I’m amazed at how many authors still don’t have blogs. And when they do, how rarely they interact with their audience.

To the layperson, it’s a huge kick to be able to communicate with a well-known author, even one who has written a best-seller.

To the author, it is a never before available opportunity to engage in a dialog with the grassroots reader of his work, to get insight and ideas and feedback that can only help in structuring future work.

There are a few best-selling authors I am able to communicate with reliably. Among them are Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki and Tim Ferriss. But even in these cases, not through their blog.

And that’s strange - because a blog is such an easy and convenient way of asynchronous two-way communication, one that lets an author connect with his/her audience in a one-to-many style through blog posts, and then extend the conversation one-to-one via comments, or even off-blog.

In my free short report, “How To Write a Book the Smart Way”, I even outlined a plan where an author can use a blog to release a new book in installments.  All along the way, you could be growing an eager reader base who will not only buy the finished book but also become one of a increasing crowd of evangelists who help spread the word.

Mark Joyner recently authored a new ebook. It’s called “The Rise of the Author”. It is available for free download… here.

The ebook reveals some interesting concepts that make you think. And there are some parts where you feel it would be nice to ask the author for more clarification.

What’s nice is that you can - through his blog.

Over the last week, Mark has been personally responding to EVERY comment left by readers of ROTA (Rise of the Author) - and the comments are quite interesting too. Take a look here, and then decide if you want to read the ebook itself (I recommend you try it out).

So, if you’re already an author, why aren’t you using your blog in a similar fashion?

Or if you are, please share how it’s working for you.

And if you aren’t yet an author, but have a blog (or want to) - well, what are you waiting for. As Mark Joyner says in ROTA, the window of opportunity for authors is wide open right now.

But who knows for how long it will stay open?