Liz Thompson reports today in Publishing News:
Dean Koontz is to undertake his first-ever UK book signing--from 6,000 miles away, in his home in Los Angeles. The event, at Waterstone’s Piccadilly on 23 June, marks the public debut of Margaret Atwood’s LongPen, first unveiled at last year’s LBF and demonstrated most successfully at this year’s event, where Koontz and fellow-author Andrew Gross made ‘distance’ signings. This week, Atwood and Koontz, plus Tracy Chevalier will be among the many authors signing in to BEA, the latter from her home in London.Koontz, who dislikes flying and has never visited Britain, told PN: “I’m delighted that for the publication of The Good Guy I will be in London not just in spirit but in real-time video and audio, with the assistance of a robot hand that will precisely replicate my book inscriptions. This has such a futuristic edge that it feels like a Dr. Who moment!” Jane Johnson, his publisher at HarperCollins, declared that, with this signing, Koontz will “make history in a different way”, and his use of the LongPen would be “both exciting and deeply appropriate”.But as Publishing News makes clear enough, using this clever device requires some thought:
Stuart Broom, Waterstone’s Literary Events Coordinator, now faces the challenge of advertising the Koontz event in a way that draws in the fans while making it clear that the author’s presence will be virtual. “That is a challenge … In one sense, customers will be meeting Dean Koontz, and in another sense not. It’s cyber contact. The challenge is to make it exciting but not confusing, so that customers get a sense of what to expect.” As well as generating publicity for Koontz, Broome will also be seeking, with FMcM Associates, to generate publicity for the gizmo itself. Atwood, the brains and the driving force behind the invention, is “clearly quite evangelical about this,” Broom continued. “The way she’s sold it to her fellow authors is amazing, and it makes a lot of sense coming from her--her writing explores futuristic worlds, and with everyone concerned about flying, it’s very timely.” Its debut also coincides with the Canadian government’s cutbacks to its Public Diplomacy programme, which promotes authors (and other artists) internationally. Indeed, at BEA authors from the Writers Union of Canada, meeting in Vancouver, will sign a letter of protest via the LongPen into BEA. Atwood herself is “thrilled” at the way the LongPen is being received. “Dean Koontz does not tour or fly, but now he can meet his UK readers and sign for them in this carbon-neutral way.”You’ll find the full Publishers News report here.
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