I have always liked Amazon, one of the businesses that have done pretty well on the Internet. It was the first shop online that I used, back in 1997 -I have to admit I was quite scared- to buy some books that I couldn?t find in Spain. That?s why I?m happy that it has created a system of social networks around the authors of the novels it sells.I?ve learned from Enrique Dans about a registered article from the New York Times. The concept is simple: no one better than the author to praise a book and the readers to comment about it objectively. The problem is that the classical ?Critics? (Amazon was a pioneer in the introduction of critics) mix up both opinions, and sometimes it is impossible to separate the commercial part (author and editor) from the most valuable one (the readers).The fact that writers have committed themselves to take part in the debate (at the end of the day, the blog is theirs) is the best formula to encourage people to send their opinions. The same psychological reason (fame attraction) that makes hundreds of people buy a book to have it signed buy the author (typical strategy in book fairs) also explains why such an initiative can perfectly work out and help Amazon to reach its objective, which is to sell more.The secret of this and many other Web 2.0 initiatives is called visibility, and it doesn?t necessarily have to happen in Google. Thanks to this type of blogs, writers will play a bigger role in their fans? decisions when buying books. At the moment, this practice is in an experimental phase and only 12 authors participate in it. I?ll mention, by the way, that Alianzo is working in this kind of tools with two shops online. More details coming up.