Who else hates signed bookplates?

I just got confirmation from Waterstones UK that both the Will Sergeant and Bobby Gillespie signed autobiographies will be bookplates. I first started encountering these on Premiere Collectibles and was really disappointed: the artist never actually handled the book. Does anyone else feel this way?

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Permalink Reply by Stepeanut on June 29, 2021 at 11:01am

Yep, there’s little practical difference between a tipped-in page and a bookplate, IMO. If anything, a tipped-in page can *only* be employed prior to publication. A bookplate can be applied at that time, or later, depending on the circumstance, but that doesn’t necessarily make it less desirable as a method. The end result is the same.

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Permalink Reply by crazyrabbits23 on July 1, 2021 at 2:01am

Depends on the circumstances; depending on the scarcity and/or tendency for fakes, there are certain authors I'd rather have on a bookplate.

For instance, I have this:

Given the high number of fakes of Paltrow's signature, I'd rather have it on a "Grand Central Publishing" bookplate than on a title page without any sort of supporting documentation. I have several other titles where I'm happier with the fact that it has an "official" author/publishing label bookplate (or a bookplate specific to this title) than with a flatsigned work, if the possibility exists for shenanigans.

It really depends on the author; I've got books with tipped in pages that never would have otherwise been signed by the author, due to them being too old to get to a book tour or signing, because of the pandemic or due to some other regional restriction.