Autographed books …

• Posted in About Books

Note: This post will appear at Magical Musings tomorrow, July 7, but I wanted to share it here on my blog as well.

I was walking through my local Books-A-Million a couple of months ago when I noticed a copy of Embassy Row Book 1: All Fall Down by Ally Carter sitting on a table. I had been thinking about getting the book, but that day, I picked up the book and actually bought it.

Embassy Row autographed bookWhy? Because it was an autographed copy.

I’ve been noticing more and more autographed copies by a variety of authors on the shelves of my local Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble. For Christmas last year, I bought my dad a signed copy of Wait For Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson. A couple of months ago, I ordered some signed copies of Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman from Porter Square Books after I saw an online ad about the signed copies.

I still prefer print books over e-books and audiobooks, so I usually buy a print copy of whatever book I’m interested in reading, especially if it’s by an author that I’ve read before. So I’m enjoying seeing all the signed copies on the shelves.

Admittedly, buying a signed copy off the shelf is not as fun or cool as actually meeting that author in person and getting him or her to sign my book. But I’ll never get to meet all the authors that I want to in person, so this is the next best thing.

Having that print copy signed by the author is definitely a little extra incentive for me to buy (and keep) that book. Plus, signed books by favorite authors can make really cool gifts. So I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more signed books at my local stores, especially during the holiday season.

What about you guys? Are you more likely to buy an autographed book? Why or why not?

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4 Responses to “Autographed books …”

  1. Jennifer says:

    I’m only big on signed copies if I was present for the author to sign it. I’m more for wanting to meet the author than have a signed copy.

    Now if the author sent me the signed copy that’s really special. Like Patricia Briggs sent me a signed copy of her latest release when she heard I couldn’t make it to RT. I thought was super sweet but I would have loved to have met her.

    I don’t buy a book because it was signed. I find signed books are more special (at least to me) if I got to meet the author when they signed it or if it was sent to me from the author or from a someone that got the book for me because they knew I love the author and couldn’t be there (Lisa Kleypas). 🙂

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      I like meeting authors and getting the books signed that way too. But if I see a signed book by an author I like or that I want to get for someone as a present, I will definitely get the signed book over the unsigned book. Yes, I am a book geek that way. LOL.

  2. PurpleRanger says:

    The one time I have specifically bought a signed book was when I was in a thrift store about a year ago. I saw one of Mike Royko’s books. I probably would have bought it anyway, but I when I opened it to flip through it, I saw that it was a signed copy. No way was I going to pass that one up.

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