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Depends on the number of books you're doing. When my book of photographs was published, I used a Sharpie to make an obnoxious and indelible signature. Today I'd use on of the Lamys with A broad or italic nib with any of Herbin'S 1670 inks. If you don't use an italic regularly, you should practice so you don't plunge into the paper. Maybe have a fan on the table to help the ink dry quickly or have a blotter roller, very cool prop.

I ride a recumbent, I play go, I use Macintosh so of course I use a fountain pen.

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Congratulations!

 

Use what looks good to you. BSB is a great color, it has a fading problem though. If you want it to last, I suggest Noodlers bulletproof/eternal line of inks. There are also other document inks available.

Peace and Understanding

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I have only signed a few of my books so far but the research I did says colors are a good thing. Your signature should stand out from the black print on the book. It's also said the best inks for signing are archival which FP inks are not. I am not going to let that stop me though. I don't think my signature/books are going to matter in 100 years.

 

Good luck!

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I've thought about this idly myself but haven't gotten anywhere near to the point of having anything published.

First of all, congratulations on getting published! I've had a couple of poems in small press magazines in the (distant) past, but in one case it was because my mom's friend was the editor (I'm not counting high school/college literary magazines).

As for a pen/ink combo for signing books, part of me is leaning toward archival inks such as the R&K Documentus line (the De Atramentis ones had a lot of spread and bleed through). Part of me is leaning towards IG inks (but some of them -- like BSB -- aren't very UV resistant, plus I worry about how the IG element will last over decades or even centuries (there are medieval textiles where there are stitching holes but no fiber because of the tannins in the thread dyes).

As for a pen, you want something that is comfortable to hold and isn't a gusher, and will maybe have a nib which works well on a variety of paper. (I'm minded of the afterword in Good Omens, where the authors say "Yes, it's okay to ask us to sign your arm. But it's NOT okay to show us, the newly tattooed (and festering) arm an hour later...." B))

My mother used a ballpoint. (She would never have understood this little, uh, hobby of ours -- and couldn't understand, back when I was a kid, the fascination with fountain pens; she remembered FPs as being messy and blobby. But in retrospect, she probably never had a GOOD pen -- I suspect she grew up on 3rd and 4th tier brands, since my grandfather was a coal mine foreman during the Depression).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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That blue velvet is pretty.

 

I use preppys/plaisirs for experimenting with inks. If the Diamine is drier than the Plaisir likes, add a drop of dish soap to the cartridge/converter.

It's such a nice color. One of my favorite blues. Thanks for the suggestion of adding a drop of dish soap---never knew about that.

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First Congratulations

​You seemed to have done alright without my advice (no charge) and successfully fountain pens anyway

I hate to be a wet blanket but...

I would go with the Parker Jotter with a black or dark blue. No smear or dry time and water resistant (in case buyers like to read in the bathtub)

Fountain pens do present certain problems, the worst would be having yours burp on the book.

Then again they are a distraction. People want to focus on you, your book, the works, the inspiration, etc. Not what you are using to write with.

With regard to ink colors. They are also a distraction. Again blue or blue-black are de rigueur if you insist. Colors are just too cute.

Again. Congratulations.

Thanks. It actually did work out fine so far---no big blobs of ink all over the books :)

 

The Parker Jotter looks like a nice pen. It would be good to also have a semi-fancy ballpoint pen, and so far I've been happy with my mid-priced Parker fountain pens. I'll have to try one out.

 

You're right, fountain pens are temperamental, and I did have a fine-point Sharpie and a Pilot gel pen in my bag of tricks just in case I ran into problems. However, I'm really into the experience of fountain pens. Even though they sometimes make things a little more complicated, they are just so pretty, and dare I say, fun to use. I do plan to keep the colors to more jewel tones because they have a little more pizzazz than plain blue or black, but aren't too obnoxious on the eyes--at least I think so.

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I find the Pilot Petit practically bulletproof, and you can stuff several into your pockets.

Thanks. I haven't seen them before. They are so cute. Would be great to stash in my purse.

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Depends on the number of books you're doing. When my book of photographs was published, I used a Sharpie to make an obnoxious and indelible signature. Today I'd use on of the Lamys with A broad or italic nib with any of Herbin'S 1670 inks. If you don't use an italic regularly, you should practice so you don't plunge into the paper. Maybe have a fan on the table to help the ink dry quickly or have a blotter roller, very cool prop.

