Have you ever noticed that when you log on to Amazon.com,
one of the first things that comes up is "AmazonConnect"
and your "plog"?

The "plog" is a personalized web log that appears
on your customer home page. When you buy a book via Amazon,
and the author is part of the AmazonConnect program, you will
receive messages by that author.

Amazon is correcting one of the biggest problems in the
book publishing industry, namely, until now there has been
no way for authors to know who bought their books and how
to build a relationship with that reader. (Building a
relationship is crucial in marketing, of course. When a
reader feels he/she knows you as the author, that reader
is more likely to read your other books, buy your products
or services, and pass on your book to other people.)

Now, through AmazonConnect, authors can communicate with
their buyers. It's not ideal, since you do not yourself
have their contact information, but it's much better than
nothing. One nice feature of the program is that your
readers can post whether they liked your post are not. The
interaction can provide valuable feedback to you, and if
you're active with it, it's another way to reach your
readers and generate "word of mouth" advertising-the best
kind of advertising on the planet.

Another nice thing is this requires no extra cost on your
part. If you are an author with at least one book for
sale on Amazon.com, you are eligible to participate
in AmazonConnect.

To learn more about the program and to sign up, visit
www.amazon.com/connect.