Extending the reach of an author's pen

In science fiction, technology sometimes develops a mind of its own. So it seemed to do on Sunday when Margaret Atwood, author of novels set in futuristic dystopias like "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Oryx and Crake," introduced her latest brainchild, a gadget designed to let writers autograph books from afar. The LongPen, developed by a Canadian company Atwood set up, aims to ease the burden of book tours in an era when Amazon.com makes new titles available simultaneously in much of the world. "Once upon a time you could wander around one country, then the next and then maybe you'd go to England or wherever," Atwood said in an interview. "Now they all want you to do it at the same time and you can't. It's just not physically possible." The LongPen uses a device called a bit pad to record the impression of a signature, then transmits it via the Internet. At the other end, a robotic arm attached to an Erector Set- like device clutches a pen, which reproduces the signature and any other notations that the writer makes. An audio and video link lets the author communicate with the reader. At least, that is how the LongPen is supposed to work. While the device managed to function within the confines of a conference center hosting the London Book Fair, a planned trans-Atlantic demonstration failed. Atwood had intended to use the LongPen to sign copies of her latest book, "The Tent," for fans on the other side of the Atlantic, at bookstores in New York and in Guelph, Canada. Atwood acknowledged that the device might have to be fine-tuned before autumn, when a commercial rollout is planned. But she insisted that the venture was serious and not, as some bloggers suggested when word of the invention leaked out, a joke. The idea came to her two years ago on a particularly exhausting book tour. After stopping in three cities in 24 hours, signing countless paperback copies of "Oryx and Crake" and eating Pringles from the hotel minibar for dinner, the Canadian author decided there had to be a better way. She rejected existing ways of replicating signatures, including the Autopen. Unlike the Autopen, the LongPen provides a unique signature every time, not simply a copy. Matthew Gibson, project director, said that could give the device broader uses in the business world like when a long- distance signature is needed for contract approval. For now, Atwood, 66, said she would be happy if a few publishers adopted the LongPen. Her company, Unotchit, short for "you no touch it," aims to lease the device to users, rather then selling it.

First, however, Atwood may have to convince skeptics that the LongPen can replicate the ambiance of a conventional book-signing session. Will readers show up if they know the author is in a different time zone? And what would the great writers of the past have thought about the LongPen? "Proust never had to flog his books while sitting in the lingerie section of a Hudson's Bay department store," Atwood said.

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