Yeah that’s not a signed copy. It’s a piece of art. It’s a lot of trouble to get an author to sign 5000 pieces of paper consistently and on time, especially when they are famous and busy. I like Will Smith’s TikToks about this - basically assembly line, staffers, energy drinks...and he made it fun by signing on camera, but we’re all lying if we say he enjoyed it. Bob is notorious for disappearing or changing gears so,
Also don’t forget that a lot of authors don’t provide secondary content for books, so they don’t want to have input about things like stock images. A book rushed for time might not have a full art direction process for the interior. They might know early author is late and US printing is imminent so they go with stock. This book sounds mishandled at the AD stage to me (it pains me to say) but also like they ran out of time.
This is a fun reflection. I bet you’re right on the contract. They couldn’t get Chronicles: Volume 2 out of him, so they said, “What else could we get him to do?” They had the model of his Theme Time Radio Hour and thought, “Let’s just have him do that in a book.” Genius! They’re back in business. That difficulty with him delivering (I’m guessing) would explain the “light” editing and the need to print in the U.S.
I did love most of the artwork in the book. I thought pairing the Osborne Brothers’s song, “Ruby, Are You Mad” with the photo of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald was hilarious. Especially if you’ve ever seen that Dead Kennedys spoof with Oswald singing into a mic and Ruby playing guitar. It’s the perfect mashup. I can’t not see Oswald singing in that shot.
Yeah that’s not a signed copy. It’s a piece of art. It’s a lot of trouble to get an author to sign 5000 pieces of paper consistently and on time, especially when they are famous and busy. I like Will Smith’s TikToks about this - basically assembly line, staffers, energy drinks...and he made it fun by signing on camera, but we’re all lying if we say he enjoyed it. Bob is notorious for disappearing or changing gears so,
Also don’t forget that a lot of authors don’t provide secondary content for books, so they don’t want to have input about things like stock images. A book rushed for time might not have a full art direction process for the interior. They might know early author is late and US printing is imminent so they go with stock. This book sounds mishandled at the AD stage to me (it pains me to say) but also like they ran out of time.
Anyway. Interesting discussion,
This is a fun reflection. I bet you’re right on the contract. They couldn’t get Chronicles: Volume 2 out of him, so they said, “What else could we get him to do?” They had the model of his Theme Time Radio Hour and thought, “Let’s just have him do that in a book.” Genius! They’re back in business. That difficulty with him delivering (I’m guessing) would explain the “light” editing and the need to print in the U.S.
I did love most of the artwork in the book. I thought pairing the Osborne Brothers’s song, “Ruby, Are You Mad” with the photo of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald was hilarious. Especially if you’ve ever seen that Dead Kennedys spoof with Oswald singing into a mic and Ruby playing guitar. It’s the perfect mashup. I can’t not see Oswald singing in that shot.
YES! That is a funny one for sure. There are a lot of images in the book that are fun.