Wouldnt an author of a book be able to contact their publisher for a copy? I just received an order from a pretty famous author for one of his own books. Is that weird?
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Test buy? Checking quality?
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I dunno… Autograph it for him?
Are you sure it’s from the author and not just someone using their name to place the order? I’ve gotten orders from Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Michael Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Marty McFly, Princess Leah, Captain Kirk, a whole bunch of NSFW names…
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I recall this same question, with quite a bit of conversation on the OSFE (Old Seller Forum Experience)
While we do not sell books, we have had some odd names order.
I told the story on the OSFE, we had the Set Director of Glee order items from us. He spent 3 hours on the phone with me. “You are the mad scientist of markers! Would you like us to feature you (our product) on the show?” I responded, “No thanks, I don’t think that is our market.”
I hung up the phone and asked the studio office, “What is Glee?”
They were younger than I, and explained the show to me. 
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Yes. It was a signed & inscribed copy by a local author. My best guess was he wanted to see who was getting rid of his priceless work 
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I am sure it is from the author. You can look up his address on the internet and it is literally going to the same address.
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Perhaps they want a certain printing that’s no longer available from the publisher? Or perhaps to gauge third-party delivery timeline? OR if the author’s home has been compromised by the LA fires, maybe they want a replacement copy?
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Some authors can pay less for their book than the publisher charges them by buying online. Even “NEW” copies.
Some authors do not want 3P sellers selling their book, know they cannot prevent it, and buy them up.
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On the OSFE, a book author challenged the bookseller’s right to sell the author’s books claiming IP infringement (?) and the bookseller had to discontinue selling the books. Maybe someone recalls the details and how it relates to this situation.
Marilyn
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I had that happen on one book from an author that published a book with very few copies. The book and the author were not well known. I sold it back to him. No big deal.
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I’ve sold books back to the author a couple of times. One of the books only had a small amount of copies printed so it was probably hard to find.
Most publishers give authors a limited amount of complementary copies of their own book. In some cases, they may provide the author with only one book.
Not long ago during one of my many trips to the post office, a local famous and well-loved person was there mailing a copy of one of his books. (Yes, authors do mail their books themselves sometimes). Of course all the counter clerks and postal customers recognized him (myself included) and were willing to provide him with assistance.
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There were many of these situations, mostly later resolved favorably, back in those days; many of those threads were vanquished into limbo with the advent of the NSFE - but not all of them.
I wonder if you might be thinking of the 050219 Michelle Shocked/Franklin Covey Co. thread by Tacoma Goodwill @ the below-linked NSFE URL (the original OSFE URL @ https: //sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/account-suspended-after-10-years-as-stellar-seller-averaging-2m-per-year/455069, still redirects there) in this regard?
https: //sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/f357fab9c012c9197486fa8ba23ce4c3
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I checked the links you provided but was not able to access them as I did not register for the NSFE. But this case was possibly one of the many cases that happened to booksellers in the OSFE days.
Marilyn
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We have this occur fairly often, several whom live in Hawaii/New York or near San Fran, one whom wrote on politics in the 70’s and 80’s and was in a D.C. nursing home.
(Golden lads and girls all must,. as chimney-sweepers, come to dust.)
We also get orders from children/relatives, once the author has died/retired-and the author has none of their older titles left.
Have known several authors-tried to become one myself-and that attempt bombed!!
During that neolithic past, authors were given 6 to a dozen free books by their publishers, could order others at a steep discount and ship free from the publisher perhaps a dozen to critics/columnists who might advertise the title.
If you happen to be an mid-range author 10 or 20 years ago-your publisher may have folded or been been purchased by a bigger entity-then all bets are off! One good friend, a best selling romance author who had 10 best -sellers in a 25-year period and then retired from the writing scene, purchased all I could scout of her titles(again at reduced cost) because she had nothing to present to family, friends or writing groups/students at the community college where she taught!!
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And then there are the thin-skinned authors who inquire about signed copies of their books, often demanding pictures of the signature so they can see which of their friends and acquaintances have turfed their books to the local Goodwill…
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That’s a new one on me!!
At the non-profit where I volunteer weekly, we get many signed copies stating,…" To my good friend… For my best friend— Friends forever, etc." Apparently not good enough friends to give the low-selling debut title shelf-room!!!
At the Non-P, we have a “Local Author” category, which would sell very few unless we included, questionably, Barbara Kingsolver, who lived in Tucson years ago and Tony Hillerman (NM state-line is 150 miles away from Tucson). Hey, all the $$ in sales goes to a deserving entity!! .
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At the bookstore I work at part time, the owner tried the “local author” deal too. Our town has Lots of them. He finally decided the real estate being used for them (and not selling) was too valuable to carry on the practice. It has become the spot to display “pretty” or “interesting” books and moves a lot more titles out of the store.
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I’ve not run across a “thin-skinned” author, but I have had one signed book that frankly blew my mind that the person got rid of it. It was along the lines of “Mary, here is a copy of the book where the main character is based on your daughter”.
How do you give up something like that?
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I like to think Mary had passed away, the family in clearing out her stuff, did not peruse the books, just boxed and donated.
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Hopefully it was simply an overzealous or uninformed helper during downsizing or end of life decluttering, who simply didn’t realize it’s importance?
Maybe that’s even why sometimes authors buy their own signed copies, to help track down what might have been discarded in error.
ETA: same brain wave @booknut7 !
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