Signature NOT required.

[kyburg]

Here's another quirk you probably won't see in the general scheme of things.

I don't like autographs.

I'll let that sink in for a moment. No, I don't want it signed. No, I don't want some stranger to feel obligated to write their name on something, some such or another. It kind of creeps me out.

And if I know you well enough to form an opinion based on other things besides that book, DVD or photograph in your hand?

*shivers* I don't need proof that you are another warm-blood sentient being with hands and know how to spell your name. I don't need proof that you existed.

What else is an autograph for?

I've met many a person who thought an autographing their works was a more-than-larger 'thank you' - I swear, Alton Brown would have signed *anything* I put in front of him - and just about did - I have signed DVDs (inside the box, I never thought of that, but he did and had it done before I could think twice about it) and he asked me if I wanted all of them signed. I hugged him instead, with permission. I am a GOOD hugger. And from that interaction, I take away something more valuable than an autograph - I get to talk to you. And really, that's what I want. I don't need a lifetime -

I want to thank you - and see if you have questions for me. I know I only have five minutes, tops. I can do a lot in five minutes.

This is one of the reasons I really love going to the LAT Festival of Books, because that's the largest draw. They bring out the authors to talk about their Stuff - and plan to host short signing sessions after each and every panel discussion. Buy as many of the books as you wish - Borders has it covered, really. And they are good about the signings - they've done many many festivals, so they have it down to a science. Nobody wears out, nobody gets shorted. You're in, you're done and you move on. Thanks for coming!

So grateful to meet Pico Iyer. I finally got to tell him how grateful I've been for his books - they've saved my good name more than once, and I had information I couldn't have gotten any other way that kept me from being a jerk. Autograph - eh. I'll have to go back and read the inscription (and I don't direct anyone what to write - 'do what you like' is the only direction I'll ever give) - because he just kept writing as I spoke to him. I love his books - after meeting him, I adore him.

Jim and I went to a book signing for Emeril Lagasse once - Jim got recipe tips, but the only thing I really wanted him to hear was 'thank you for putting up with all of us.' That got a look right in the eyes - why yes, I'm aware this is work. And thank you for doing it for me. (It also got a smile. He'd stayed far, far over his scheduled time to sign everyone's books that night. His reward from some idiots was flash photography without asking. Dicks.)

I loved having that five minutes with the three women hosting the parenting panel this last festival - for that five minutes, I had some of the best minds local to me talking to me about parenting, but even more, it was about becoming a parent under less than fair circumstances and having a legitimate vent about it. And all I got were nods, suggestions and yes - validation. They knew I wasn't big on autographs, but there I was - and I explained as much. It got a wry grin from one author with an atta girl.

I like it when people get to be people, after all.

More than once, someone has gone to a con and sent me a signed photograph they'd gotten for me. Aww. And then I didn't have a clue what to do with it. (Yes, yes - I know you can sell such things. Eww. No, really. EWWWWWW.)

People threw their programs onto the stage when Paul McCartney performed here last. Uh, someone *hit* him with one. No, I don't want anything with Paul McCartney's autograph on it. No words large enough for the wrong THAT is. Don't buy third-party gained autographs, guys. Just. Don't.

Swear to God, I'd do anything I could to take the demand out of a market that turns people into monsters like that. (We can talk about people taking pictures without permission another day. There's a post with profanity in it for you.)

It hits my trigger on treating celebrities as inanimate commodities even when we're dealing with the real flesh and blood person - and I really wish someone would take this up as a constitutional issue based on the 13th amendment, because it's just wrong. You may make a bundle being a celebrity, but you are never SOLD, body and soul, to the public, in any fashion - and I'm reminded often that there's a large segment of my culture that thinks an autograph is part and parcel of that concept and that it's very real.

I do not own you - any part of you - if I bought your work. I bought a book, that's it. If I get to talk to you, person to person while you sign it as a gift to me - that's worth the trouble. The autograph is not the reason I'm there. I liked the book, I *might* like you (at least, I respect your ability enough to mention it as such) and that's what I want you to know.

I don't need anything signed and sent to me. I'm also pretty certain you know your books are real, too and that you've been around many copies of them. I don't need proof that you actually saw *this one.*

If I see something signed that I wasn't there for? All I can think of is that you were made to work, without thanks - because I wasn't there to give it.

I don't want it signed. I don't like autographs.

I like your stuff. And that's plenty, for both of us.

Comments

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

Personally, I don't get autographs for autographs sake anymore.

I have a memory for the events surrounding it. And I make certain to thank them because they don't HAVE to be there and they don't HAVE to sign anything.

I admit I like knowing the reaction of the person who is signing the picture... and I've got plenty of those that make me smile.

And one of the times I handed someone a picture, I got asked "Do you want me to sign it?"... I told him "If you want to." He did... but that wasn't the point.

For me, the autograph is not "owning" some one or something. It's my own keepsake of the experience of seeing said person.

But that's me.

