FICTION BOOKS IN THE MULTIMODAL SOCIETY. NEW MODES OF COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING PRACTICES IN THE BOOK INDUSTRY

Abstract

The development of digital technologies, new media, multimodal forms of expression and transmission of information that now characterize the multimodal age we are living in has inevitably affected the activity of the book industry with all the components and parties involved. This article presents some of the latest strategies developed by authors, publishers and sellers in order to present, advertise and, ultimately, sell their books, especially books of fiction. It then narrows down the discussion to contemporary English author Nicola Barker who, in her novel H(A)PPY (2017) illustrates the concept of multimodality in fiction by employing a system of varied choices to communicate meaning, ranging from language, image, colour, typography to music.