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Author signing dilemma
Nov. 10th, 2012 10:31 amI'm going to an author event this evening and I'm thinking about the signing ritual. I'm looking forward to the reading and possible Q & A session and hanging around with other readers and one of my favorite writers. But then comes the signing ritual. I get most of my books from the library, but I buy books from my favorite authors. Recently, I'm considering that I'd just as soon have them on my Kindle unless they are special or first editions. I just don't have the space.
However, how do you manage a Kindle signing? A Sharpie? I hear there are Apps for this problem. I have a digital Margaret Atwood signature for my Blind Assassin that she did with the Long Pen. It was a lot of fun live tweeting with her but I didn't "meet" Margaret Atwood. If there was a way to meet the author, have them sign a tablet right there and then and send it to your device, that would fulfill the signing craving. It all comes down to meat space I guess.
I read the books, the blogs, the tweets, the interviews. All that information is nestled in my brain but there is something about seeing an artist in person. Sharing a space and time with them. Saying hello, even for an instant. In some signings I've been to, there's a huge line and the bookseller's whisk you along with barely a moment to speak. I've also stood and talked to a certain author while he sketched a fox in my daughter's book, but that's the other extreme.
I went to a reading once of an author who I had tweeted with. I heard her read, enjoyed the event, but then didn't buy the paperback and stand in line to have it signed. My feeling was that I already had a personal connection with her. I had the book on Kindle, and didn't want to own the hard copy. Why stand in line? I left without saying hello and I've regretted it to this day. We never met "In The Real World" and it makes me sad. But how would I feel now to have her book on my shelf? (or in the Pile next to the Bed). Would I remember the day I met her fondly? Or feel silly for buying something I already owned? The best solution would be to give it away I suppose.
What is it that I want? In one word: Contact. Then why not just stand in line and say hello? but that is awkward and frowned on by booksellers. I suppose that's what happens in a receiving line when you meet the Queen. I'd like to give a present or have some kind of exchange. I recognize that these events are marketing opportunities to drive sales to the store and the author. I want to support them and all lovely bookish things, but my apartment just isn't big enough.
I have no real answer to this. I am curious to see how I will feel tonight and how it will all be sorted out in the Future.
However, how do you manage a Kindle signing? A Sharpie? I hear there are Apps for this problem. I have a digital Margaret Atwood signature for my Blind Assassin that she did with the Long Pen. It was a lot of fun live tweeting with her but I didn't "meet" Margaret Atwood. If there was a way to meet the author, have them sign a tablet right there and then and send it to your device, that would fulfill the signing craving. It all comes down to meat space I guess.
I read the books, the blogs, the tweets, the interviews. All that information is nestled in my brain but there is something about seeing an artist in person. Sharing a space and time with them. Saying hello, even for an instant. In some signings I've been to, there's a huge line and the bookseller's whisk you along with barely a moment to speak. I've also stood and talked to a certain author while he sketched a fox in my daughter's book, but that's the other extreme.
I went to a reading once of an author who I had tweeted with. I heard her read, enjoyed the event, but then didn't buy the paperback and stand in line to have it signed. My feeling was that I already had a personal connection with her. I had the book on Kindle, and didn't want to own the hard copy. Why stand in line? I left without saying hello and I've regretted it to this day. We never met "In The Real World" and it makes me sad. But how would I feel now to have her book on my shelf? (or in the Pile next to the Bed). Would I remember the day I met her fondly? Or feel silly for buying something I already owned? The best solution would be to give it away I suppose.
What is it that I want? In one word: Contact. Then why not just stand in line and say hello? but that is awkward and frowned on by booksellers. I suppose that's what happens in a receiving line when you meet the Queen. I'd like to give a present or have some kind of exchange. I recognize that these events are marketing opportunities to drive sales to the store and the author. I want to support them and all lovely bookish things, but my apartment just isn't big enough.
I have no real answer to this. I am curious to see how I will feel tonight and how it will all be sorted out in the Future.
