Live and learn. In 2009, book business representatives took their show on the road to Austin and were met with a hail of digital brickbats. Four years on, the techies and the booksters have found common ground at the upcoming SXSW Interactive Festival.
“In 2009, the publishers came off as disengaged, and frankly unaware of the future that was bearing down on them, ,” Andrew Albanese, senior writer at Publishers Weekly, tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “Fast forward to 2013: Over the next week, a full slate of authors will be signing and selling books—SXSW even has its own bookstore on the upper level of the Austin Convention Center. SXSW has brought publishers to a slice of the population they needed to see—not only some of their best customers, but also some of the best minds in emerging technology.”
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Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.