Publishers hate awards ceremonies almost as much as the public ignores who wins book awards.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Well – the awards ceremony circuit is pretty boring to begin with. Sure, it’s a chance to “network,” as if chatting awkwardly at a cocktail party while looking over someone’s shoulder to see if someone less boring or desperate is nearby. And it’s a chance for publishers and editors to lament recent changes in the industry, the decline of civilization as we know, the unfortunate rise of e-everything.

Oh, and there are the authors. Hopeful. Cynical. Maybe really grateful to be among the chosen few whom the elite of the publishing world decide to honor with an award that’s remembered only by agents trying to sell the winning or nominated author’s next book.

Awards are for a person’s CV, and for the chance to get an obit in a big newspaper – because you’ve demonstrated that something about what you’ve done, or about the friends you’ve made or the way you’ve carried yourself, was enough to get people to vote in your general direction. But as we all know, awards are not about the quality.

Can you name who won the last Academy Awards for best actor or actress or film? Can you remember the last winner of the Pulitzer Prize for…anything? How about the National Book Awards? Do you recognize the nominees? And what about the biggie? Who won the Nobel Prize for literature a few weeks ago? If you said Mario Vargas Llosa, congratulations – you can enter trivia contests.

Now, of course, people who win awards are often very talented.

But awards are for the insiders. Not for the readers or the world in general. Of course, it might make a person feel good to see and dismiss (or even like) an award-winning movie (“It must not be as boring as we think, it won an award!”), or to disagree with the received opinion after reading an award-winning book (“I can’t believe they gave this turkey a prize!“).

And, of course, awards are about marketing. Something other than the blurb from a friend of the author to put on the cover.

What about the thousands, the hundreds of thousands, of other authors whose work might be good, but who connect not with critics, or with awards committees, but with the public?

That’s where readers come in, and that’s where communicating with readers comes in. Sure it’s great to get a prize. But it’s better to have an audience, and a platform for your ideas. And to engage that audience with something more than a certificate for having attracted the notice of a coterie of special-interest groups who want to pat themselves on the back for having recognized your worth, even if only a few dozen people actually read what you wrote.

Throw some stuff in a bag and come to Calgary. See the swinging Pendulum in person and learn how to prepare both yourself and your business for the coming decade. It’s happening Friday, September 17^th at the Executive Royal Inn. Admission is free, just get yourself there and find a place to crash.

You’ve probably sensed how tried-and-true marketing and sales techniques aren’t working like they used to. Would you like to know why? We’ll cover what changes are taking place, why they’re happening and what you can do to adapt.

History has shown us that every 40 years there is a fundamental shift in:

• The way we interact
• The way we live
• The way we do business.

Are you able to recognize such a shift when one is taking place?

1963 – 2003

This was an era of idealism. As The Beatles and The Rolling Stones invaded America they helped pry the cultural torch from the duty-bound WWII generation to their Do-Your-Own-Thing Baby Boomer children. Marketers responded by adopting a similar kind of freedom in their advertising. Breaking loose from any rules of restraint, creativity ran amok. Everything was built on hype and pretense and unsubstantiated claims.

2003 -2043

We’re now seven years into a new era of civic-mindedness. ‘Doing your own thing’ isn’t cool anymore. Have you noticed how the marketing efforts of those paying attention are focused on making a difference? Businesses are being more transparent. Claims are better substantiated. Communication is more authentic.

Has your communication with your audience undergone a similar transformation? Do you understand how they look at life has changed? Are you adapting to those changes or are you becoming irrelevant? Come to Calgary and find out. We’ll decipher the new Rosetta stone together. You’ll leave knowing exactly what to do to achieve your goals and enjoy life more.

He told me that this year Comic-Con seemed entirely taken over by television and movie companies, rather than the publishing or print component of the science fiction, comic, and fantasy worlds. That’s a natural progression – television and movies have noted the power of the fan base, and they court it. Publishers, on the other hand, still avoid direct contact with readers.

The big guests back in 1970, when the convention began, were Forrest J Ackerman, the science fiction writer, editor, and proponent (and one of the world’s biggest collectors of comic books), and Mike Royer, who worked with comic book legend Jack Kirby.

This year, the biggest stars were the casts of the HBO series “True Blood” and of the “Twilight” movies, as well as James Cameron, who showed scenes from his coming 3D release, “Avatar.”

Fair enough. The convention still had a lot of writers, though, especially those with movie or TV tie-ins, such as Charlaine Harris, creator of the books from which the “True Blood” series sprang. Publishers of graphic and fantasy novels and comics were also there. The overall energy of the event spilled over into a lot of press coverage about coming movies, films…and even sometimes books.

My friend noted that a difference between the well-attended, well-publicized Comic-Con International and your usual book industry convention was how Comic-Con courted fans. Most conventions—with the exception of Boucheron, which is geared to fans of mysteries and attended by many of the biggest authors in the mystery field—are for the trade. Book Expo America, the biggest publishing industry event, is geared to independent booksellers. Not to readers. At Comic-Con, it’s really a fan convention, and even the fans who show up dressed as favorite Star Wars characters are an essential part of the texture of the event. That kind of fun just doesn’t happen at book publishing shows. Now, publishers don’t sell books directly to readers, for the most part, and bookstores are invaluable. But I wonder if the ultimate reader gets a little bit left behind with the way books are distributed . . . .

The comic-book genre also spurred a different type of fan, perhaps (those who like to dress up as Batman, for instance), and this convention built by fans has grown a major marketing tool for industries beyond comics. Movie and television companies were smart to pick up on the fan buzz that can help build audiences. Comic fans are fiercely loyal and highly opinionated. And likely to spend money on a variety of “products” of all sorts, from souvenir merchandise to, yes, special edition comic books. But aren’t readers of books loyal and opinionated, too? Can’t some of the energy spent on appealing to booksellers also include book buyers?

But courting fans just simply doesn’t happen in the book industry. For one thing, cash-strapped publishers view most book publicity tours as money losers, and conventions in the industry are faltering, at best. Literary festivals, in the opinion of one publisher I know, are a necessary evil reserved for only the most prominent authors, and even then not worth the costs involved in sending authors out when they’re likely to sell only a few books.

That’s the problem, perhaps: thinking that an author is a liability, and not worth the expense of building a brand around. Savvy authors do this for themselves, now, since they cannot possibly rely on a publisher to market them. And despite the real problems of a changing media landscape, many publishers remain behind the times. Consider the web. A lawyer I know who represents many media companies told me that his firm advises many television and movie companies about website work, the best way they can deal with fans, how to encourage participation to generate ideas, even, and how sites can build awareness and brand recognition. Think of the many well-done websites that USA Networks has created for its hit series, from “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” to “Burn Notice” to “In Plain Sight.” They encourage involvement. And they’re very well done.

Publishing websites are more one-sided, mainly promotional announcements requiring little interaction. Sometimes they offer a book-group guide, but that’s about it. My lawyer friend said that he receives queries from networks and movie studios all the time about building websites. He said that no publisher has ever asked for website advice.

Now, websites are different from conventions. But overall, the way in which the comics world and the TV and movie fields have embraced fans is far different from how publishers treat readers. For comics, TV, and movies, fans are essential. For publishers, readers are the people bookstores deal with.

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Robert J. Hughes, a longtime reporter for The Wall Street Journal, writes on the arts, based in New York.