Justine Manzano Today on the blog, author C.S. Woolley is here to spread awareness about a very cool service available to authors and readers alike. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Please welcome Ms. Woolley to the blog!
What is Authorgraph?
By C.S. Woolley
Being able to get books signed by your favourite author is something that is truly special, and the rise of e-books seems to be making that harder – or is it? As you may have guessed, e-books, especially kindle books can now be signed by the author. No, you don’t need to get a collection of Sharpie autographs on the back of your e-reader. Instead, you can use Authorgraph to do it for you.
So what is Authorgraph?
I’m glad you asked! Authorgraph is a completely free service for both authors and readers to use. What it does is allows authors to register on the site with their book catalogue and in turn allows readers to request autographs from their favourite authors. So it doesn’t matter where in the world the author or reader are, a signed book is only a click or two away.
How do I use Authorgraph?
As the service is free, it’s a relatively simple process. You need to sign up before you can start getting Authorgraphs, and you can do this by either filling out the form or choosing to connect to the service through Twitter. If you use the form option to register, you’ll need to verify your account using the link in the email that is sent out and off you go. If you use Twitter, you’ll need to add a few personal details in your account section before you can start. But it is a relatively straight forward and quick process.
In order to get an Authorgraph, the author must be registered on the site, so this can mean that some of your favourite authors might be missing, but you can always send them a message and get them to sign up so you can get their autographs.
To help guide you through the user process for readers, here is a step-by-step guide with some screenshots.
First you find the author or the book that you want to get authorgraphed by using the search bar at the top of the page. Once you’ve found the book, then you simply click on request authorgraph! It takes one click and a screen will pop up.
The pop up screen gives you the option of sending a message to the author as part of the authorgraph request. You might have a question you want answered or a dedication that you want included with the authorgraph, or you may want to tell the author about how much you enjoyed the book or have a story to share with them about how reading their book changed your life. You just type whatever you like in the message box and click add message. Alternatively, you may just be happy with the authorgraph, if so, then just click skip.
If everything has gone smoothly, the next screen you will see is the confirmation that your request has been sent. Then it’s up to the author to fulfil the request. Once it has been, you’ll get a message that it’s arrived and you can view your Authorgraph. Some will be flat signatures, others will appear before your eyes as though the author is signing it for you at that very moment.
What if I am an author and want to register on Authorgraph?
It’s free for any author to register on Authorgraph and the process is the same as the process for signing up as a reader. Once you have verified your email with the site, you can view your author page. On the top right nav bar of any screen is the option to add books.
All you need to do is put in the ASIN of the book you want to add. You can do this for multiple books. It takes a minimum of a few hours for your books to be added, so don’t worry if they aren’t there straight away. You can only add them one at a time though.
Once you’ve got your books uploaded, you can choose how you are going to sign your authorgraph. You can use a signature that is generated by the site or use their drawing tool. The drawing tool is a little hard to deal with if you don’t have a digital pen or aren’t used to using your finger or a mouse to sign things online. Because of this, if you aren’t confident with using the drawing tool, you may want to stick with the site generated signature.
If you do brave the drawing tool, then when the signature is opened, it will be revealed to the reader as though you are writing it for them then and there.
The other nice option that Authorgraph has, is it allows you to send personalised messages along with your Authorgraph, even if they haven’t requested something. It’s a chance for your to hone your standard inscription i.e. Stan Lee had “To x “Excelsior! Your friend, Stan Lee” as his standard inscription.
Once you’ve fulfilled the order, you can see the Authorgraphs you’ve sent under “Your Requests” on the drop down menu, under your profile icon. Similar for readers, you can see all your Authorgraphs under “Your Collection.”
And that’s all there is to it. Authorgraph is a great tool that allows authors and readers to bridge the distance gap and lets readers get autographs without having to wait for hours in long lines. Plus, authors don’t have to get hand cramps signing books all day. It also lets readers see all the books that the favourite authors have published in one easy place, and you can see if there are any missing from your collection that you may want to add.
I started using Authorgraph in 2016 and think it is one of the best services out there for readers and authors alike, and is one of the more underrated tools.
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C.S. Woolley (Caroline Sarah Woolley) was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire and raised in the nearby town of Wilmslow. From an early age she discovered she had a flair and passion for writing. She currently lives with her partner, Matt, and their two cats in Christchurch, New Zealand.
She has published many books in her mystery series Nicolette Mace: The Raven Siren, as well as a series of adapted classics for Foxton Books, and a series of modernised Shakespeare and workbooks to help with GCSEs. Her upcoming series include Alpha Sigma, The Children of Danelaw, Dark Hearts, and The Children of Ribe Story Books. C.S has taken part in charity projects that produced content for Standing by the Watchtower: Volume 1 & Volume 2, Indie Visible Volume 1 and the 12 Days of Christmas in Stickleback Hollow. C.S has also acted in several plays and films including Weekend (2011). She loves horse riding, including show jumping and cross country, Formula 1, tennis, free climbing, singing, boxing, dancing, playing guitar, cricket and is also an avid PC and console gamer.
For more information please visit: http://www.mightierthanthesworduk.com
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