At one of my most memorable book signings, I had just ended speaking to a group of 450 managers. Each had been provided a copy of one of my books, and it took me a good half-hour to inscribe autographs to those that patiently stood in line.
That happy scene came to mind I was just reflecting on some guidance I gave to an aspiring author.
Book
I recommend she start the journey into print and credit by publishing an e-book. Build a track record with one of those, and then pitch a bricks-mortar-and-paper publisher on transforming the piece into something tangible.
Separately, I mentioned she should tell publishers that she performs before "live" audiences, which would make avid book buyers in the foyers of various venues.
Then it hit me. You can't Autograph an e-book, can you? This is one of the medium's major drawbacks. As an author of hard-copy volumes, some of which have reached best-seller status, I can tell you much of the allure of purchasing a speaker's tome is that it is a memento.
You can pull it off a shelf, or even display it in a neat tabletop bracket, so your friends and colleagues can be impressed that you got up close and personal with man at least slowly prominent. There's the signature to prove it, and the personal dedication, to You! You can pass that volume down to your grandkids, and beyond, and it may gain importance and even extrinsic value with the passing decades.
An e-book will in all likelihood never be prized as a "first edition." Nor can it de facto come to be a "rare" book, either, as long as it can be preserved in electronic storehouse systems, which come to be ever cheaper.
We can't tout an e-book as being in "excellent condition," either. Indeed, most of the characteristics that lend books an aura or credit and uniqueness tend to vanish when they come to be digital, only. At one of my most memorable book signings, I had just ended speaking to a group of 450 managers. Each had been provided a copy of one of my books, and it took me a good half-hour to inscribe autographs to those that patiently stood in line.
E-books will be with us for a long time to come. Yet, will they ever serve as reminders of special events or meaningful encounters the way accepted books do? Authors aren't the only habitancy to inscribe dedications in books. We do the same thing for friends and loved ones when we give them as gifts. The fact that we cannot autograph e-books doesn't necessarily consign them to failure. It just makes accepted volumes that much more requisite and admirable, by comparison.
Best-Selling Author Asks, How Do You Autograph an E-Book?
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น