eBooks Land In Paris

An article by Warren Adler

May 12 2001

Copyright 2001 Paris New Media, L.L.C.
This article first appeared on Bonjour Paris.
Reprinted with permission.

The first European e-Book Conference was held this week in connection with the Paris Book Fair. It took place at the far end of the vast hall containing the exhibits of the Paris Book Fair at the Parc de Exposition. The "e-book" to those still huddling in the boondocks of this technology is the digital transmission of books as electronic content to be downloaded by the reader and read either on a traditional PC screen or on the many devices now starting to flood the market, all in the wake of the trail blazed by the Palm Pilot.

As one of the speakers and, surprisingly, the only author, I brought the message that this new technology is the great liberating force for the author who seeks to control the destiny of his career, expand the awareness of his work, enhance the marketplace for his writings, and create a community for his readers.

All this must seemed esoteric to the uninitiated. Thus, I must personalize it for greater understanding.

I am a novelist. Major publishers have published my 23 novels. They have been translated into all of the languages of Europe and parts of Asia and pop up in most countries of the world in mostly legal and some pirated versions.

Two of my works, The War of the Roses and Random Hearts, have been made into major movies. The War of the Roses, starring Michael Douglas (yes, the one about the nasty divorce and the chandelier), has been shown at least every week on television somewhere in the world. Random Hearts with Harrison Ford was released last year and is now making the rounds from country to country. In addition a famous mini series adapted from my short stories, The Sunset Gang, has also toured the world.

Nevertheless as time progressed, the paper versions of many authors' works, including mine, naturally wane in popularity. Once the publishers determined that books have exhausted their earning potential, they have, in the past, generously allowed the author to reclaim his or rights.

Unable to see beyond paper books, publishers did not include electronic rights in their contracts, mostly because they had no concept of the technological earthquake nor did they have the vision to capture these rights when they did appear on the scene. The result of this lack of foresight meant that many thousands of authors like myself own their e-rights and have had their print rights reverted to themselves.

To exploit these rights, I have digitalized my complete library of 23 books and am digitalizing them in all the languages in which my books have been translated. They now appear in all formats and, as the techies, put it, on all platforms, including Publishing on Demand, a technology that allows paper books to be printed almost instantly as either a trade paperback or as a regular hard bound book complete with book flap.

Cutting through the jargon this means that all of my books in all languages are once again available everywhere either as e-books or paper books and accessible to all readers through bookstores on and off-line. My latest book, Mourning Glory, will be published by a traditional publisher, Kensington Books in New York. The resultant massive promotional campaign for that book will cross- pollinate my backlist.

On my own website, WarrenAdler.com, I will be linked to a website where readers gather to buy or discuss books and I will create a community of readers who will join each other and this author in a perpetual dialogue. I hope you're all still with me, but this is the message I brought to the e-book conference in Paris. Many of those present understood my authorial concept. Europe, so far, is behind the States, in moving ahead in this area, but they will catch up quickly as more and more devices come on the market.

The French reaction to this futuristic lesson was polite, restrained and somewhat skeptical. The love of paper books is so ingrained in the French culture that I suspect the French will be resistant until technology forces them over the cliff of change. Nevertheless, their creative instincts will prevail and many of those present were already shedding their "wait and see" attitudes as the conference progressed.

I came away from the conference in this hallowed city of the American lost generation refreshed by the seriousness with which the French regard their literary culture. Nowhere in the world are writers more revered and memorialized on street signs, subways stations, restaurants and museums than in France. It left me with a surge of optimism that the French would take to e-books for their content with the same zeal and hunger that they consume the content of paper books.

More by Warren Adler