Actually, I'm attending this book fair together with an expert in digital economics... As we are walking around and quickly exploring the various (countless) booths, we end up finding out something about e-books, eReaders, digital publishing... at the far end of the exhibition area...
The blunt truth is: there is absolutely no business model whatsoever for digital publishing of books here... The reason for this is because publishing houses (publishers 1.0) do not want to make money with e-publishing. They want to make money with paper books. Not with e-Books. I'm not sure I'd queue up for one hour (or more) just to have a copy of my favorite manga autographed...
"No photos of the author! No photos of the author!"
?!?... Er sorry I'm not gonna kill him... Just take some pic's for my blog... Er no my blog is NOT about porn or violence or child abuse or racial hatred... And uh... no I'm not gonna buy a copy of the Manga "Les vacances de Jésus et Bouddha" ("Saint Young Men") 'cause I travel a lot and hence need to download e-books on my eReader as much and as often as possible... I cannot afford buying loads of heavy books I 'll have to carry around with me...
I'm in touch with various authors (as a scenarist...) I've got their e-mail address and when writing to them I make sure I've got some interesting stuff for them (or at least I try to...)
So I'd rather receive an e-autograph (and a message!!!) from my favorite author... by mail or on my Facebook wall... than wait here for ages (they seem to think I need to cool my heels...), as there is so much stuff to see... and time passes so quickly... And please, Mr. Author-of-my-favorite-manga, don't mention any name ("For...") on my copy when signing it: I want to be able to sell a signed copy on Amazon for a better price... 'cause it's a signed copy ...
Of course a live chat with one's favorite author must be fascinating... But quite frankly, what can you tell to someone who has armies of "fans" waiting for him to sign their copy of his book as quick as possible, with plenty of noise all around? Nothing unforgettable, I guess... Some quick chit-chat perhaps... Probably nothing confidential or personal... Is this what books are about: superficial chit-chat? Authors should be able to set-up visio or video conferences with their fans whenever they feel they'd like to... without having to request their publisher's authorization (is that asking or begging? wait a minute: who brings the money here??). They shouldn't be prayed upon by some alleged "body guards"... They should be able to stage and do their own marketing... 'cause, pardon my French: I think that kind of marketing (see pic) sucks...
"No photos of the author! No photos of the author!"
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