Long ago, in the before-time, one of my greatest joys was signing my books.
Picture this: an intimate gathering at a bookshop or a huge, boisterous crowd at a microbrewery. I’ve just given a 30 minute talk on the women pioneers of space science or the state of science fiction in 1963. And then I announce my newest book to great applause and a queue forms. Words are exchanged, signatures are scribbled, and friendships are made.
And then a pandemic hit our country, making gatherings a thing of the past.
This has been a bummer on both ends — I don’t get to do fun presentations anymore, and readers don’t get signed books. An unsolvable problem?
Hardly! For one, I’ve been doing a lot more live video shows. Like the rest of you, I’ve gotten pretty adept at Zoom and Webinar Jam. It doesn’t quite have the immediacy and intimacy of an in-person performance, but it also lets me reach more people. It’s turned out to be surprisingly fun, and I’m doing more shows than ever now.
As for signatures? We’ve got that covered now, too:
Bookplates are little stickers that go inside the cover of a book. We’ve made custom bookplates for all of our Journey Press titles, each with their own artwork and author signatures. Turns every book into a collector’s item (not that they weren’t already… 😉 )
If you’re one of those community-minded souls who patronizes your friendly neighborhood bookshop, you may already be getting a bookplate with your purchase — many bookstores have asked for bookplates to put in their inventory.
But if you’ve gotten or plan to get one of our books online (Mazel Tov!) and you want a bookplate, all you have to do is ask. Fill out the contact form below, and we’ll mail you a signed bookplate for the title(s) of your choice.
It’s our way of saying thank you for your support, and for keeping in touch during this awful, isolating time.
Enjoy!
Journey Press 