By David Ian Miller
You loved the book. Now read the blog.
That’s the idea behind Amazon Connect, a new feature on Amazon.com that
lets authors communicate with their readers with regular postings on
whatever topic interests them.
The company hopes that reading these dispatches from their favorite
authors will increase reader loyalty and sell more books.
Amazon says its signed up more than 1,000 authors in the program,
including James Patterson, Meg Wolitzer and Anita Diamant, according to a
company statement. Amazon was not immediately available for comment.
Recent postings by authors include information about upcoming events,
reading recommendations, thoughts on the writing process and tips for
aspiring writers. Promotional posts are not allowed.
Like Amazon’s popular reader reviews, the posts on Amazon Connect go up
immediately without editorial supervision.
Site visitors must sign up to view the blogs. However, posts will appear
automatically to those who have already bought an author’s work in the past.
At this point, the communication is only one-way. Readers will not be
able to respond to what they read.
Amazon Connect is the latest in a series of attempts by Amazon to roll
out new content and features for customers in a bid to stimulate more sales.
Amazon recently partered with Santa Clara, Calif.-based SideStep Inc. to
revamp its price comparison engine for booking travel arrangements for
hotels and airline trips.
Last month, it announced a new webcast called “Amazon Fishbowl with Bill
Maher” — a weekly original series that will stream live every Thursday
night on the Amazon.com homepage beginning June 1.
The 30-minute program features live musical performances and interviews
with authors, directors and actors.
In other news, Amazon said Thursday that its net profit fell 43 percent
in the fourth quarter. Net income declined to $199 million, or 47 cents a
share, from $347 million, or 82 cents, a year earlier.
