Summary
The box office phones for the 2004 Edinburgh International Book Festival are already alive, tickets being bagged faster than the last seats on a lifeboat. With the launch of the programme on Thursday, more than 500 authors are now committed to a date in Charlotte Square this August. Some won't give it a thought until the night before; others, however, will lie awake rehearsing, worrying, deciding what to wear, from now until the day they appear.
When an author walks on to a platform to speak, there's a hush of anticipation. For most readers, publication is a sacred attainment. Though they rarely don a surplus or carry a mace, writers are seen as one step short of holy, held in greater respect now than the parish minister, the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Pope himself.See the full content of this document
Extract
The Stars Who Grow Pale, Quiver and Rush to the Portaloos
For writers, however, publication does not confer an automatic halo of confidence. Novices and old-timers alike find public appearances scary.
Those who chair events at the book festival are often surp...See the full content of this document
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