📌 Crafting an Author Signature!

In which, as usual, I overthink everything--but have a lot of fun doing it

Jun 24, 2024

I’ve been working on my author signature! It may sound silly—and, well, it is (at least this far in advance). Still, I wanted to put thought and effort into it, and there’s no better time for that sort of thing than before you need to.

There are a few things to remember when deciding on your book-signing sig! (Kidlit Survival Guide’s “The Art of Signing Book” is an excellent resource on all kinds of ins-and-outs.)

Here are the main points I kept in mind from that, and other, research:

Don’t use your legal signature.
Make it something you can do quickly, intuitively, and legibly.
It should “work” whether you use a fat Sharpie pen or a regular ballpoint, so the simpler, the better.
Choosing a coordinating “phrase” that accompanies your signature can be fun! (Often, this changes from book to book.)

Building off those general guidelines, I decided:

I will use my full name but create a stylized signature that won’t be mistaken for a legal signature.
I will practice each option a few times, and if it seems hard for me to do—at all—I will let that option go.
I will write in a legible script.

I had some excellent examples to study, which I pulled from my signed book collection. (This is, sadly, a tiny portion—I’ve got over-booking issues, something I’m sure we all have in common.) What was nice about looking at a bunch of them as a group, though, is that I noticed a lot of choices that I hadn’t considered, including (but not limited to): the location of the signature within the book, pen, or marker ink color, degree of personalization, even substrate (a great reminder to consider what kind of bookplate I want to do for those I can’t be in person for), and more!

Some signatures I reviewed while trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Alas, each was super charming and definitely upped my anxiety and signature imposter syndrome. 👀😂

Here are some early doodles:

Yeah, these weren't great. BUT, they helped me figure out what aspects I did and didn't like!

I tweaked more and narrowed it down, and ended up…here!

There’s something I liked about the E and C being part of the same pen stroke, and I liked the way I could easily add (or not) a flourish or two when I’m feeling fancy. 🧐 Also, when I did it, big or small, it still seemed to hold its basic shape fine. Weirdly, it was also straightforward and quick!