Technology: The Kindlegraph

Tuesday 8 May 2012 12:11 by Avery Olive

Technology is amazing.

For some the allure of buying paperback copies is not just to have on the shelf collecting dust, it may be because there is a signature in the book.

Signatures not only add a touch of personality to any book, it is also a symbol. Some are lucky enough to personally know authors, have met with them a book signings, or have paid a little extra just to have a book with someone John Hancock in it.

This is part of a growing debate, paper Vs e-book. A paper copy you can hold in your hands, take with you to an event in hopes of getting it signed, but what if you could get your e-book signed too?

For some, that changes everything.

You’ve spent money on a book, you’ve interacted with the author on Twitter, or Facebook and now with modern technology those who opt for the e-book version can have the same glory as flashing around a signed paper back.

Enter Kindlegraph, one of many new sites that allows an Author to add in a personal note and signature for their valued customers. It’s as simple as tracking down the book and requesting an autograph...

One downside I can see? For Kindlegraph it’s that you’re actual e-copy won’t be signed. What you get is a separate .pdf version of the cover with the Authors note, and signature. But who cares? The joy is still there, you still got a personal note and signature from your favourite author. You can keep it in a separate folder and “collect” your Kindlegraphs.

Another downside? So far Kindlegraph is only connected to Amazon. They are not a part of Amazon itself but their system only works for Kindle available books and users. In order to get your Kindlegraph you need to have a kindle and a kindle e-mail address.

The last downside? How do you know the signature you get is authentic? The problem, you don’t. If you’re not handy with your mouse, or finger, you can choose a ready-made font to send out, which means the signature isn’t real. Also, when adding A Stiff Kiss to the list, all I had to do was have the AISN number and bam, I was claimed the Author of A Stiff Kiss by Avery Olive. I am the Author, but what if someone adds the book, dolls out signatures and isn’t the author? I see no way that Kindlegraph is making sure that doesn’t happen, short of doing regular checks on your books, if you haven’t added them yourself, or don’t want to, just to make sure someone else isn’t claiming to be the Author. I know it seems silly, but I’m sure it will happen.

But Kindlegraph still makes it easy, but you can also take what you’ve learned and use it to your advantage. If you know someone who isn’t a Kindle user, but still wants your signature for their collection, you can do it the slightly more time consuming way.

Simply write out your note, add your signature onto a blank piece of paper and scan it. Most scanners these days convert your file into a .pdf and voila! You have a personal .pdf file of your signature that you can send to your reader. As far as I know, most every e-reader these days accepts .pdf files. So you are in luck, if you need to send it to a non Kindle user.

Also, though Kindlegraph is nearly instant, I don’t know about you, but I’m not handy with a mouse. In order to use your signature you either have to draw it out, with your mouse (or finger if you are a tablet user) or choose one of their readymade cursive fonts.  I tried writing my signature out a million times and was never fully happy with it, no matter what, it has a real “electronic” feel to it. At least if you write out the note yourself and scan it, it will be without a doubt your Hancock you are sending out into the world, and not just some computer generated font.

This will still prompt some further research on my part, since I love Kindle, I love all my readers more, and will be finding a way to allow readers who don’t have a Kindle to still get the same attention and just as instantly as Kindlegraph makes it.

I think this is a fun way to gain signatures, adding them to a collection and making the e-book personal, but just remember, the signature you get, might not be real, it might just be a fancy cursive font, either way, a personal note is still an awesome thing to receive.

This is also shows you how cool technology really is, and how far we’ve come since the introduction of the e-book.

If you have Kindle, and want my Kindlegraph, just go here and request it. I asure you, my Hancock is one hundred percent authentic. I fiddled around trying to come up with a nearly perfect version!


6 Response to "Technology: The Kindlegraph"

  1. Evan Jacobs Says:

    Hi! I'm the creator of Kindlegraph.

    Thanks for writing about the service. I'm currently working on addressing many of the questions that you raised in your post including the ability to integrate the inscription inside the book itself and not being tied strictly to Amazon's catalog.

    Also, with the number of authors that have signed up for the service I can't verify every author manually. Instead, I have to rely on the community to help let me know if there is any malicious behavior (e.g. an author tries to claim a book that isn't hers). Fortunately, there have only been a very small handful of these incidents and most of them were honest mistakes and quickly remedied.

    I really appreciate your thoughts about the service and please let me know if there is anything else I can do to make it work better for you.

  2. Avery Olive Says:

    Wow, I am honoured! Thank you so much Evan for stopping by and addressing some of my concerns. I appreicate you taking the time, and you've given me that much more confidence in Kindlegraph!
    I think it's a great service and can't wait to start sending out my signature!

  3. Casea Major Says:

    I think kindlegraph is great! And how cool that Evan stopped by.

  4. ~Charity~ Says:

    Hi. I nominated you for the Sunshine Blog award. You can check out the details on my blog. :)

  5. Hildie McQueen Says:

    Thanks to you I just went and did it. Very easy! Thank you so much for sharing this Avery.

  6. romanceauthor Says:

    This is so neat! Thanks for sharing.