I was talking with a group of authors the other day and someone brought up the subject of signing books – what is the correct way to do it? Our Grand Pooh Bah (who has sold millions of Sci-Fi books and signed at least 10,000) said he always:
- Goes to the title page
- Crosses out his pen name
- Writes a short message
- and signs with his real name
Apparently that’s the way must writers do it, but it was news to me. Wouldn’t the reader be offended that the book had been defaced? What’s wrong with the pen name?
It seems that the consensus is that a book signing is a personal thing – a chance to meet and engage with the author. The ritual of changing the name is a way of opening up to your reader – real contact.
Now I’ve always found it strange scrawling “Gerald” instead of my natural signature. It just felt wrong.
So how would you feel about some guy dressed like Carl Sagan taking your brand new book, crossing out “Isaac Asimov” and writing … hmm, maybe that’s a bad example.
Вот как раз, что говорил из Индии писатель Тагор Рабиндранат, тот который был удостоин Нобелевской премией :: “Войну, где восстает на брата брат, Всевышний проклянет стократ”. А Вы согласны, что вообще войну, коию инициировала рф против Украины и в каковую силится вовлечь беларусскую республику можно прозвать войной между родственными народами?
A little off topic, so I’ll assume this is a bot, but the question is interesting. My English translation:
First of all, I don’t think Brahma was in the habit of bulk cursing people, so I’ll assume Rabindranath was just being poetic, but his point is clear. Although I’m not sure about the choice of word “rebels” and if your quotation is accurate; he thinks that Brahma would disapprove of such a war.
If you’ve read the second volume of the Circles trilogy, “Revolution”, you’ll see that my opinion on the matter is also clear. When Aileen tells Tom that she’s “not from Africa”, she’s clearly implying that everyone else is from Africa. In the sense that Rabindranath uses the word, we are all “brothers”. The Chairman (Brahma) of “Teacakes and Damnation” wouldn’t be handing out curses, but he’d be mystified by all wars.
But of course, my heritage is Colonial, so I was taught that all wars are justified as long as there’s something in it for me.
How could you possibly decide between those two opinions?