[Teresa Edgerton]

I'm afraid, Mark, that there is no obligation to follow the publisher's wishes in the matter simply because the proof says "Not for Resale." At least where reviewers or convention attendees are concerned, no one has signed any contracts or agreements or made any promises, and once a copy is out of the publisher's hands they have no legal or moral right to say what happens to it.

There may be agreements in place between booksellers and publishers; I'm not sure if that ever happens, but I've never seen a proof for sale in any store that sells new books either, so it's a possibility. Or maybe bookstores forbear as a matter of professional courtesy. But in all other cases it's really up to the individual's personal ethics to decide what to do with a proof once they have it.

I've been given proofs at conventions (small conventions with lots of pros in attendance, like World Fantasy, or the Nebula weekend) as part of my convention packet, quite unsolicited on my part, and in some cases not even books that I wanted. But I couldn't sell them; to me that didn't seem right. Yet I've known authors to resell proofs they've picked up in this way, and they see no ethical or moral dilemma. The thing was given them -- possibly even pressed on them -- they now own it, and they figure they can do with it as they will. Presumably, they don't mind when positions are reversed.