There’s nothing I love more than providing a serious answer to a not-so-serious question, which is why I couldn’t resist responding to Robert Stephen’s tweet: “So many authors here. How does an author sign an ebook?”
We all know that eBooks are gaining in popularity exponentially thanks to readers like Amazon’s Kindle. The benefits to the avid book reader are numerous, with cheaper books and less storage requirements being just a few.
However, eBooks do have a flaw for fans of an author in that they will eventually eliminate the old tradition of standing in line at the local book store for your favorite author to write a quick personal message and sign the the inside of your book.
I think Amazon should look prevent this bleak future by working on the technological problem now. Otherwise, you’ll have book fans looking for increasingly fine Sharpie pens to ask authors to sign the back of their Kindles, and really, that will only end up getting messy.
Perhaps someone could develop an iPad app that allows an author to load in images of their book covers for signings. When an eager fan comes up from the line, they could enter their email address, which eBook they want to have signed, which the author could do with a stylus designed to work with the iPad. The image, with the author’s personal message and signature would then be emailed to the fan, who can then treasure it always. Or print out 1,000 copies and wallpaper their room.
As Android tablets and iPads become more common, someone could develop a digital autograph books, so the fans could do this electronically with covers from books, movies, music albums or even websites.
“Why, yes, I’d be happy to sign this digital copy of meisterplanet.com for you!”