January, 2007    • The Old New Thing      If you ask an author
to sign a book, you have to tell him/her what to write       If
you happen to catch me, say by stopping by my office if you
happen to work at Microsoft, I'd be happy to sign your copy of
my book. (There's no need to set up a formal book signing
appearance in building 9; just stop by my office any time.) One
of the things you don't realize as a fan waiting in line at a
book signing is that when you get to the front of the line, you
have to tell the author what to write.      It's obvious once
you think about it. The author doesn't know anything about you.
You're just one person out of hundreds they're going to sign for
today. How should they know what to write?      So don't make
the same mistake Michael Kaplan did. (I'm just teasing,
Michael!) When you stop by to ask me to sign your copy of the
book, give me some idea what you want me to write. I'm happy to
do it, but you have to give me something to work with.      In
other book news: The publish