Monday, January 9, 2012

BATTLE OF THE PENS - TO SIGN OR NOT TO SIGN?

My favorite store in town is Office Max. Why? Because I love paper, pens, notebooks, and sticky notes. I shop there at least once a week and I'm on a first name basis with the staff. I was just there a couple of days ago shopping for pens.
 I have a particular favorite pen that I buy by the dozens. I keep one clipped to my shirt at all times, and have secret stashes of them in my purse, my kitchen drawer, my car. Donna (my Office Max guru) recommended TUL fine point retractable gel pen a few years back and I have used nothing but ever since. I prefer black, but I have some in red and blue, too. I tried purple once, but it just didn't write as smoothly. Maybe that one was defective. I don't know.

Anyway, I was googling about what pens authors use to sign books with and came across a couple of suggestions. One was the Pilot Precise V5 retractable gel.  I ended up getting the v7 instead because it is fine point rather than extra fine. I brought home a 4-pack and started signing my name on a sheet of paper. I tried just my first name, my entire name (which is way too long!), my initials, and various little witty blurbs like "Best Wishes" and "All the best."



Lo and behold, I love the Pilot! Dare I say I love it even more than my handy dandy TUL? It writes so smoothly - not a bump, not a skip. I appreciate the rubber grip on both pens but the slightly curved bullet shape of the Pilot is just a tad more ergonomic than the cylindrical TUL.

Both pens have metal clips, but the Pilot is sleek and feels a bit more substantial. I have had a couple of clips snap off my TULs in the past, which is really irritating.

I am not 100% sure yet which pen will win the signing war. I need to try them both out on some actual books. In the end, the winner will need to satisfy all of the following requirements:

1. The ink must write smoothly without fail
2. Must not bleed or smear
3. Must endure frequent use
4. Must be comfortable to hold for extended periods of time and use
5. Would be nice if it came in purple - I love purple

Next time I will discuss the positives and negatives of sticky-notes.

9 comments:

  1. OMG...I love your blog...I am Patty...from the ankle strapped shoes post...
    And I have that thing with paper pens notebooks sticky notes and now fonts!!!

    I am going to try/buy that stack o' pens tomorrow!!!

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  2. So do you have a book tour planned where you can practice your signing skills? Here's hoping you go through package after package of pens.

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  3. Oh, I hope to do a tour. Wouldn't that be fun? I've dream of signing books my whole life! I've been practicing.

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  4. LOL, what got you hung up on pens? I can never even find one around here. I'm lucky to find crayon stubs.

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  5. Oh, I love pens and paper and paints and brushes and ink and stamps and pencils and all of it! I get ya!
    Thanks for stopping by my blog today- it's nice to meet you Laurisa. :)

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  6. I'm going to have to look this pen up! Sounds neat. I love pens too, but I tend to stick to the ones I can buy in large packs, since I'm constantly losing them.

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  7. Ah, the perfect pen. There's nothing better! And you'll need them for signing all those books :D

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  8. Hmm, I never thought about all the important factors of a signing pen before!

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  9. I am recently published, books selling quite well...giddy smile, and I just found out to my HORROR that the 150 or so books I've signed have been on the WRONG page with the WRONG pen! Well CRAP!!! My first official book signing is Saturday. Thank God for Google! And this site:) Oh well....Janey Paulk Author "Confessions of a Small Town Hairdresser" P.S, Thanks for the Help, and the humor! j janey.paulk@yahoo.com

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