With dollar signs in his eyes, film critic Roger Ebert decided to try his hand at Amazon’s Associates program, which lets people earn commissions off of sales they solicit by providing personalized links and other tools.

On his blog, Ebert recounts how it all went wrong. Among his disappointments:

*His fans weren’t amused. Ebert writes “My so-called Friends on Facebook starting asking. “Has Ebert’s account been hacked? Why is he shilling this sh*t?”

It’s too time-consuming. “I have a real job and a real life, writing for my site and helping to produce ‘Ebert Presents’ on public television,” Ebert writes. “I don’t have the time to plunder Amazon for links I think might sell.”

*Some of his product suggestions fell flat. “Sometimes I tweeted rather eccentric selections, like a corduroy dress I thought might make a woman huggable,” Ebert said. “The women on my Facebook page said they would slap anyone who tried to hug them in it. But I did sell one dress.”

Ebert says he was “fired” after Illinois passed a law that forced online sales from out of state to include state sales tax, sparking Amazon to cancel deals with Illinoisian Amazon Associates.

What have your experiences with Amazon Associates been like?

My career in retailing [Roger Ebert’s Journal]

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