookie duration: Not mentioned
Biblio is the largest independent marketplace for quality used, rare, and out-of-print books. Biblio has provided more than 100 million books in various categories.
Indigo Books and Music
- Commission rate: 2-5%
- Cookie duration: 7 days
Indigo Books and Music is a site where adult women and children under 10 can find books. They also offer online books, toys, gifts, and more.
Willmaker – Nolo
- Commission rate: 25-35%
- Cookie duration: 90 days
Nolo is a provider of law books all over the world. You can find any law-related books and documentaries here.
Discounted Newspapers
- Commission rate: 20%
- Cookie duration: 15 days
Discounted Newspapers offers the best deals on newspapers at a lower price. They carry any title of newspaper, including nationwide and local newspapers.
Ignatius Press
- Commission rate: 10%
- Cookie duration: 45 days
Ignatius Press affiliate program provides chances to promote Catholic books, music, movies, and more. They specialized in publishing Catholic products at a fair price.
Magazine.co.uk
- Commission rate: £4
- Cookie duration: 30 days
Magazine.co.uk is a leading independent magazine subscription website in the UK with over 3 million visitors. They offer customers exclusive offers for hundreds of different magazines and newspapers.
DiscountMags
- Commission rate: 18%
- Cookie duration: 60 days
DiscountMags offers popular magazines at the lowest price. They provide more than 6,000 magazines, free shipping, and tax-free shopping for their customers.
Spring Nature
- Commission rate: 30%
- Cookie duration: 30 days
Spring Nature is a major e-commerce book platform with more than 2,900 journals and 300,000 books for authors and readers. They lead the market in providing documents to academia, scientific institutions, and corporate R&D departments.
How to Build A Book Affiliate Program for Shopify Stores
Running an online bookstore on Shopify? You’ve probably noticed something: having great books isn’t enough anymore.
The real challenge is getting noticed. How do you reach readers who’ll actually love what you’re selling?
Here’s the thing: You need the right people talking about you.
Think about how readers discover books today. They trust book reviewers on YouTube. They follow bookstagrammers.
They read blogs about their favorite genres. These content creators are like trusted friends who say, “Hey, you’ve got to read this.”
So how can you get these people to promote your bookstore? That’s where affiliate marketing comes in.
You give them a special link to your store. When someone buys a book via that link, the partners earn a commission.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to build your book affiliate program from the ground up.
Choosing the right affiliate management app
Imagine trying to run your affiliate program by hand. A new blogger signs up. You go into Shopify to create a special discount code for them.
You add their name to a spreadsheet. They finally make a sale, and you have to remember to update that sheet.
Now, what happens when 10, 20, or 50 people sign up? That spreadsheet becomes chaos.
It’s easy to make mistakes, miss a sale, or pay someone late. And worse, you lose the trust of your best partners.
This is the exact problem a dedicated affiliate management app can handle. It can automate all the complex tracking and calculating tasks.
That means you’re free from spreadsheets to focus on what really matters: building strong relationships with your partners.
For Shopify stores, UpPromote is a top-recommended solution.
We provide a professional analytics dashboard where both you and your affiliates can clearly see clicks, sales, and commissions in real-time.
Plus, UpPromote helps streamline your payment process with auto-payouts via PayPal or with store credits
Moreover, you can easily motivate affiliates with commission tiers, bonuses, or exclusive coupon codes.
And the best part is that UpPromote offers a 14-day free trial across all plans. It’s risk-free to test out which one suits your program best before committing.
Designing a compelling commission structure
Commission is the first thing affiliates notice. It’s often the biggest reason an affiliate will choose to promote your bookstore over another.
So, having a strong and clear commission rate can help you partner with high-quality partners.
You might be unsure about the right rate. That’s why we’ve analyzed over 105 Shopify book stores to help you.
If your Shopify store delivers book subscription services, we suggest setting a flat-fee commission rate.
For example, Magazine.co.uk sets up a £4 commission on each subscription, and it works well.
A flat fee means you pay a fixed dollar amount for each new subscriber an affiliate sends your way.
