Book Signing

[pmmg]

Fun Question: What do you sign with?

So...as it turns out, I have family and friends and such who want me to sign my book. But....A number of thoughts occurs to me. 1) I have terrible handwriting. 2) I am signing a pen name which will make that worse. 3) I am left handed which means many pens just dont work for me. 4) I am terrible at things like signing cards to people and trying to make them personable. So what to do?

Usually I write with a pencil or a felt tip type pen, but....who wants their book signed with a pencil? And does a felt tip pose problems...like, they bleed sometimes, and may not stand up to the test of time.

So, I am wondering, is there any reason not to use a felt tip pen?

And for those who have, what has the experience been like.

 

[Mad Swede]

Unless you're writing some sort of dedication it doesn't matter what your handwriting is like.

Personally I take both ballpoint pens and marker pens, the latter for anyone who wants a signature on something with a shiny surface. Get good quality pens, there's nothing worse than a ballpoint pen which keeps sticking.

Unless I'm specifically asked by the person standing in front of me with a book to be signed I don't write dedications. The only exceptions to that rule have been books for a few very close friends.

Personally I like to sit at a table (which doesn't wobble - you'd be amazed what some book shops suggest as a suitable table) to do my signings. I do like the table to be away from the door, especially on a cold winter day, and I like to have my back to a wall or solid partition. A good cup of coffee is also very pleasant, as is a break every so often.

When I first did a book signing I was worried no-one would turn up. But they did, and the sight of that queue as I sat down was a bit daunting. Almost all readers are pleasant, so the time goes by pretty fast once I get going. A good book shop will organise the queue, and the best ones do really nice lunches - with no alcohol.

 

[Ban]

I've never signed a book, but if I were to I'd use a black pen, place my signing on the inside of the cover and write a nice, short message to the reader, such as "To [insert recipient name], I hope you will enjoy the tale ahead. -[insert author name]." I find black ink to be more classy than blue ink. As for the legibility, I wouldn't worry. The whole point of a signing is to add a tangible bit of you onto the page. Your handwriting, whatever it is, suffices for that goal. Just don't deface the whole book accidentally by writing your signature on the front or something of that nature.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I sign with a blue or black fine Sharpie of one sort or another. I need to look at it. My wife bought it when I went to a signing and, yeah, forgot a f'n pen! I love it.

I practiced at "L. James Rice" and after signing a few hundred books I'm confident with my name. It's actually much neater than my normal squiggle, and I can "almost" do it while talking to the person without going off the edge. Once! Once I did that, I won't let myself live it down. I keep it as badge of shame. Early on I did have an instance or two of "brain freeze." That's the only explanation I have... the hand just stopped and it was like, what the hell are you doing? Alien hand syndrome maybe.

On the other hand, my cursive is atrocious, so my dedications and other little fun bits are... well... I hope they can make it out, LMAO. Nobody has hit me with a book yet, but it's safest when they order online.

 

[The Dark One]

At my first ever book launch/signing I begged my wife to stay close. She knows everyone and everyone knows me because I'm the husband of a popular local doctor. Accordingly, the danger of someone wanting their book signed and me not knowing their name was high.

Naturally she scampered off to deal with some issue or other, and there I was... confronted with a grinning purchaser of my book, whose name I couldn't remember. It was a truly horrible situation and, in my desperation, I feigned a coughing fit to give me extra time. Somehow I dredged his name out of my silted up memory and the crisis passed ... but I live in fear of it happening again.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Old high school people are my greatest fear along with obscure relatives. I don't have a prayer unless they say something.

Nameless soul: "I'm X! We went to school together since 1st grade. We sat beside one another through 2 years of science!"

Me: "Uuuhhhh."

Thats a paraphrased actual encounter, but I did remember her after a minute. We were in anatomy class taking a test and I glanced over to see she had the entire skeleton drawn on her bookcover and labeled. Sadly, it wasn't dark enough writing for me to read. I'm pretty sure she got a better grade that day than I did.

At my first ever book launch/signing I begged my wife to stay close. She knows everyone and everyone knows me because I'm the husband of a popular local doctor. Accordingly, the danger of someone wanting their book signed and me not knowing their name was high.

