Beware Autographed Books

I was in a national chain bookstore last week and noticed that they had a copy of one of my books on the shelf. I took it to the customer service desk, identified myself as the author, and offered to autograph it for them. The service representative was glad to let me, and he pulled out his “Autographed Copy” sticker and checked inventory to see if they had any more of my books in stock (I was pretty sure they wouldn’t, and I was right). Just another pleasant afternoon at the bookstore, right?

Yes it was, but there was an oddness to it, as well. At no time did the sales clerk ask for any proof that I was who I said I was. It was my own book I was signing, but it could’ve been anyone’s (well, maybe not Shakespeare’s, Stephen King’s, or Toni Morrison’s). Could any one of us walk into a bookstore, find a reasonably obscure book, and be taken up on our offer to autograph it as the author?

I guess this is where authentication for sports autographs came from.