Signed Books for the Holidays: How to Get Them From Me
Posted on November 16, 2011 Posted by John Scalzi 21 Comments
The last couple of weeks people have e-mailed me, asking, “Hey, that thing you do during the holidays? Where you team up with your local bookstore to get signed copies of your books to people? Are you going to do that again? Well? Are you? Are you? ARE YOU?!?!?”
The answer: Yes. Yes, I am. And yes are they, too. Wait, that’s not right. “Yes, they are, too.” Yoda I am not.
Good People of the United States! Once again, Jay and Mary’s Book Center, my local and awesome independent bookstore, located in Troy, Ohio, will be delighted to take your order for books which I have written, that I will then sign and/or personalize, which they will then ship to you. And all you have to do is the following:
1. Call Jay and Mary’s at their 800 number (800 842 1604) and let them know you’d like to order signed copies of my books. Please call rather than send e-mail; they find it easier to keep track of things that way.
2. Tell them which books you would like (May I recommend Fuzzy Nation? It’s especially good this year!), and what, if any, names you would like the book signed to. If there’s something specific you’d like written in the books let them know but for their sake and mine, please keep it short.
3. Order any other books you might think you’d like, written by other people, because hey, you’ve already called a bookstore for books, and helping local independent bookstores is a good thing. I won’t sign these, unless for some perverse reason you want me to, in which case, sure, why not.
4. Give them your mailing address and billing information, etc.
5. Wait by the door until everything arrives. All right, you don’t have to do this one. I realize you have family and jobs and such.
If you would like your books to arrive in time for Christmas, I and the bookstore strongly recommend you get your order in by December 12. I will sign orders for books after that date — I’ll sign any order that comes in on or before December 19 — but you run the risk of them not being able to deliver your book on time. So on or before December 12 is your target date.
Jay and Mary’s can only ship in the United States. Sorry, rest of the world. Canada, I’ll try to sign as many books as I can while I’m in you this weekend. I’ll let you know how that goes.
In case you need a recap on what of mine is available:
CURRENT HARDCOVER: Fuzzy Nation, METAtropolis, The God Engines (Note: the God Engines hardcover is going out of print, so if you want it and they have it, you better get it)
CURRENT MASS MARKET PAPERBACK: Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, Zoe’s Tale, The Android’s Dream, Agent to the Stars, The New Space Opera 2 (anthology; my story “The Tale of the Wicked” is in it).
CURRENT NON-FICTION: Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded (essay collection, Hugo winner), Book of the Dumb, Book of the Dumb 2 (both humor books), The Rough Guide to the Universe, second edition (Astronomy), The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies (film). All my non-fiction is in Trade Paperback format.
If you have any other questions, drop them in the comment thread and I’ll try to answer them.
Happy shopping and if you do put in an order thanks for supporting my local independent bookstore. They rock, and so do you.
I really don’t understand ordering signed books. If I ever get a signed book from you, I want you to have to use hand sanitizer afterwards.
It’s because I can’t be everywhere at once.
I realize that you can’t be everywhere at once (or even at all), but an autograph to me is a souvenir of a face-to-face encounter.
My grandfather had an impressive collection of autographs, and I’m fairly sure he witnessed most if not all of the signings. The idea that he actually met Daisy and Violet Hilton, or Marlene Dietrich is what impresses me the most (though the personalized autographs are less valuable to collectors who don’t share his name).
My own collection is rather small (Fred Saberhagen, Jimmy James, Mandy Barnett, and Jerry Falwell).
A book with an “Autographed Copy” pressure-sensitive label attached doesn’t do it for me. I picture Joan Crawford’s household staff signing her names to stacks of 8×10 glossies.
I get more of a thrill from you responding to my blog comment. Thanks for making my day!
You will be if you go faster than light!
Not exactly on topic…
I just wanted to say that I’ve been enjoying your writings. “Old Man’s War” is one of my favorite ‘classic’ SciFi books. And, even though I’m not a writer, I’m enjoying your no-nosense take on writing in “You’re Not Fooling Anyone When…”
Keep up the great work! I’ll be reading more!
-Justin
I’m impressed that you’re actually going to sign all of the copies ordered by people all over the nation. This to me is something that I will partake in. I have not actually read any of your books, but I have followed your blog for a while, and I can tell that I will like your writing. It’s awesome to know that you care enough for your readers to do this. Thank you.
Just ordered 4 books – easy process, the woman who answered the phone (Mary? don’t know) was very pleasant. THANKS!
I just ordered, thank you.
@Kevin B. A book autographed by the author makes a great gift to a fan of that author.
John, is the bookstore really on Experiment Farm Road? Really? Really for real? That’s the name of the road? On which the bookstore is? Are there like, unhallowed hybrid monster pigs and stuff? Carnivorous corn?
WE DO NOT SPEAK OF WHAT GOES ON AT THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM. Not since the Rhubarb Sheep Incident of 2006.
Well anything goes great with rhubarb!
The Bookstore of Dr. Moreau.
I can attest to the veracity of the Experiment Farm Road location. Used to live a half-mile from there, in a little subdivision in a little ranch house with a little patio with a great view of, well, a Meijer store across a field. American Dream, I had arrived.
Never did know what the street name actually commemorated, unfortunately. Never much thought about it, maybe because growing up 15 miles away I lived right by Sweet Potato Ridge Road. Which seemed even sillier, especially to a kid.
And by the way, unless I’m completely mixed up, just down from the bookstore is the BMV “one-stop shop” for license and registration renewals. Between that and a bookstore and a Meijer, I’m appalled to think that I left. But then again, now I live in a town that bills itself as “America’s Largest Community of Brick Homes,” so I still have that to impress folks with.
Oh dear, somehow I missed out on the sheep and rhubarb! And to think you won’t talk about it. Perhaps someone was trying to turn sheep purple? A sight I don’t want to see!
*Squeal!!!!* Good lord.. I’m sorry about that. I got super excited. *hangs head in shame*
Now I get to bug the crap out of my best friend until he gets me a book for Christmas. YAY!!!
*happy dance* Damnit.. stop making me do that!! SHEESH!
Horrible experiments delving into Things Man Was Not Meant To Know are perfectly acceptable when the experimenters are sheep.
Fantastic! Are you staying primarily in Toronto or are you touring around a little bit? I’m in Waterloo and only just saw that you’d be in the country!
I worked at Jay and Mary’s through high school and breaks from college, and it always fills me with joy to see you guys teaming up. It was a great place to work and it receives a lot of support from the community. Support independent booksellers!
Just wanted to say that I had a great experience buying a book from Jay and Mary’s today. Thanks for doing this… I am sure my bro-in-law shall greatly appreciate it for x-mas!
Just got off the phone with Jay & Mary’s – Mr. Scalzi arrived there today to sign books, so there will be books shipped out tomorrow. I purchased mine Nov 16 and I was told that there was a BIG stack of books ordered (my order was part of that stack), so if you haven’t received yours yet, don’t worry – they’ll be in the mail soon!
Too bad it’s too early to order a signed copy of Redshirts!
I already have Fuzzy Nation – one signed copy (from Jay & Mary’s) and one unsigned. I loved it!
I would also like to see a reboot of my other H. Beam Piper favorite – Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen.
(I’ve always wanted to be Lord Kalvan – but I would have to have a harem of course, preferably a large one!)