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About 1,200 people took in the Book Fair's 23 July public forum,
led by (left to right) Hong Kong businessman David Tang, best-selling author Frederick Forsyth, author and actor Stephen Fry and acclaimed historian Andrew Roberts
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It seemed fitting that acclaimed English author and actor Stephen Fry should appear at the HKTDC Hong Kong Book Fair on the very day the city welcomed the official launch of Apple Inc’s iPad.
Mr Fry has been a very vocal fan of recent advances in digital technology. And while he was quick to point out to his Book Fair audience that, for some forms of literature, he would never exchange the “feeling of turning the page yourself,” the possibilities presented by e-readers and their ilk left him clearly excited. As hundreds of consumers lined up all over Hong Kong for the iPad to hit the shelves, Mr Fry ruminated on how publishing history was changing.
“It is a bit like the advent of the motor car,’’ he said. “People thought it would never replace the horse and it did, of course. But it didn’t make the horse extinct, did it? It just gave him a well-earned rest.’’
Book Fair Forum
Mr Fry, together with best-selling author Frederick Forsyth and acclaimed historian Andrew Roberts, was speaking at a 23 July Book Fair public forum, “How and What and Why do Writers Write?” moderated by Hong Kong businessman and author Sir David Tang.
We are only now beginning to realize how “going digital’’ will impact the publishing industry, Mr Fry told an overflow audience of about 1,200 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. “If you look how far these contraptions have come in such a short time, I really do think the developments ahead are limitless. Only a fool would try to predict where they are going to lead us.’’
Mr Fry’s passion for the new technology is shared by more and more people, readers and businesspeople alike. As this year’s Book Fair began, news was breaking in the United States that Amazon.com had, for the first time, sold more books for its own e-reader – the Kindle – than it had hardcover books over a three-month period.
Speaking to The New York Times, Mike Shatzkin, founder and Chief Executive of the Idea Logical Company, which advises book publishers on digital change, declared it was “a day that had to come.” He went on to predict that traditional books would only make up 25 per cent of the market by the end of the decade.
Derek Judge, Creative Director of the Auckland-based Kiwa International publishing company, meanwhile, was in Hong Kong presenting the QBook to the Book Fair. He also believes that the possibilities presented by digital publishing are all but limitless, both for the reader and for companies wanting to tap in to this rapidly developing market.
Digital Children
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Kiwa International Creative Director Derek Judge showcases the New Zealand company's QBook at the Hong Kong Book Fair |
The QBook takes traditional children’s books and presents them in a colourful “interactive touch-enabled digital format.” The result is a book in a multi-language, e-reader-ready format that allows children to read, listen, draw and even narrate the story themselves.
Mr Judge said he was constantly amazed at how quickly children were adapting to the technological advances. “The kids are so fast,’’ he says. “Show them once, and it immediately sinks in while their parents are sometimes still scratching their heads.’’
The main challenge ahead for the digital publishing industry, he said, was in finding out just how far it could go. Kiwa, for example, was originally focused on animation for television and film but recognised how the talent of its team could be channeled into developing e-book apps.
“The more you explore, the more you realise what can be done,’’ he said. “Pretty much any form of media can be adapted and introduced to these new formats.’’
But Mr Judge said the entire industry was still on a steep learning curve. “We are all learning as we go,’’ he said. His advice to anyone wanting to enter the market was simple. “Don’t be afraid,’’ he said. “Just get to work.’’
Digital publishing took centre stage at this year’s Book Fair. Speakers at the Asian Publishing Conference focused on how such developments were affecting the industry, and the “eBooks and Digital Publishing’’ pavilion was popular with fairgoers.
Encouraging Sales
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| A fairgoer gets comfortable with an e-book from Hanvon Technology at the Book Fair |
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Alfred Wong, who ran the Book Fair’s Hanvon Technology exhibit, said a constant stream of people approached his booth with queries about the e-book manufacturer’s products. Sales, too, were “really encouraging’’ for a company that shipped 1.5 million units of its e-book readers last year.
“A lot of people just want to know how e-books work,’’ said Mr Wong. “They want to know what languages the books come in, and they want to keep up with developments.’’
The market for such technology was only just developing in Hong Kong, he added. “At the moment, the content is relatively limited, but this is one way things will change,’’ said Mr Wong. “We are developing and expanding our e-reader functions into different languages, for example, and always looking for new content.”
“Everyone," he added, “is excited by the possibilities.’’
