Book tours suck. With the demise of truly local TV in most major markets, authors making the rounds are forced to spend most of their days in bookstores, signing endless copies of their tomes for marked-up sale to the type of book junkie who likes that kind of thing. “A signed book [has quickly become] a sine qua non for collectors. The best comparison I can think of is to the dust jacket. Until 50 years ago, the book’s paper wrapper was there to draw attention in a store, and to protect the book until someone actually sat down and read it. At that time it was commonly discarded—which is why so few books with intact dust jackets survive from those early days.”