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Amazon Connect
An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times is reporting that Amazon is now providing the ability for authors to reach out to their fans via blogs in a program called Amazon Connect. So far, Amazon has recruited a group of about a dozen authors, including novelists, writers of child care manuals and experts on subjects as diverse as real estate investing, science, fishing and the lyrics of the Grateful Dead. Now the authors finally have the ability to respond back to comments!
Can be found here with the little blurb Amazon Connect is a new program currently open to a select group of authors. This program allows authors to post messages directly to their readers on a wide variety of subjects. Currently, messages will appear on the detail page of an author's book as well as on her/his profile page. As part of the program, authors may create a profile page with personalized information.
do.what.promptcmds
What is "book"?
Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
I shall dube thee "news"
do.what.promptcmds
Fan: Dude
Author: Duuuude
Fan: Dude!
Now the authors finally have the ability to respond back to comments!
Are they going to sidestep or blatantly ignore valid questions like Peter Dawkins did at a recent talk/book signing that I attended?
Are these authors going to have control over what posts are kept and which are not?
Personally, I don't want to see another astroturfing arena show up on Amazon. There are already plenty of "professional" reviewers out there that skew the impression of the books/items they review. I don't need the author to have an avenue to hype his own research while getting to pick and choose which comments to ignore/delete and which to keep and respond to.
next up: Bezos patents weblogs
Of course, television is just a primative version of blogging, except it's very one-way, so you'd better unplug that, too!
Books! Books are an even more one-way version of some asshat publishing his opinion, and you can't unplug those. Well, I suppose you can go on burning them, if you like.
Dear Amazon, Please connect me with Rachael Ray ... Thank You
By the Light and your hope of salvation, please, end it.
Thank you.
While this whole idea has a lot of utility for a lot of folks, I also see a lot of squabbling and possible other "problems" that can amount from it. In the past there have been incidents of people reading books only to turn round and threaten the author or get the author into a public forum of some type and try to publicly discrace them. Sometimes, people are fickle. You have to account for that.
I think this might have more use and merit in a university or other school setting as a means for discussion and topical ideas, but as a way to merge a reader and writer, probably dangerous...
Just a thought anyway.
Cheers
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Issac Asimov had, and Piers Anthony still has, very detailed author's notes in their books, something that I have always loved. When reading them, I feel like I am joining up with a larger culture, there is no way I could possibly have attended the Hugo awards in the 1950s*, but from reading Asimov's writings about them, I sure felt like I was there.
Likewise with Piers Anthony, reading his books I also got to watch as his family grew up, be there when he moved from one house to another, and experience so many other things that drew me closer to the author.
Really these author's notes were the first sort of "blog", for all intents and purposes the authors are not some sort of famous celebrities (well outside of their circle of fans), and they live pretty typical lives. The only thing different is that they managed to convince their publisher to let stick a journal entry or two in an otherwise fictional book
Having read so much in Asimov's books about Spider Robinson being a young boy, I still have trouble reconciling the fact that he is in reality an old man!
*I think it was the 50s Hugos he wrote about, it has been awhile since I read his Hugo Awards series.
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
Satan is among us, so make sure you buy my book so you can find out how to stop him! Usually people aren't so brazen about these kind of cash grabs, but I guess he was inspired by all the hullabaloo lately.
Makes me wonder what other sorts of author opinions they'd be willing to host. If I write a book about UFO conspiracies, can I count on Amazon to post my latest theory?
- "I am a Consumer and I would like to comment on this product"
- "I am the author and I would like to comment on my product"
- "I am the manufacturer and I would like to comment on our product"
A few years ago, it seemed to disapear. I always assumed they got too many fake people pretending to be Stephen King, etc and took the policy away. This new "verifiable" author commenting system is probably better. (And, if it picks up, i'll bet it becomes simply for authors or author's agents to get them enrolled and the program will expand)
Amazon Author's Profile
I was initially a skeptic, but having used it, I'm 100% behind the idea. You can see what an author's posting looks like here:
Untangling Tolkien
It's marvelous for an author wanting to promote books (existing or planned), answer critics, or write more detail about a book than Amazon usually posts. You can make a posting like that above to any of the Amazon detail pages for which you're the book's author. And you can link to outside sites for more information, including your own website.
If you're an author with a book for sale on Amazon, I'd strongly recommend joining. Just keep in mind that it is for authors only (not publishers), and only allows postings to books you've written or the Amazon home page of those who've bought your books. Also, it's one way, meaning the blog doesn't allow readers to post (probably a good thing). And at present it's only for Amazon U.S. Also, there is a careful vetting process to keep out trolls.
I give the idea Five Stars and a Thumbs Up. Amazon is to be commended for this.
--Mike Perry, Inkling Books, Seattle