Signed Books
There is a lot of the following simplistic thinking going on by new authors. Many signed books are more valuable than the same book without a signature. Therefore if an author signs all of their books, they will all become more valuable.
Wrong. The value of a signed book is mostly determined by three factors:
1. The notoriety or fame of the signer.
2. The scarcity of the signature.
3. The value of the object being signed.
As an example, consider the following two books:
A. A signed first edition in dust jacket of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. This is a valuable book: (1) Hemingway is famous. (2) He is dead (no more signatures) (3) The unsigned book itself is valuable. (Five figures).
B.. A pre-signed self-published copy of My Beautiful Love Life by Harriette Cumquat. This book is worth little: (1) Who the hell is Harriette Cumquat? (2) Every copy is signed (3) Self-published books are generally worth little.
In the days before the internet, book signings were a way authors could publicize their books and add to their value. A book shop would hold a signing event. Customers would purchase copies and the author would talk to each customer and sign their copy of his or her book. Both the author and customer were adding value to the signature by making the effort to come to the book shop. With book shops fast disappearing, this process is happening less and less. Now you see publishers selling pre-signed books as well. If multiple copies are pre-signed, it does little other than reduce the value of the author’s signature.
Ted Willimas is an interesting example of how a famous person’s signature can vary depending upon where the signature is written. His signature is of particular value if it is on an object (e.g., a baseball) from his career in baseball. However, later in life Williams published a number of nature books. Signed copies of these books are worth far less.
Then there is Admiral Byrd. In his desire for publicity for his explorer exploits he was big on publicity. Thus he signed everything. There was a joke in the used-book business that unsigned copies of his books are more valuable than the signed ones—being scarcer.
