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| taped inside Pet Sematary ebay.com current bid: $6.50 |
Why not to mess with signed editions: Because publishers have figured out signed is better and have made it a business. The days of sending your personal copy of a book to the author and getting it signed and returned are gone. Authors no longer do as may signings, and publishers don't like the author to sign books when they run into fans because it devalues their signature. So what was fun is now just a money game.
Taped inside a copy of Pet Sematary is a note signed by King. Now the book itself is not signed, it's on paper. But, think about this -- it's the same signature. So I'm asking -- what's special about his handwriting inside a book as opposed to on a paper?
I think inscribed books are better than flatsigned. I love seeing the ones where little personal notes have been written from the author to the book owner. Some people prefer flatsigned books. They don't want the writing that is directed to someone else. However, that is part of the books history -- part of the signing -- and I think it's delightful. I don't own a book King has insribed,but I own other boosk with little notes from the author, and it's great!
Here's a couple I spotted that I think are cool:
- Four Past Midnight: "For Rick, don't stay out late."
- Firestarter: "To Dianne -- on her 25th -- with love from Scott and Stephen King, 8/19/90."
Someone should put together a list (book) of the things King has written to fans when autographing them.
An interesting thing is that the more expensive signed books are the old ones and the more recent ones. A copy of Doctor Sleep signed is $400+. Why? Because that's where Cemetery Dance set the price, and people were ready to fork that over. I think at $400 you should also get a couple of new tires and a Walmart gift card.
Know what I notice? Signed books from the mid portion of King's writing don't cost as much. Check it out on ebay! (Not that I recommend buying signed items on ebay.)
- Bag of Bones, $250
- Christine, $150 (Hold on! Why is this so low and Doctor Sleep so high? A signed Christine seems like it would be very valuable because it's more rare to have those than the current super novel)
- Rose Madder, $175
- Eyes of the Dragon, $195
- Bag of Bones, $150 (advanced reading copy)
- Four Past Midnight, $149
- Firestarter, $375
- Full Dark No Stars, 112.50 (current bid, not final selling price)
- The Shining, $2,800 (seriously -- that's a lot of money.)
- BETTS BOOKSTORE: Dolores Claiborne, $75 (www.bettsbooks.com)
Okay, my point is really just how subjective this all is. The books prices are pretty standard until King autographs them, and then BAM! the price can go anywhere. Salem's Lot signed goes for about $3,000. That doesn't mean anyone will pay that, but it is what someone is asking.
Tell me --
how important is a signature?
How much would you be willing for fork over?
What King books do you have signed?
Me and Bryant actually discussed this once.
ReplyDeleteIn fact the comment I made went something like King not catering to Eastern Seaboard types, and wondering how appreciative of literature someone who could easily afford such price tags as those listed above.
How important is a signature, well, I guess it depends on who the people involved were.
For instance there's a difference between people like King and Mailer, and the singers of the Declaration of Independence.
The business industry sees people like King or Mailer as marketable. They see the founding Fathers in pretty much the same way, yet none of them would dare (at least not yet) try to sell off such signatures as genuine.
There does seem to be some kind of law in this trade that goes, the older it is the higher the price tag.
For instance, if someone found a valid signature by Mark Twain or Edgar Allen Poe on an old document, odds are it would go in a museum rather than on the specialized market.
Otherwise, it seems useless and counter-productive to think the average American will ever be able ultimately to afford to take such a risk for a modern book signed by a modern author.
ChrisC
I've got two King autographs. I obtained neither in person, sadly.
ReplyDeleteOne is in an anthology -- the name of which escapes me -- that included the first appearance of the short story "Stationary Bike." Every author in the book signed it, which is pretty cool. I think I paid maybe $75 for that one, brand-new.
The second is a signature from King on the scoresheet from a University of Maine women's basketball game! One of my bosses traveled with the University of Alabama's basketball team, and we were playing UM a couple of decades ago. She met King at the game -- he and Tabitha were big fans of the UM team and went to the games -- and she got King's autograph for me because she knew what a big fan I was.
And am!
I need to get that one framed, or laminated or something. That paper ain't getting any younger, that's for sure.
I think autographs are cool, but they're not the sort of thing I'm apt to ever pay for. That's for other folks to do.