Earlier this week we posted a link to a Robert McCrum column decrying the publicity demands that big-time authors must endure. Now, Canadian online commentator Alex Good has weighed in with some perspective, addressing both McCrum’s oh-the-indignity complaints and, yes, Margaret Atwood’s electronic signing machine, the Unotchit, designed to spare authors the junk-food regimen of the publicity tour. As Good notes, “There are less well-known authors who would gladly trade places and eat the Pringles.” And to McCrum he says: “Movie stars have to do it. Sports players have to do it. Why not writers? If you’re going to profit from the publicity (and let’s not forget these people are promoting themselves, not just ‘the industry’) there are some things that can fairly be expected of you.”

Related links:
Click here to read Alex Good’s comment piece
Click here to read Robert McCrum’s piece on author tours
Click here to read the original Q&Q piece on Margaret Atwood’s Unotchit