eBook Signing: We Don't Plummet Out of the Sky Anymore (EPUB/MOBI)

[Vintage Season]

Originally Posted by Lee Fyock

I googled "ebook signing" and this was the top hit, an event I hadn't heard of before now:
Texas' First Ever Ebook Signing

Interesting. I looked at the website mentioned in the article, and the only info I could find about the eBook was the following section:

(Edit: This is now inside "spoiler" tags, because after a little sleep I realized that it looked like I was advertising something... or possibly making fun of the author. I'm not. This section is quoted only to put the two sections below in context. — M.D.B.)

Spoiler:

You get 60+ pages of a professionally written and illustrated ebook, including full-color photos and descriptions of all the exercises—nothing is left for you to figure out!

Presenting the smart solution for busy women…



Want Your NEW Busy Sexy Body
NOW? Just Click Here to Order And
You Can Immediately Download The
System in PDF Format!

... so I Googled "Tam Thompson" and "ebook," and came up with a couple of other interesting links.

This one includes the following section (I've bolded and underlined the relevant part):

How will this unique ebook signing work?

"People will visit the library, get on the computers, and purchase 'Busy Sexy Body--How YOU can have a slim, sexy body in just 17 minutes a day, even if you think you're too busy!' and then I'll autograph a printed full-color cover and answer any questions," says Tam Thompson, B.S. and M.Ed. in Kinesiology and former owner of Thompson Fitness Training.

And this one has a follow-up reaction:

First-time ebook author Tam Thompson wasn't expecting to be overwhelmed at Texas' first ebook signing for her new ebook, "Busy Sexy Body--How YOU can have a slim, sexy body in just 17 minutes a day, no matter how busy you are", a 64-page fitness and weight loss ebook for women who are too busy to drive to a fitness center.

But she didn't expect to have her title banned, nor the flyer she'd carefully taped to the door of her hometown library in Blanco, Texas during her library volunteer hours …yet that's what happened.

... which is rather sad, because it's fairly clear from the image and accompanying text that her work has nothing to do with "sex" (the part that raised objections), and more to do with finding ways to exercise while maintaining a busy schedule.

Originally Posted by Lee Fyock

This seems like one of those good ideas that people keep inventing independently.

Multiple independent discovery is an honorable tradition. Tam Thompson doesn't quite fit in the list, if she was only autographing paper covers to accompany an eBook (which is my understanding of the explanation she gave, above), but your experience with Tad Williams certainly seems to establish his involvement with a similar concept during the 2003 BookExpo America.

Did any other authors avail themselves of that technology, or did it evaporate? I'd never heard of it, but I am relatively new to the whole concept of eBooks.

- M.

[Vintage Season]

Day four finished as another round of e-mails wafted into cyberspace, and their intended recipients, thus cleaning out the inbox at 3:16am EST. If you haven't received your signed dedications within the next few minutes, that means I never received your request.

As before:

• If you sent a request, but have not received your signed eBooks yet, please re-send. I don't want to miss anybody who wants to participate.
  .
• If you are just discovering this idea, and it sounds like fun, send a request! Still plenty of time for new folks to join in.
  .
• If you posted a photo of your dedication as it is shown on your device (on Facebook, or a blog site, or anywhere else, and a few people have also e-mailed me copies—thank you!) I'd love to see it too.

SPECIAL NOTE: Wednesday, 14 July, is the last scheduled day of the eBook Signing Event. What this means is that at the end of the day, this thread will be un-stickied, and it is the last day for which I have scheduled dedicated signing hours, for a little while.

Yes, I will still continue to sign late requests. But if you want to be included in the "first edition" numbering sequence, you will need to have your request in by midnight tomorrow, Eastern Time Zone... twenty hours and 30 minutes from this post.

Requests that arrive before the deadline have priority, and will be completed as quickly as possible.

Any requests that arrive past the deadline of midnight tomorrow night, Eastern Time Zone, will be signed as I have time, between my other writing projects... and they will be labeled and numbered as a second edition.

Day five starts... later today! But since the inbox is still (for the moment) empty, I am going to avail myself of the opportunity for a little sleep, perchance to dream. See you all again in the morning.

- M.

[Vintage Season]

I am sending out another round of dedications right now, which clears out everything that arrived last night and this morning.

Only ten hours left, if you want to be part of the FIRST EDITION sequence!

(Anything that arrives after midnight, Eastern Time Zone—give or take a few minutes, depending on how many stragglers are really close—will be included in the SECOND EDITION... but those will be signed and numbered as I have time between writing projects, rather than in a single five day span.)