[vampireanneke.livejournal.com]

I think autographs are a tangiable record that you had the experience, that you met the person, expecially if your not a photo person.

I have an autograph from Rumiko Takahashi where she not only signed her name but drew a little p-chan with it. So in away she was signing her art work. I feel the same about books, the author is signing their art, and it's therefore abit more special then the typed/impersonal signature that is on every other book. That also this (signed) book is not just a printed item for the masses but an actual work of art. Then I also tend to bring my well-worn/loved copies of books to be signed vs brand new.

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

Oh, and one thing I will note...

The pictures I usually have people sign... are ones that I took. Sometimes they've been edited a little (sizing, colour, etc) but that's it.

[evilshell.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. All those years of interviewing the big metal bands and all, I have one pair of autographs. Two guys from my favorite band, and that was asked for on a bit of a beer buzz whim, after an evening of making goofy songs and promos for my radio show and a failed interview because we were laughing about stuff. I'd much rather have those memories than their signatures, although I admit I wish I'd taken many more photos during those various evenings, but I respected their privacy and didn't want to take photos to violate that privacy. Still, the memories are stronger than any of it, and so are the stories I can tell when I decide to.

[lykophile.livejournal.com]

I am guilty of collecting autographs, but I think you hit the nail on the head. The point isn't the autograph. The point is to actually see the person face to face and have the chance to let them know how much you appreciate their work. Thank you for putting it into words.

[terredancer.livejournal.com]

For me, it's about the personal connection.

I always say thank you. I always try to respect boundaries, especially since I've seen some fans at those gatherings that don't. The last time made me so angry that sometimes I still rant about it.

But if it wasn't for the events that (for me) players do the signings for, I would follow them from afar and never have that chance to express, in whatever small way, how much I enjoy the work they do. For me, it's more about seeing my favorite player's face light up when I pass him "old stuff" to sign than it is about the actual ink on fabric.

I don't feel comfortable asking for hugs. I don't even feel comfortable asking for a picture, and I don't like pictures with me in them anyway.

And I'm still sometimes sad at the missed opportunities because now (as I see it) I won't get the chance to show them, in whatever small way I can, how much I appreciate the work they do.

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

And I suspect this is what I get for reading LJ at work and replying to them at work. *wry*

[sekl.livejournal.com]

I love to attend book signings, but I agree, the point is to have your five second chat with the author. Daniel Hadler remains the best. He stayed two hours beyond his agreed on time and stayed witty until the end. Having his name on the book is just a touchstone to that moment.

Approaching someone when they haven't put themselves out for it? Never. Not even Austen herself.

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of when I got to meet Jack McDevitt at a con...

He was having a signing and I got in line, primarily to tell him I enjoyed his books. He looked happy to hear that and when I pulled out one of his books (beat up and well read) to have him sign it... he smiled at me.

[ginamariewade.livejournal.com]

I feel the same about autographs. I feel like saying "I know you know how to write your name."
When I was younger, it was different - I think I wanted tangible proof that I had been in the presence of this or that famous person.
But now? I don't care. I'm interested in what whoever has to say.
And I'm certainly not going to stand in line to wait for somebody to write his or her name.

The only autograph I have that means anything to me is a book signed by a former professor, and that's more of a note to me than an autograph, per se. That's different.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

I don't get stuff signed either, with a few rare exceptions, usually as gifts for someone else. Heck, I have books by friends on my shelves that aren't signed. Too weird.

But I got a comic signed by the writer for a friend who was dying of cancer, and it made my friend so damn happy in his last month. I should send the author a postcard, in fact; he was obviously a little weirded out to get the "sign for my dying friend" deal. But that comic was framed by his bed, shown off to every visitor, and made my friend really happy - and I should let the author know that he made that happen.

[elfwench.livejournal.com]

Getting an autograph gives you a moment or two of face time with the person, and that is what an autograph is about for me. It's almost like a picture or a ticket stub that you can say, "I remember when!" This is especially true for when I got in line for the autograph from RA Salvatore autograph at the one day of GenCon 2008 I was able to attend. I got to be one of the first 50 that was given a book for free, and I got that book signed, and when it was signed, and I mentioned who I was to him, Bob Salvatore had that look of recognition, my having emailed with him, and asked how my son was, remembering my telling him of Robert's accident just one year prior. We discussed sons and connected for that moment, and when I look at that autograph in that book, I remember that day. (And then, that evening, I fell off the porch and broke my leg! LOL)

I get what you are saying, though. It was about the face time and that moment, but the autograph for me gives something tangible to attach to that.

[monkeyfruit.livejournal.com]

I approve! I only get autographs as gifts for other people. The instant you ask for an autograph (or for a picture with them!), that makes you a fan to them and nothing more. And I must have been doing something right, because I get namecards, email addresses and phone numbers. Heck, if I want to remember the time I met them, I take a picture of them. I send it over and they remember exactly when and where they met me!

[ms-hecubus.livejournal.com]

Funny I should see this photo on the same day you post this entry.


see more