Naturally she scampered off to deal with some issue or other, and there I was... confronted with a grinning purchaser of my book, whose name I couldn't remember. It was a truly horrible situation and, in my desperation, I feigned a coughing fit to give me extra time. Somehow I dredged his name out of my silted up memory and the crisis passed ... but I live in fear of it happening again.

 

[pmmg]

I met an old high school friend at a wedding once, but they had gained so much weight, I did not recognize them. That was terrible. No way I had forgotten them otherwise.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

A friend of mine from HS died recently and when I saw photos I didn't recognize him at all. He was a skinny little dude and must've weighed close to 300. I was shocked. He was one of the better writers in school back in the day, but never did anything with it.

I met an old high school friend at a wedding once, but they had gained so much weight, I did not recognize them. That was terrible. No way I had forgotten them otherwise.

 

[TWErvin2]

I sign with a ballpoint pen, usually blue or black.

My handwriting is not great. But it seems to work and never had any complaints.

 

[pmmg]

I would never trust a ball point pen. I am sure that works for others.

Ball point pens dont work for left handed people.

 

[CupofJoe]

I'm sure that in a previous iteration of a similar discussion one of the prime things to take with you to a signing was a comfy cushion.
You never know how uncomfortable the seat your will be given, might be...
The writer's equivalent of always have a good towel handy.
I'm a lefty as well and NO pen is my friend or improves my handwriting.
A thin nosed Sharpie at least makes my scrawl visible.

 

[pmmg]

If you are a lefty, and you are using a ball point pen, I bet your experience is often along the lines of....things are writing well for a word or two, then the pen seems to quit. You have to shake it, or scribble on something else near to get it writing again. Then it works for a little while and dies again.

Why is this? Its cause your left handed.

The action to write is more pushing than pulling when using such a pen. Ball points work great if you are right handed (pulling the pen), but not if you are left (pushing the pen). The pushing action causes it to get stopped up.

For this reason, I write mostly in pencil or with felt tips (see original post above).

I would suspect with a sharpie, it would tend to bleed through. I was wondering if there were reasons not to sign with felt tip pens, cause ball points suck.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

There is a particular sharpie I use. Felt tip would possibly depend on the type of felt tip. It's been a while since I've been out signing, so of course, it's gone missing. But, it doesn't look like a classic Sharpie and has a flow a little heavier than their ultrafine pens.

I also have new-fangle old-fashioned ink pens with archival ink I will use when signing books that are getting shipped, but I don't use them in person because I will do funky things things with them if I'm not paying attention. When I level up, maybe I will use thos in person. I'll check XP.

From what I've heard, blue is more of a "collector" color instead of black, but, I'm not sure I;ve ever heard that from someone getting a book.

If you are a lefty, and you are using a ball point pen, I bet your experience is often along the lines of....things are writing well for a word or two, then the pen seems to quit. You have to shake it, or scribble on something else near to get it writing again. Then it works for a little while and dies again.

Why is this? Its cause your left handed.

The action to write is more pushing than pulling when using such a pen. Ball points work great if you are right handed (pulling the pen), but not if you are left (pushing the pen). The pushing action causes it to get stopped up.

For this reason, I write mostly in pencil or with felt tips (see original post above).

I would suspect with a sharpie, it would tend to bleed through. I was wondering if there were reasons not to sign with felt tip pens, cause ball points suck.

 

[pmmg]

I've heard that blue ink is considered the more likely to be genuine, as its harder for printers to exactly mimic (particularly, in areas where it crosses over other black lines). But...I would suspect, if that was true in the past, it probably not today. I've also heard it is preferred by banks, as its harder to tell of black ink is not just photocopied. Blue ink is preferred in many professional environments.

 

[Ban]

Blue ink makes me think of three things: 1. High school essays, 2. Office work and 3. Writing down my grocery list. None should come to one's mind when reading a book they presumably enjoy.

 

[The Dark One]

I always use black.

It matches my soul...

 

[Demesnedenoir]

My flaming pen didn't work so good for book signings.

I always use black.

It matches my soul...

 

[Finchbearer]

I actively avoid blue pens at work.

 

[JBCrowson]

My flaming pen didn't work so good for book signings.

I can imagine a flaming pen signing a book would be a problem...

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I need a FX crew to pull this off for me.

I can imagine a flaming pen signing a book would be a problem...