- M.D.B.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Vintage Season

[SIZE="3"][COLOR="DarkRed"]SPECIAL NOTE: Wednesday, 14 May, is the last scheduled day of the eBook Signing Event. What this means is that at the end of the day, this thread will be un-stickied, and it is the last day for which I have scheduled dedicated signing hours, for a little while.

I assume you mean 14 July 2010??

(if so, you should edit the above message)

BOb

[Vintage Season]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I assume you mean 14 July 2010??

(if so, you should edit the above message)

BOb

Ack! Thanks for catching that, BOb. (As you might guess, I was a little tired last night.)

It's fixed now.

- M.D.B.

[namralkeeg]

Here's a screen capture of mine on my ipad.

[Vintage Season]

Originally Posted by namralkeeg

Here's a screen capture of mine on my ipad.

Looks great (and I think that's the first iPad shot I've seen)!

The dedication gallery isn't up yet, but may I include your image, when it is?

- M.D.B.

[jaxx6166]

I know you've heard this for the past 5 pages of the thread, but I just found the link. This is a great idea and definitely made me smile. I appreciate your enthusiasm and bringing a personal touch to the digital age.

[namralkeeg]

Originally Posted by Vintage Season

Looks great (and I think that's the first iPad shot I've seen)!

The dedication gallery isn't up yet, but may I include your image, when it is?

- M.D.B.

Yes, yes you may good sir.

I would also like to add, that the digital signature page looks really good on the ipad screen btw.

[TomF]

David, thanks, I received my copy!

Here's a screen shot from my K2i. Feel free to use this in your FB gallery! And thanks again!

Tom

[Vintage Season]

Thank you both! I'll try to get the gallery started soon.

- M.D.B.

[Vintage Season]

With roughly two and a half hours to go, I've once again cleaned out the inbox, so if anyone has been waiting until the last minute to send a request... now is an excellent time. Anything that arrives before midnight, Eastern Time Zone, will be given priority and signed/numbered as a "FIRST EDITION."

Any dedication requests that arrive much after the deadline will still be signed, but this will be done as I have time between other writing projects, at my discretion, and will be signed/numbered as part of the "SECOND EDITION."

- M.D.B.

[pietvo]

I received my copy a few days ago. I read it today. It is a nice story. I also think it is just fun to interact in this way on the forum. David, thanks for all your effort! I am especially proud that I am mentioned in the afterword.

I have put a photo of my Boox with the dedication page on my website.

[Vintage Season]

Signing and sending a few more now, as the countdown approaches...

- M.D.B.

[Vintage Season]

So what does a stack of several hundred hand-signed eBook dedications really look like?

... and you can't even see them all in one photo.

Over the past five days I have signed a lot of dedications. I have signed in English, Spanish, French and German. I have signed to people in every walk of life. I have signed to a few names that you might know... if I was at liberty to tell you who they were. I have signed dedications to be gifted to others, birthday wishes, silly banter and serious contemplation.

I have loved every moment of it.

Now, my hands need a little rest. The first MobileRead SIGNATURE EDITION eBook Signing Event was scheduled to end at midnight. A few requests slipped in as I was wrapping things up, so they are in, but in the morning I will be writing stories again... and loving every minute of that, too.

So you still want a hand-signed eBook dedication? No problem.

Yes, I'll still be happy to sign for you... but it will take a little longer than overnight turnaround, now. Assuming the requests continue to arrive, I will periodically go through and sign a batch of dedications. Send me interesting notes, and you'll get personalized touches (the dedications where I can send a personalized touch are the most fun!).

Also, any signings that take place after the morning of 15 July 2010 will be for the SECOND EDITION of this SIGNATURE EDITION eBook. The first edition is closed... and only the people who sent dedication requests during the originally scheduled dates for the event (10-14 July) have those.

So you want to share your hand-signed eBook with someone, so that they can get their own?

Please do! Let your friends have a copy, let the dog have a copy, put it on uselessnet or bittorrent or whatever you like, as long as you keep the book—including your dedication—intact, and you aren't trying to get anything for it in return. No, you can't accept money, trading cards, bubblegum or any tangible value for my story. It is mine. I own the copyright, and I'm not giving that away... but if someone you know wants to read it, let them do so. They might like it, and if they do, they are welcome to contact me for a personal dedication.

Remember though, they will be part of the SECOND EDITION, and it will take a little longer for them to receive their hand signed copies than it took you.

Anything else?

Well, I just noticed one more e-mail arrive as I was typing this. All right, this is the last one in the first edition... then it's time for bed.

- M.D.B.