Amazon Blogs

An interesting discussion of Amazon author blogs and author blogs in general.

I'm in agreement that Amazon author blogs are not really blogs because they lack 2-way communication. They're more like an online journal where Amazon authors can pass along selected tidbits about themselves; I think that to really qualify as a blog, a website needs to have the 2-way communication and linkability that facilitates discussion.

Interesting, though, is the idea of blogging while writing a book as a way of generating and improving ideas. I think this is far more applicable to non-fiction where a good author will constantly be on the lookout for injecting new thought into a project. However, I wonder how much authors of literary fiction would take to having a novel critiqued by unknown personages while it is being written. It seems that typically authors of literary fiction have been a lot more wary of that.

Comments

[dave munger]

I really have no idea why literary fiction authors should be any less willing to do this than nonfiction authors. Stubbornness? Or maybe there's something about "spoilers" in fiction that isn't so much there in non-fiction.

Still, plenty of fiction authors spend a lot of time doing research to make sure the books are believable. They could blog about that -- and I bet they'd benefit considerably from it.