Affiliates love the flat fee because it’s incredibly simple. There’s no complex math, just a clear and predictable reward for their effort.
However, for most bookstores selling individual books, a percentage of the sale makes more sense.
But you don’t have to stop at a single and one-size-fits-all rate. You can set up different rates from 5% to 10% based on the types of books.
Take a cue from eCampus.com. They don’t just offer one rate for everything.
Instead, affiliates earn 5% on new textbooks, but that commission jumps to 6% for used books and a generous 8% for textbook rentals.
This is a clever way to encourage their partners to promote different book types and earn more commission.
Moreover, you can also raise the commission rate following peak book seasons.
As long as the commission rate doesn’t hurt your profits, everything is fine.
For example, TextbookX offers a 5% commission on each book sale.
But, they set up to 10% commission per sale during peak seasons to boost affiliates’ efforts.
Setting the right cookie duration
A cookie duration decides if your affiliates get a commission or not.
Imagine a reader clicks a blogger’s link to your store. They look at a book but don’t buy it yet. If they return 2 weeks later and purchase within the cookie timeframe, your affiliates get a credit.
Since cookie duration is truly that important, setting the right one can be challenging.
You should determine it based on product types, affiliates’ performance, and the customers’ sales cycle.
Big book distributor: 24 hours – 7 days
A short cookie window of 24 hours to 7 days works best when customers are expected to buy the book immediately.
For example, a giant like Amazon only sets a 24-hour cookie duration on all types of books.
It also works for brands built on impulse buys, like Chirp Books. They offer a short 7-day cookie duration on their audiobook deals.
Standard book stores: 30 days
A 30-day cookie can be an ideal timeframe for different book types.
Major bookstores like BiggerBooks and Books-A-Million also set this cookie duration for their books.
Plus, it matches the majority of customers’ buying cycle.
A reader might discover a book on a Monday, get paid on Friday, and finally buy it over the weekend.
Academic book stores: 45-90 days
If your Shopify store is all about selling specialty or academic books, your customers likely need more time to decide.
They might need to check a syllabus, compare different editions, or save up for a rare or expensive book.
In these cases, a longer cookie duration of 45 to 90 days is ideal.
For example, specialty stores like TAN Books and Ignatius Press use a cookie window of 45 days for their Catholic ebooks.
Recruiting and onboarding your book affiliates
The right affiliates can effectively bring significant sales to your bookstore.
But the best partners are not always the ones with the most followers. They are the ones whose audience listens to and trusts.
Let’s find out who they are and how to reach them.
Identifying your ideal affiliates
Your ideal book affiliates are people who love reading books and actually have some influence within the community.
Firstly, it’s a great idea to partner with Instagram and TikTok content creators.
These people are often called “Bookstagrammers” and “BookTok” influencers. They review books in a more lively and fun way.
For example, they post a photo of reading your new fantasy novel in a peaceful place, their followers don’t just think, “That sounds interesting.” They think, “I want that feeling.”
If you need more in-depth book review content, working with book bloggers is your great option.
They don’t just show the book, they explain why it’s worth reading.
Their audience sees them as curators who separate the good books from the great ones.
For example, famous book blogger Jovana R. posts her detailed review of the book “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley.
She naturally adds the affiliate link in the blog post to generate possible purchases within her review.
Finally, for the most powerful form of trust, you can work with librarians, authors, and heads of book clubs.
No matter how many followers they have, they have a great connection and build trust among book lovers.
For example, an author sharing a link to buy their own book directly from your store is the ultimate endorsement.
Or, a local book club leader recommends your bookstore’s new publication to their online community.
Reaching out to your wanted affiliates
After identifying who your right partners are, how do you reach out to them successfully?
Don’t worry, since we’ve got your back. Let’s see some effective ways here.
1. Reaching out manually
Reaching out manually means that you’re going out and finding established voices in the book community.
This method takes more effort and time, but it can help you build relationships with high-quality partners.
Your future partners are already talking about books online, so you just need to know where to find them.
