My dear friend and fellow author Andi Cumbo-Floyd posted a blog entitled “6 Reasons I Don’t Get Author Autographs.” I didn’t need to read what she wrote to know we are polar opposites on this one. But I did read her post. She doesn’t like crowds, knows what it’s like to give a talk and then sign books, knows that writers often don’t necessarily love the person they write, “love, Andi (or Tom)” in their copy of our books. I get it. And I feel totally different about it.
I LOVE getting books autographed. My prized possession is a signed copy of Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge, my personal favorite novel of all time. I remember when my friend Brad called me and said, “Hey, Tom, there’s a signed copy at…” and he told me it cost seventy-five dollars and this was around 1979 and I was a poor, working stiff who still owed on college loans and I told Brad to forget about it. I called him back an hour later and told him I’d find the money to pay him back.
Why? Because Somerset Maugham hadn’t just written The Razor’s Edge. He’d held this particular copy of his book in his hands; had signed it. His DNA was on this sucker. So as I read my new, signed, copy, Maugham was there with me, physically; literally. The book became more alive, more connected, to me. I’d read it before. This time was different; more personal.
I sometimes write to authors when I’ve been particularly moved by their book. And sometimes they write back. Though I won’t share their names here, the notes I’ve received in return are cherished treasures. And sometimes I have received notes from people whose books of mine I have signed… including just yesterday from a student at a college I visited with my writing partner Sharon a couple weeks ago. “Thank you for your encouraging words,” she wrote, amongst other things. “Whatever your next big project is,” she wrote, “you can count me in.”
I’ve felt nothing better as an author than the feeling I get when I receive such a message.
Richard Bach wrote that some of his best friends are people he’s never met… authors… the words on the pages of their books. I get that. And I respect Andi’s position. And for me? I feel differently. I LOVE meeting authors and owning their books they have held and signed.
And yes, Andi, I have Sherman Alexie’s autograph… in a few of his books. I respect your choice. Truly, I do. And I’ll be waiting in line for my next signed book…
I love this, Tom, because while I don't get it. . . . I totally get it, you know? 🙂 I do love getting notes from writers, and I should probably write to more of those I respect. . . but to stand in line for an autograph – maybe that's really the thing – I don't get books signed at formal book signings. . . perhaps that's more precise. 🙂
And if you and Sherman Alexie become pals, you know who to invite over, right? 🙂
I've met Sherman a few times, and I participate each year in the program he inspired – Indies First – in which authors support their favorite local indie bookstore by working as a "bookseller for a day" and talking with customers about their books and their favorite books they read during the year. It takes place on "Small Business Saturday" right after Thanksgiving each year now. But alas, Sherman wouldn't remember or know me from Adam's off aunt. But if I ever sign a copy of Gather at the Table for him I'll be sure to set up dinner for us! ;o)
I like to not so much get authors autographs, or any autographs, but an author's inscription in the front cover of his or her books that has heart and soul and sweat poured into it, I like. I dislike crowds, I despise queuing, but will sometimes set those aside to look an author in the eye and for one brief moment, the author will see me, a tiny part of their audience.