When staff at a book shop in Australia saw a bloke taking books off the shelf and writing in them they thought it was someone vandalising their stock, but it turned out to be Stephen King surreptitiously autographing his books.
The manager of the shop said that this is quite common:
Ms Ellis added that it was common for authors to visit the shop, check if their books are on the shelves and sign some copies.
Perhaps any family members who happen to work in book shops can confirm this, but if its so common, why did the shop staff make any sort of fuss, and why is it being reported on the other side of the world?
Oh yes this happens. Never, in my case, with anybody of Mr King’s calibre. (By the way, he doesn’t look a lot like his old photos since his accident/illness – I guess they may not have realised it was him.)
We have had people come into the store and sign books without checking with the staff first. Usually little local interest titles from publishers who won’t take a signed beek back as it is then ‘not in mint salable condition’. I beleive it would be impossible to make this up!