Full text in GERMAN: HERE
Ken Follett, Frankfurt/Main Book Fair
In Fall 2015 Ken Follett presented one of his new projects at the Frankfurt Book Fair: “Pillars Of The Earth” – one of his bestselling books – is digitalized and will be published as interactive literature. Expected date of publishing: 2017.
I met Ken Follett for an interview after a panel discussion. He was ready to answer questions concerning the background and his intentions for going digital with the book. The charismatic author was in a good mood and quite open.
Heike Pander, Ken Follett, Frankfurt/Main Book Fair
In a panel discussion before the interview which took place with Marco Schneiders (publisher Bastei Lübbe) and Carsten Fichtelmann (Daedalic Entertainment) he reflected in detail about his motivation and the planned implementation of this digital major project.
Marco Schneiders (Bastei Lübbe, publisher), Ken Follett, Carsten Fichtelmann (Daedalic Entertainment), from left
He is a master of historic novels and it came as a surprise to see him making the step from writing books to digital media. The author himself does not see a contradiction in it. One of his main intentions of publishing his work in digital form is to interest new readers for his books. He does not want to lose his connection to young readers.
How potential readers get hooked to his books and to actually like them is not one of his concerns. He wants to entertain and keep his audience interested for future publications. Attracted through the interactive game he hopes that young readers will follow up by reading his books.
During the interview I find it particularly interesting to learn how he manages to launch bestsellers ever so often. He does not hesitate to answer. With “The Eye Of The Needle” he had his first international best selling book. Taking this as an example, he described what had changed compared to his earlier work.
With this novel he did not just start writing. He planned the plot and moved it into the past. In his research he made a point in weaving details of day to day life of his protagonists into the story. How was it like for people to live during World War II – how did the coins look like, where did one buy cigarettes and how much did those cost?
That allows the reader to dive into the past world with his imagination. This kind of information adds texture and a feeling of “the real thing” to the story. With the “Needle” he did not only plan the plot but chose a different style of writing as well. Before he used to write as a journalist where everything had to be expressed shortly.
With his new style in writing his successful books become more voluminous. Apart from dramatic turns and twists he uses love, sex, danger, human abyss, violence, happiness, hardship, heroes and villains as successful ingredients for his novels.
Today 20 employees support Folletts research and take care of organisational matters around his novel writing. Nevertheless – the stories are still written by the master himself. With a smile in his face he states that during his working days he lives in the past of his historic novels.
He is known for surprieses and has proven more than once that his intuition of what his readers like is sound: In the early 90s he suprised his publishers and his readers with turning from writing successful thrillers to historic novels.
Ken Follett
With “the pillars of the earth” he entered new territory and his publishers worldwide were nervous about that. His success in terms of sales and figures proved him right. With digitalizing his novel he proceeds a step further. He wants to allow the reader to dive even deeper into the reality of his novel. Playing the computer game the reader can actively participate in events and have an impact on the direction the story takes.
It will be interesting to see whether he can launch another success with going digital.
Full text in GERMAN: HERE