Aronstg - Non-King

I figured I would follow suit here. My collection is extremely modest comparatively to many here but I still have some gems that I would like to share. Most of these include art/remarques or a personal connection to the author. I find that that going out and getting a signature from an author is such a rush for me. I've had some special opportunities to spend an ample amount of time with my favorite authors and it is something I don't take for granted. I'll start my thread with this book. I met Pierce before he was a huge success. I had received an ARC of Red Rising and I really enjoyed it. He was attending his first con and he was such an unknown that they didn't even have a signing table/times for him. He managed to get a fold out table and was just kind of floating there out on the con floor. No one at all was in approaching him. I had a chance to go up and talk to him and we probably talked for an hour about his book and life. I ended up spending a fair amount of time with him that weekend. Took a walk with him after his last panel of the weekend and even got that elusive friend request on FB. A few months later Red Rising exploded and he know has a rapid fan base. The last time I saw him he was in a room with handful of authors. Some of them had a handful of people in their line. His line was out the door.

So anyways I brought this ARC to him about two years ago and had him sign it. There is a special feeling when you see an Author and they remember you by name. It's also nice knowing you got in on the ground floor of fandom.

Here is My Red Rising ARC.

https://i.imgur.com/q0Y4ppt.jpg

Daaaaaamn. This is so cool. Great story - one of the first howlers- I did not discover RR until all three books were published.
I just don’t have the time to attend signings and shows otherwise I would do exactly what you did - congratulations !!

What a great piece to start with, and such an awesome connection to the author! Good for you for recognizing a rising talent (no pun intended) and getting to spend some time with him. I'm sure he remembered you because you were an early and legitimate fan of his work and not a late hanger-on who only wanted his autograph once he was famous. Not that there's anything wrong with wanting the autograph of an author after he or she becomes famous, but the ratio of legitimate fans to autograph seekers lowers pretty drastically over time...

Great story. I'm sure he greatly appreciated having the support you showed him when he was relatively unknown.

So this book is also pretty dang special. It was the 2nd signed book I ever received in person. I previously lived in a city that wasn't large enough to have regular author visits. So not long after I moved to Phoenix I was really excited to hear that Neil Gaiman's last signing tour was going to have a stop in Phoenix. This was my first formal signing event and wow.. you guys can imagine. Somewhere north of 2000 people crammed into a gymnasium. I honestly didn't know if this was normal or not but I assumed that this must be large. The rules of the night were that Neil would sign as many copies of Ocean's that you had and would sign one additional book of your choice. He would only personalize one book and he would not inscribe any books.. due to time. American Gods is one of my favorite books and at the time I didn't have a 1st/1st so I went to B&N and picked up one of there beautiful leatherbound copies of AG and Anansi boys.

After a few hours of waiting I was next to go. I handed the books to the handlers and informed them that I just wanted Ocean's flat signed and that I wanted a personalization for AG. When I got the Neil I asked him if he would make it out to Mr. Nancy.. because I absolutely love the character. Neil looked up at me and gave a huge smile and said "of course!" and then.. against the rules.. he even added an inscription.. without me asking for it. I know it's just small word but I mean that word was written by Neil Gaiman.. It has magic behind it. Also just that small gesture when he broke his own rules and had thousands of books to sign that night. Well this book will always be special to me.

https://i.imgur.com/rWpAiva.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aronstg

So this book is also pretty dang special. It was the 2nd signed book I ever received in person. I previously lived in a city that wasn't large enough to have regular author visits. So not long after I moved to Phoenix I was really excited to hear that Neil Gaiman's last signing tour was going to have a stop in Phoenix. This was my first formal signing event and wow.. you guys can imagine. Somewhere north of 2000 people crammed into a gymnasium. I honestly didn't know if this was normal or not but I assumed that this must be large. The rules of the night were that Neil would sign as many copies of Ocean's that you had and would sign one additional book of your choice. He would only personalize one book and he would not inscribe any books.. due to time. American Gods is one of my favorite books and at the time I didn't have a 1st/1st so I went to B&N and picked up one of there beautiful leatherbound copies of AG and Anansi boys.

After a few hours of waiting I was next to go. I handed the books to the handlers and informed them that I just wanted Ocean's flat signed and that I wanted a personalization for AG. When I got the Neil I asked him if he would make it out to Mr. Nancy.. because I absolutely love the character. Neil looked up at me and gave a huge smile and said "of course!" and then.. agains the rules.. he even added an inscription.. without we asking for it. I know it's just small word but I mean that word was written by Neil Gaiman.. It has magic behind it. Also just that small gesture when he broke his own rules and had thousands of books to sign that night. Well this book will always be special to me.

https://i.imgur.com/rWpAiva.jpg

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This is great!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aronstg

So this book is also pretty dang special. It was the 2nd signed book I ever received in person. I previously lived in a city that wasn't large enough to have regular author visits. So not long after I moved to Phoenix I was really excited to hear that Neil Gaiman's last signing tour was going to have a stop in Phoenix. This was my first formal signing event and wow.. you guys can imagine. Somewhere north of 2000 people crammed into a gymnasium. I honestly didn't know if this was normal or not but I assumed that this must be large. The rules of the night were that Neil would sign as many copies of Ocean's that you had and would sign one additional book of your choice. He would only personalize one book and he would not inscribe any books.. due to time. American Gods is one of my favorite books and at the time I didn't have a 1st/1st so I went to B&N and picked up one of there beautiful leatherbound copies of AG and Anansi boys.

After a few hours of waiting I was next to go. I handed the books to the handlers and informed them that I just wanted Ocean's flat signed and that I wanted a personalization for AG. When I got the Neil I asked him if he would make it out to Mr. Nancy.. because I absolutely love the character. Neil looked up at me and gave a huge smile and said "of course!" and then.. against the rules.. he even added an inscription.. without me asking for it. I know it's just small word but I mean that word was written by Neil Gaiman.. It has magic behind it. Also just that small gesture when he broke his own rules and had thousands of books to sign that night. Well this book will always be special to me.

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This is an awesome story and I agree that one word can make all the difference! And that particular edition is really beautiful. Honestly, if I had a choice I might have him sign that edition over the first edition because it just displays so well. Definitely a case where a non-S/L publisher really stepped up, design wise.

Great Gaiman story, and great start to this thread...