Think like a reader. You might start on Google with a simple search for “best book review blogs”.
Or, you can get more specific with “fantasy book bloggers” replacing the genre to match your store.
This will quickly show you the blogs and even YouTube channels that have already built a trusted audience.
If you’re going to research on Instagram or TikTok, the community is built around hashtags.
You can find a huge number of book lovers by exploring tags like #bookstagram and #booktok. To narrow it down, just add your genre, like #romancebooks.
But before you reach out, spend a minute looking at their content.
Does it match your brand’s style? Are their followers engaged? A good partner is someone whose audience truly trusts them.
Once you find someone who feels like a perfect fit, it’s time to reach out.
A generic, copy-paste message will likely be ignored. Your email needs to be personal and show that you’ve actually looked at their work.
Here is a simple template you can adapt:
Subject: A Partnership with [Your Shopify Bookstore Name]?
Hi [Affiliate’s Name],
My name is [Your Name], and I’m the owner of [Your Bookstore Name].
I’m reaching out because I’m a big fan of your work. I especially loved your recent review of [mention a specific book they reviewed]. The way you talked about [mention a specific detail] was fantastic.
Because you have such a great connection with your readers, I thought you might be a perfect fit for our new affiliate program. It’s very simple: we offer a 10% commission on every sale you refer to our store.
If you’re interested, you can learn more and sign up here: [Link to your affiliate signup page]
Thanks for your time, and keep up the amazing work!
Best,
[Your Name]
2. Turn customers into affiliates
Besides online influencers, think about your loyal customers.
They have already bought your books and love the packaging, so they’ll likely want to share with others.
When they recommend your Shopify bookstore, their friends listen because the recommendation is authentic.
With UpPromote Customer Referral, your customers don’t need to join the affiliate program.
All they have to do is submit their email address to get a unique referral link to promote your brand.
Then, you can set up rewards for these customers, including the Flat rate per order and the Percentage of sales.
Their friends can get a discount by a percentage or a fixed amount if they purchase via that customer’s link.
For example, you could offer a 10% discount to the friend, and as a thank you, reward the referring customer with 10% on that friend’s order.
You can choose to show that appealing offer via a widget on your website to attract customers, like this:
3. Onboarding your affiliates
It’s great to welcome new affiliates to your book affiliate program.
But your work isn’t done yet. Onboarding them seamlessly is even more important.
You need to give them all the basic knowledge and needs from the beginning.
And, don’t worry about manually sending a welcome email to every new affiliate. UpPromote automatically sends emails right after you approve new affiliates.
Our app also provides pre-written templates, so you only need to change the affiliate link and add some basic information, like:
- A link to their dashboard: It’s the professional dashboard UpPromote provides, where they will find their unique affiliate link.
- A simple guide: Give them a short guide or a one-minute video to help them at first.
- A link to your promotional materials: Link them directly to your Media Gallery in UpPromote, where they can find high-quality book covers, banners, and pre-written text.
Equipping and motivating your affiliates for better sales results
Affiliates can bring more sales if they have high-quality promotions and get fairly rewards.
You should provide support and motivate them with incentives to boost your Shopify book store’s sales.
Provide affiliates with promotional materials
Your affiliates are busy people. They have blogs to write and social media to manage.
The easier you make it for them to promote your bookstore, the more they will do it.
You need to provide a professional affiliate media kit. Don’t make your partners hunt for a good book cover on Google or guess what to write about a new release.
A blurry phone picture won’t get any clicks. Your partners need crisp photos for their blog posts and author photos for interview features.
Or, you can even give lifestyle shots of people enjoying your books for their Instagram feeds.
For those with websites, you can also provide a set of ready-to-use banners for a big summer reading sale or a holiday gift guide.
Beyond the visuals, you need to help them with high-quality text.
Many affiliates are passionate readers, not expert copywriters.
You should give them clear plot summaries, short author bios, and key selling points for your popular books.
This not only saves them time but also ensures your books are always described accurately and compellingly.
