There ... But Not There

If you want to sell your book, you have to promote it. But, it seems, the author's tour may be a thing of the past.

Ian McEwan is doing a tour of the US to promote his latest book On Chesil Beach. Only ... he's not going to be there himself.

Bob Thompson in the Washington Post reports that independent booksellers Powell's Books has come up with the idea of making a high-grade film (part of which is viewable with the article) of the author reading from and talking about his book, and of building events around that. McEwan's film will be shown at 54 other screenings around the country, mainly, but not exclusively in bookstores, with discussion being lead in some cases by other local novelists.

Wouldn't it be great if McEwan's film, and other author films when they are made, could be shown in bookshops here? We are so starved for author visits, and Malaysia is an awful long way to fly someone to read to us.

Another way for an author to appear without actually appearing is, of course, by video link. We enjoyed a run of those at the British Council a couple of years back when a tiny group of hardened bibliophiles were able to interact with Toby Litt, Beryl Bainbridge and David Lodge.

And nowadays an author can even sign books from half a world away by using the LongPen - (something I thought was a hilarious joke when Margaret Atwood came up with the idea!)

Which is how Norman Mailer (incapacitated by "age, asthma and athritis") will be appearing ... but not appearing ... at the Edinburgh Festival this year and signing books for his fans. And Atwood will be interviewing (again by video link) legendary Canadian short story writer Joyce Carol Oates who will also sign books.

In fact a whole list of famous authors have used the LongPen saving (as the promotional website for the device reminds us) over 30 million tons of carbon emissions!

Atwood's Great Autograph Machine

Booksignings can be bothersome for authors who really have better things to do than travel long distances just to meet fans and autograph books. (Write the next novel, for instance?) And now it seems, there is a way round the problem, thanks to Margaret Atwoods new invention: the LongPen. Now authors can talk to fans across the world via videoconferencing facilities, and scribble a personal message in real time, without leaving the comfort of their own homes.

Yes, I thought it was a joke too when I first read about the idea some months ago. But then Atwood set out to demonstrate her new toy by signing copies in a New York bookshop while she was physically at the London Book Fair.

But things didn't go according to plan, writes Oliver Burkeman in the Guardian:

In novels such as Oryx and Crake and the Handmaid's Tale, Ms Atwood has demonstrated that she has few equals when it comes to imagining the transformative powers of technology on humanity. But turning science fiction into fact was proving tricky yesterday, thanks to the even more powerful force of sod's law.

Find out what went wrong!