Here we go again. Every year, book publishers release author autographed books aimed at holiday gift buyers, and sure enough, one or more of the books turn out to be either preprinted or autopenned. In other words, FAKE. Which means they are worth exactly the same as an unsigned book and the publisher is effectively defrauding the public.

This year the culprit is celebrity chef Rachael Ray. Her new cookbook is titled 50 Memories and Meals from a Sweet and Savory Life. I've looked at at least 5 of these "autographed" books and all 5 were autopenned with the same template.

This adds to the growing list of books from recent years whose publishers released autopenned or preprinted "autographed" editions, including but not limited to Reese Witherspoon Whiskey in a Teacup (all autopenned on signature page with a few different templates -- Beckett Authentication Services apparently authenticated at least 2 of these books), Wayne Gretzky 99 Stories of the Game (preprinted on the inside cover), and Giada De Laurentiis Happy Cooking (roughly 90% have preprinted signatures, about 1 in 10 were hand signed).