Connecting Readers and Writers discussion

Happy New Year, everyone!

I recently secured my very first signing at a local book shop. I am super excited and can't wait to see some faces I've only ever known digitally and to meet new readers, but I'm also wondering how some of you sign your names to readers. Do you use your "real" signature? Did you make up a reader-friendly (read: legible) one?

Depends. How good's your handwriting?

Most of the signed books I have do not have legible signatures. The only big name one that does is Sue Grafton.

The best advice I've heard is this (if you write under your actual, legal name):

Always sign autographs using your name but differently than you would on a check, will, or other legal document. This ensures you can prevent identity theft.

I use apen name. I spent a very pleasant afternoon designing my signature.

Elizabeth wrote: "Happy New Year, everyone!

I recently secured my very first signing at a local book shop. I am super excited and can't wait to see some faces I've only ever known digitally and to meet new readers,..."

Good luck.Be sure to tell us how it went.

Thanks everyone! I'm getting married in August and will be continuing to use my maiden name—Elizabeth Barone—as my pen name. My main concern is identity theft. Do you think it'd be okay to sign the way I sign everything else, since my legal signature will be changing soon anyway? As silly as this might sound, I'm really proud of my signature and think it'd make a spiffy autograph.

Since the name I write under is also one of my legal names and what I use anyway in daily life, I use that to sign with: Red Haircrow.

As my handwriting skills are crap anyway, I don't know about it being legible :-) but I do have an added indigenous sign that would be difficult for anyone to forge (not that someone would have an interest in doing so).

Elizabeth, I use a pen name and how I sign my legal name verse book signings I wouldn't worry about identity theft. However my handwriting always look different. Also if you are writing with a pen name I wouldn't worry about identity theft there are too many factors for that :)

This is very true, Ottilie. My fiance was the one who brought identity theft up—otherwise I wouldn't have even thought of it!

I like the idea of adding a little something extra, though, Red!

That was a thought of mine that came natural, anyway, but as a psychology major who will also be working in that profession in the future: yea, you do write prescriptions, etc. including latin so it is somewhat incomprehensible to the average person so as not to be easily replicated.

As a former law enforcement officer though, for book signings, someone just copying a signature in order to raise book selling prices doesn't occur that often. It would really have to involve a very high selling or popular author today, or more commonly, though still rare, a deceased, reknowned author.

Just in passing, identity theft over author signatures at book signings isn't high on the radar because conversely you have to consider the idea what can someone get out of it and how easily they can escape detection without even cursory checks. Not much, and for many, not worth the effort to just get a few hundred dollars worth of funds before they are tracked down and prosecuted.

Electronic crime and identity theft are unfortunately rampant and astronomically beyond such crimes based on written signatures. Whether it contains your signature or not, check anything related to your name through the Internet regularly. Google your name and follow the results through the very last. This can give you an indication if any site, person, etc. is using your name or work in a way you do not agree with, or for profit for themselves.

I figured if someone tried to do an identity theft of my pen name they aren't going to get real far since there isn't any info instead of writing.