Congrats you your book of photographs. Sharpies are great, too---just not as fun as fountain pens :) I'm going to have to experiment more with an italic nib. I have a Goulet stub on my Ahab and Plumix nib on my Metropolitan. I've enjoyed writing with the Goulet one especially and it's great with any of the sparkle inks. I adore the J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor and hope to try samples of the others soon. Thanks for the blotter roller idea---never even thought of that---I might have to try out a new toy :)

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Congratulations!

 

Use what looks good to you. BSB is a great color, it has a fading problem though. If you want it to last, I suggest Noodlers bulletproof/eternal line of inks. There are also other document inks available.

I didn't realize BSB has a fading problem. Haven't used it long enough to notice. I'll definitely experiment with more of the bulletproof/eternal inks.

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I have only signed a few of my books so far but the research I did says colors are a good thing. Your signature should stand out from the black print on the book. It's also said the best inks for signing are archival which FP inks are not. I am not going to let that stop me though. I don't think my signature/books are going to matter in 100 years.

 

Good luck!

Lol... about the 100 years :) Yeah, I'm having too much fun with fountain pens to not use them. People also really seem to like them when they see me use them---my students are always commenting on my pens. That's good to know about using colors for signing---I just figure the colored ink stands out a little more, and I'm going for more jewel-tones, which have some character, but aren't usually too blinding.

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There are archival fountain pen inks, and in colors.

 

Thanks. I've been wondering about the archival inks. I've noticed the De Atrimentis archival ink and had my eye on the violet color---love their normal magenta violet.

 

I've thought about this idly myself but haven't gotten anywhere near to the point of having anything published.

First of all, congratulations on getting published! I've had a couple of poems in small press magazines in the (distant) past, but in one case it was because my mom's friend was the editor (I'm not counting high school/college literary magazines).

As for a pen/ink combo for signing books, part of me is leaning toward archival inks such as the R&K Documentus line (the De Atramentis ones had a lot of spread and bleed through). Part of me is leaning towards IG inks (but some of them -- like BSB -- aren't very UV resistant, plus I worry about how the IG element will last over decades or even centuries (there are medieval textiles where there are stitching holes but no fiber because of the tannins in the thread dyes).

As for a pen, you want something that is comfortable to hold and isn't a gusher, and will maybe have a nib which works well on a variety of paper. (I'm minded of the afterword in Good Omens, where the authors say "Yes, it's okay to ask us to sign your arm. But it's NOT okay to show us, the newly tattooed (and festering) arm an hour later...." B))

My mother used a ballpoint. (She would never have understood this little, uh, hobby of ours -- and couldn't understand, back when I was a kid, the fascination with fountain pens; she remembered FPs as being messy and blobby. But in retrospect, she probably never had a GOOD pen -- I suspect she grew up on 3rd and 4th tier brands, since my grandfather was a coal mine foreman during the Depression).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Thanks for the congrats. That's great you've had some poems in small press magazines. I finally got brave last summer and started sending out poems to a bunch of the online literary publications and got lucky with a few of them. From what I hear, and from my brief experience, getting poems published in journals is a numbers game---the more you submit, the better your chances are of getting into a publication.

 

Interesting about the R&K dokumentus. I've never seen them before. I had my eye on the regular R&K scabiosa. I was wondering about the De Atramentis document inks---I'd be curious about the spread and bleed that you mention. I might be making much ado about nothing, but how important is the archival quality really? I even wonder about that just in terms of when I write in a journal or something. Is it just that the color fades/changes over time or does it completely disappear? I know type of paper can factor in as well. I don't know if it's more important to get a quick drying ink that doesn't smear/spread too easily or if it's the permanence factor---or perhaps there's a best of both worlds?

 

That's funny you mention your mom not understanding this little hobby of ours. My dad used to always use fountain pens (cheap ones), and I thought he'd get all excited when I showed him some of my fancy pens, and he wasn't too interested in them. For him, I think he just liked the idea of saving money by refilling the ink in his pens :)

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R&K scabiosa...will do just fine in it's IG so will still be there in 100-200 years. If you like the color; go for it. I have it but have too many inks. I liked it's color when I used it............in I'm trying to get my pens down....so I can use up more ink...I'm not going to fill a pen to say....yes....I have it and it's as good as I remember.

Other folks like it well too.

