Kindle Writeon is a social community where authors post the books they are working on and solicit feedback from the general public. It launches last October and has been in closed beta. Amazon has just announced that readers will soon no longer need codes to enter the site and anyone can join for free.
Writeon was developed to compete against the Canadian fan-fiction sensation Wattpad. Writers post the cover art and books that they are working on. Some authors are asking for research assistance from people living in the same area as the characters in the book or historical information on a certain time and place. Most of the books posted are not completed and normally authors will post their work chapter by chapter. This gives readers time to weigh in on the overall plot and contribute their own ideas on how to make the book better. Obviously authors are exited about this, because it gives them an established fan base as the books are written and may turn into paid sales once the e-book is for sale via Kindle Direct Publishing.
Right now, Writeon is a bit of a ghost town. Amazon has hardly promoted the platform and its been locked behind closed doors for five months. The only way the average reader could enter the site is via a special registration code that was fairly hard to acquire.
The doors will be opening in the next few weeks and you can keep on checking if you can register on the site by visiting Write On by Kindle.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.