What do you do if when reading a novel you would like to know a little more about the leading character’s motivations, or when reading a guide you would like a little more explanation of a certain point? Well Amazon is letting Kindle readers get in touch directly with authors via their Twitter accounts and author pages on Amazon to do exactly that via @author. It is another step from Amazon to step around publishers in getting books from author to reader, a step towards disentanglement of publishers from publishing.
Launching with a raft of authors including Timothy Ferriss, Ted Dekker, Deborah Reed, and Susan Orlean, Amazon is hoping that @author will create dynamic conversations around each book title and the service makes use of Amazon’s famed “Whispernet” that lets 3G Kindle users make use of a 3G connection without a monthly charge. It will be interesting to see if Amazon manages to get a similar deal with the phone networks with the soon to launch tablet that will likely have much greater data needs. You can also use @author over Wi-Fi of course too.
In the @author FAQ Amazon explains that users should treat the @author service “as if you were a guest at a friend’s dinner party” – so polite then, and not too offensive even if you get drunk.