 

It is an ink that I don't expect to feather or bleed through....though I'd make a practice run. ...got to check the paper quality of your book.

Edited by Bo Bo Olson

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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I didn't realize BSB has a fading problem. Haven't used it long enough to notice. I'll definitely experiment with more of the bulletproof/eternal inks.

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R&K scabiosa...will do just fine in it's IG so will still be there in 100-200 years. If you like the color; go for it. I have it but have too many inks. I liked it's color when I used it............in I'm trying to get my pens down....so I can use up more ink...I'm not going to fill a pen to say....yes....I have it and it's as good as I remember.

Other folks like it well too.

 

It is an ink that I don't expect to feather or bleed through....though I'd make a practice run. ...got to check the paper quality of your book.

 

Thanks. Just ordered a sample of Scabiosa from Goulet Pens (plus a million other samples). Can't wait to try it/them out!

 

Many blues fade. Check reviews and "fade tests" before making your final selection.

Thanks. I had no idea about this. Just looked up a bunch of the fade test threads here---wow, such great work from everyone. Since, there are numerous threads on this topic, are there any particular ones you recommend? Even though most of my FP writing won't be sitting in direct sunlight for days on end, it still makes sense to find inks that hold up better when exposed to UV light.

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Songbird - Congratulation on the publication of your book!!!!!! :):)

Could you tell us about the Title of your book, so that interested folks here can go and buy the book? Thanks in advance.

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Songbird - Congratulation on the publication of your book!!!!!! :):)

Could you tell us about the Title of your book, so that interested folks here can go and buy the book? Thanks in advance.

Thank you :) That's so nice of you to ask. It's called Hover the Bones and it's at Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Hover-Bones-Melisa-Malvin-Middleton/dp/0983790477/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490461987&sr=8-1&keywords=hover+the+bones (I'll remove the link if it's not ok for me to post it here).

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Glad to hear that you like BSB. I just wish it played nice in all pens. I wonder if anyone has used it in their Twsbis without staining.

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Do you have any pen and ink recommendations for book signings?

 

My book of poetry just came out, and I've done two books signings with my Platinum Plaisir (fine) and Noodler's Baystate Blue. It actually worked out great, but I'd like to try out some other colors and would like to use some nicer pens. I'm a fairly new fountain pen collector, and I'm just starting to experiment with nicer pens.

 

About my experience with the Plaisir/Baystate combo: I loved the bright color, it dried quickly (even though it's not supposed to be fast drying), and didn't smear. The Plaisir did fine, but being a cheaper pen, it writes scratchy. I do have some nicer pens, but I was worried the Baystate Blue would stain the pen (so I didn't have to be concerned if it stained the inexpensive Plaisir).

 

Here are the other pens I have:

 

TWSBI 580AL (M) - Love this pen---ink doesn't dry out in pen if I leave it in a long time, but I think the M nib might be too broad for book signings, and I'm afraid it would be prone to smear/not dry quickly enough.

Pilot Urban Premium (M) - Same feelings as about the TWSBI.

Noodler's Ahab, Konrad flex, Konrad flex Essex acrylic: I like the Ahab and Flex acrylic, but they are prone to leaking at the nibs and sometimes putting out too much ink. Not happy with the Essex--not reliable, leaks, inconsistent look on paper.

Platinum Plaisir (F) - Doesn't dry out in pen, not afraid it will get stained or stolen---but it's scratchy to write with.

Pilot Metropolitans (F & M) - Pretty pens, but dry out quickly, nibs get damaged easily, and the writing scratchiness is inconsistent.

 

I went a little crazy on eBay and just got these pens---but I'm nervous about what inks to use in them.

Visconti Van Gogh Starry Night - M

Platinum Chartres 3776 - F

 

What do you recommend? What types of ink should I look for (dries quickly, water resistant?)? I liked the look of Baystate Blue---but is it safe to use in more expensive pens? I also tend to like purples and teal/turquoise.

 

Nib size? Are there be other types of fountain pens I should consider?

 

Thanks!

Congratulations, Songbird. But please, no more BSB for signings. Not only for the reasons mentioned, but because I came upon some notes I had written with BSB on ordinary paper, and the ink had sort of...drifted, blurred, floated. You don't want that happening to a signature. You want it legible for years to come. I understand the desire for Bright Ink, but even Skrip Turquoise is likely to be less fussy.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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