LongPen™

Borders is the first retailer in the nation to feature the revolutionary LongPen™, the world's first real-time pen-and-ink long-distance autographing device. LongPen operates over the Internet using video conferencing, making it possible to host a live book discussion and signing with an author, as well as music events and appearances by celebrities who are not physically present in the store. Piloted initially only in Borders' concept store in Ann Arbor, Mich. for potential rollout in other Borders' concept stores, LongPen allows Borders to greatly expand its offering of author events and performances at the store and help unite readers with their favorite authors and performers even when they are not there in person.

LongPen was first conceptualized by internationally acclaimed author Margaret Atwood to cost effectively connect with readers at book signing events around the world in an environmentally friendly way. Using LongPen, authors can sign books from their home or at a local venue, eliminating the need to travel via airplane, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are harmful to the environment.

The LongPen is located in the concept store's Community Room, a specific community space with a unique "pull down" stage to accommodate everything from local book discussion groups and music performances to national author signings and children's events. For a Borders' book, CD or DVD signing session, the author uses a stylus to write the autograph or personalized message on a computer tablet. The signature is then transmitted via the Internet to a pen on the Borders' LongPen kiosk, which precisely applies the legally valid signature or message to a book placed underneath it. Video conferencing allows the author and performer and fan to personally interact during the autograph session.

More than 45 authors including Dean Koontz, Anita Shreve, Alice Munro and Diana Gabaldon have used the device to sign books for fans all over the world.

For more information about LongPen, please visit www.longpen.com.