Handle with care: Publisher apologizes for fake autograph in Bob Dylan’s $600 book
Bob Dylan and publisher Harper, his publisher, have apologized for publishing a fake autograph for $600 in a book featuring the music of Bob Dylan.
Harper apologized Thursday for publishing a fake autograph for $600 in a book featuring the music of Bob Dylan.
In 2013, someone claimed to have gotten Dylan’s signature for the book, and claimed to have it for sale on iTunes for $600. Harper called the claim a “sting,” then issued an apology for publishing the signature, according to the New York Daily News.
Dylan apologized to Dylan fans for the “mistake,” according to the New York Daily News, but he didn’t offer an explanation.
The New York Daily News, citing a Harper representative, said a “reputable” and “well-respected” independent book publisher in the United States had apologized for publishing a fake autograph for $600 in a book featuring the music of Bob Dylan.
The story first ran in the New York Daily News on April 18, and was later covered by news outlets and blogs all over the country. But Dylan’s publisher, Harper, has been criticized for its lack of transparency for months over the Dylan’s autograph affair.
The book, Bob Dylan: That’s the Way it Is, features more than 240 pages of lyrics, songs, and stories from Dylan’s new album, Tempest, and includes his full lyrics to songs on the album. The lyrics were written by Dylan, and the songs are performed by Dylan’s fellow musicians.
The book, which was released June 3, is set to go on sale June 3.
“They published three books this year about Bob Dylan, each with an autograph page to fill out… for just one dollar,” said Dylan on the album’s website. “Bob Dylan’s new book will be the fourth and I look forward to sharing it with my fans.”
It’s not the first time Harper has faced criticism for Dylan’s autograph story. Harper issued a “correction” on the Dylan’s autograph story in January after a blogger at The Pitchfork Review, a digital music magazine, raised concerns about the story.
LOOK: Harper Books admits publishing counterfeit Bob Dylan autographs