On Amazon and Advertising

I thought I'd post why I decided to run Amazon ads on my blog. Believe me, I can barely come up with readers, I'm not hoping to earn any money this way. In a strange way, I like adding widgets to my blog. When I was a rank beginner blogger (a mere 2-3 months ago), I thought the widgets appeared on all the "cool" blogs. Now that I am more jaded about the Blogosphere--what a great made-up word--I am still trying to jazz up the site. Too bad I cannot rely on writing itself to do this.
Using Amazon promotes a service, like Google, that I get a lot of mileage out of. It also helps me refer to books I've read or am reading as a prompt for more creative writing on my part. Plus I don't mind doing a good turn for an author who has amused or educated me. I don't fool myself that this makes Amazon a charitable enterprise.
Of course, I am debating if I should link to books I didn't like. After all someone might find something in my comments that inspires them to read them. I think this is called thinking too much. Thinking too much is what I do most, even more than spending too much time on the computer.
If I make any money through Amazon, which is unlikely to make a dent in my book-buying budget, I can sink it right back into more books or use it to follow another dream of mine. This dream is to create a library of quality books and other media on mental illness which I can then loan out to my patients and their families. I have made a small start but some of the borrowers forget to return the loaners. Since I have done this far too many times in my personal life, it is hard for me to be too critical.
So I'm still saying "no" to popup ads but I'm saying "yes" to Amazon. Don't be too surprised if Starbucks is next. Too bad blogs don't come with aromatherapy. I bet I'd get more readers if my blog smelled like coffee.


This is a link to a magazine you could borrow from my office.