05.05.10 | Benedicte Page in The Bookseller
Lord Alan Sugar has advised the book trade to "make hay while the sun shines" in light of the technological changes sweeping across the publishing industry.
'The Apprentice' star and entrepreneur Lord Sugar of Clapton was speaking to book retailers last night (4th May) at an event at the City of London's "Gherkin" building ahead of his autumn autobiography for Pan Macmillan, What You See Is What You Get.
Against dramatic views across the capital, the forthright business guru offered a warning to the industry in an interview with Pan Mac's non-fiction publisher Jon Butler.
"Eight or nine years ago I did a Q&A with ITV and I was asked 'Where do you see the ad revenue going?' I knew we had Sky Plus in development - a godsend now for skipping adverts. I told them, 'If I was you lot, I'd get a job in the BBC'."
Lord Sugar went on: "You've got all these Kindle devices coming along gaining momentum. The iPad, I was initially told, 'No problem, you can see your reflection in it', but that's all cobblers, they used a special LCD technology so they overcame the visibility problem.
"The sale of literature will move over to that type of medium, the younger generation is not going
to buy a book in a conventional way."
He concluded: "Unlike the music industry who tried to fight it [technological change] off, the publishing industry should join it before it gets ruined."
Lord Sugar also gave insights into his forthcoming autobiography, promising that some of the stories about his troubled period as chairman of Tottenham Hotspur would give current bestselling crime writer Stieg Larsson a run for his money.
"It was gutwrenching at the time but very funny afterwards. Stieg - this geezer couldn't have made up half the stuff that's in there," he commented.
Lord Sugar meets the trade
Nicholas Clee - BookBrunch
Pan Macmillan hired the spectacular venue of the top floor of the Gherkin for a trade preview of what may be its biggest autumn title (though it also has Nelson Mandela on the list), Lord (Alan) Sugar's What You See Is What You Get. There were drinks and canapes as we watched dusk settle over Greater London, a chance for a few buyers to meet the author, and a Q&A, ably conducted by Macmillan's Jon Butler
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