ya i agree with marg, i would never want to ruin a book. and its just easier to photocopy , and if you don't get a response their is no damage done.

Personally, I would scan or photocopy the page instead of tearing it out of the book.

In the past, when writing to an author, sometimes I will tear out (neatly with an xacto knife) the title page for them to sign instead of signing the whole book. I'd never given it a second thought before, because the monetary value of my collection is meaningless to me, its about my own personal enjoyment. But I'm wondering if an author may be offended that I tore a page out of their book. I've received successes from most of the authors I've written to, but I'm curious what other people think...