With different types of assets, you don’t want it to be messy for affiliates to find stuff.
You can use UpPromote Media Gallery to create a centralized library for photos, pre-written content, and book review videos.
It’s a clean and organized place where your partners can access anytime to find assets.
Motivate your affiliates with attractive incentives
Pre-made affiliate marketing materials are great, but affiliates need more to feel motivated.
You need to show your dedicated support and reward them fairly for what they achieve.
Consistent communication to show dedication
Affiliates need consistent support to stay connected and engaged in the long-term.
You can keep them up-to-date with the latest product launches, promotions, or peak seasons via monthly newsletters.
You can share news about your most anticipated new releases. Let them know which books are currently top-sellers. Announce any upcoming site-wide sales.
These can help them create timely and relevant content for their audience.
The best part is that you can use UpPromote bulk emails to automatically send these newsletters to all affiliates with just one click.
Short-term excitement with bonuses
Consistent communication keeps you on their radar. But sometimes, you need to create a real buzz with limited-time bonuses.
Let’s say the holiday season is approaching. You could use the UpPromote bonus feature to reward affiliates who reach 50 sales within 1 month.
Our app lets you adjust the bonus rate and the target amount. Additionally, you can set up the bonus period to be one-time, monthly, or quarterly.
Following your rule, our system will automatically send the bonuses right after affiliates reach the target.
Conclusion
Your Shopify book store can reach a larger community, you just need the right strategy.
Affiliate marketing is a powerful way to do it without costing you too much. There will be a lot of work to do, but you have UpPromote.
We’ll simplify and automate all the complex tasks to help you succeed more easily. Let’s check out our pricing plans and start today.
FAQs
1) What is a book affiliate program and how does it work?
A merchant (bookstore/publisher/audiobook platform) gives you a unique link or code. When your audience buys through it, you earn a commission. Most programs track via cookies or coupon codes and pay monthly or on a threshold basis.
2) Who should join a book affiliate program?
Book bloggers, BookTok/BookTube creators, librarians with blogs, educators, niche reviewers (romance, fantasy, self-help), newsletter writers, and reading-challenge communities—all convert well when they give genuine recommendations.
3) What commission rates are typical for books?
Physical books usually pay lower percentages than digital products; audiobooks, ebooks, and subscriptions tend to pay more. Expect small single-digit to low double-digit percentages depending on category and program rules.
4) How long is the cookie window?
Commonly 1–30 days. Some subscriptions/audiobook trials have custom attribution (e.g., first-month or trial bounty). Always read your program’s terms.
5) Can I use book cover images in my content?
Usually yes if provided on the product page or press kit, but follow the merchant’s brand/usage guidelines. Always add alt text for accessibility and SEO.
6) Can I promote via TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts?
Yes—short-form platforms perform well for book recs. Put your affiliate link in bio, link-in-bio hubs, video descriptions, or use unique coupon codes if links are clunky.
7) What features matter most for book merchants?
SKU-level commissions (different rates for print/ebook/audio), coupon attribution, first-party cookies, influencer landing pages, multi-currency, VAT/GST handling, and automated payouts.
8) Can I set different commissions for ebooks, audiobooks, and print?
Yes—choose software that supports product/collection-level rules and time-bound tiers (e.g., higher commission for launch weeks or pre-orders).
9) How do I track conversions from BookTok/Instagram/YouTube?
Use unique links/codes per creator, require UTMs, and enable first-party cookies. Some apps fingerprint sessions compliantly to improve match rates.
10) Can the app integrate with audiobook subscriptions or memberships?
Choose a tool that supports subscription checkouts and recurring commissions when allowed. If not, pay a fixed bounty on trial activations.
Ellie Tran, a seasoned SEO content writer with three years of experience in the eCommerce world. Being a part of the UpPromote team, Ellie wants to assist Shopify merchants in achieving success through useful content & actionable insights. Ellie's commitment to learning never stops; she's always eager to gain more knowledge about SEO and content marketing to create valuable content for users. When she's not working on content, Ellie enjoys baking and exploring new places.
