DEAN KOONTZ IS to undertake his first-ever UK book signing - from 6,000 miles away, in his home in Los Angeles. The event, at Waterstone's Piccadilly on 23 June, marks the public debut of Margaret Atwood's LongPen, first unveiled at last year's LBF and demonstrated most successfully at this year's event, where Koontz and fellow-author Andrew Gross made 'distance' signings. This week, Atwood and Koontz, plus Tracy Chevalier will be among the many authors signing in to BEA, the latter from her home in London.

Koontz, who dislikes flying and has never visited Britain, told PN: “I'm delighted that for the publication of The Good Guy I will be in London not just in spirit but in real-time video and audio, with the assistance of a robot hand that will precisely replicate my book inscriptions. This has such a futuristic edge that it feels like a Dr Who moment!” Jane Johnson, his publisher at HarperCollins, declared that, with this signing, Koontz will “make history in a different way”, and his use of the LongPen™ would be “both exciting and deeply appropriate”.

Bruce Walsh, Vice-President Sales and Marketing of Unotchit, the company set up to develop and produce the device, told PN that Waterstone's will be the first bookseller to take delivery of the LongPen, though discussions are under way in Canada with Chapters/Indigo and HMV Canada, who will receive their units in July; a US partner will be announced shortly.

FMcM Associates is the UK Sales and PR agency and organised this year's demonstration at the LBF. “We had a lot of interest from Hughes & Hughes and Easons,” said FMcM's Fiona McMorough. “Authors say that this way of meeting readers is more intimate, that they have a proper conversation with them.”

The company name, Unotchit, is a word invented by Atwood and is pronounced you-notouch- it - a reference to the author, who indeed doesn't touch the book. Stuart Broom, Waterstone's Literary Events Coordinator, now faces the challenge of advertising the Koontz event in a way that draws in the fans while making it clear that the author's presence will be virtual. “That is a challenge… In one sense, customers will be meeting Dean Koontz, and in another sense not. It's cyber contact. The challenge is to make it exciting but not confusing, so that customers get a sense of what to expect.”

As well as generating publicity for Koontz, Broome will also be seeking, with FMcM Associates, to generate publicity for the gizmo itself. Atwood, the brains and the driving force behind the invention, is “clearly quite evangelical about this,” Broom continued. “The way she's sold it to her fellow authors is amazing, and it makes a lot of sense coming from her - her writing explores futuristic worlds, and with everyone concerned about flying, it's very timely.”

Its debut also coincides with the Canadian government's cutbacks to its Public Diplomacy programme, which promotes authors (and other artists) internationally. Indeed, at BEA authors from the Writers Union of Canada, meeting in Vancouver, will sign a letter of protest via the LongPen into BEA.

Atwood herself is “thrilled” at the way the LongPen is being received. “Dean Koontz does not tour or fly, but now he can meet his UK readers and sign for them in this carbon-neutral way.”

Walsh confirmed that Unotchit is now in production to meet its pilot commitments and, as those pilots begin to run, he and his colleagues will be working closely with the trial stores to refine the device, based on feedback. Costs have yet to be determined. “It's an exciting moment for us as we move into the pilot project phase of our business,” Walsh concluded. “It's been fascinating to watch the industry's perception of the LongPen change as people experience it first hand. When I began here a little over a year ago, the response was 'dumb idea'. Now it's 'this is brilliant'. My inbox is full of queries from booksellers around the world who cannot get authors into their stores because they are off the book tour circuit. They understand that the LongPen will change that as it delivers on its promise to democratise events while enhancing the bottom line.”