NYT: Shoppers looking to pick up Meg Wolitzer’s latest novel, “The Position,” on Amazon.com last week found the usual readers’ comments and excerpts from reviews. They also found something unexpected: posts on the subject of literature from Ms. Wolitzer herself.
The entries were part of a new program called Amazon Connect, begun late last month to enhance the connections between authors and their fans – and to sell more books – with author blogs and extended personal profile pages on the company’s online bookstore site. 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.
David Dodd, the author of “The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics,” used his Amazon blog to respond to comments from a reader who, in an online review of the book, raised questions about its completeness. The book includes 170 songs written by and for the Dead and 14 other songs of major importance to the band’s performances over the years, but not all of the more than 400 songs in the band’s repertory.
