General Questions

[Gaunt]

Hey guys. I just have some general questions on getting autographs and the whole autograph hobby. If they've been asked before, I'm sorry!

I plan on sending my first letter requesting an autograph soon. Would the following letter be okay:

My name is [Name] and I am from [Location]. I have been a fan of yours ever since I first saw you in [Show] when I was a kid. One of my favourite shows is [Show] and I really love your performance as [Character]. Hopefully I’ll get to see you playing that character again in the near future.
You seem like a really cool, down to earth guy, especially after watching [Interview]! The reason I am writing is that I was hoping you could autograph the photos I have sent or a personally signed photo of yourself. If you could sign it with “To [Name]” or something along those lines, it would really mean a lot to me. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter.

P.S. [I put in a comment relating to some funny thing I noticed or interview I saw etc.]

1) Does this seem okay? I could put in more shows and movies that I've seen him in that I've really liked, but it seems like it'd be too much, even though I really want to. What do you think?

2) Also, do you think I am being too pushy asking him to put "To [Name]" on the photos? To me that whole section seems a bit too pushy!

3) What sort of paper should I write on? I purchased some yellow 7" x 9" fancy paper. Is this okay?

4) I also bought some 13" x 9" brown envelopes. Are these too big, and should I use the same size envelope for the SASE?

5) Just a general question: Is this hobby mostly done my men or women? It seems to me like there are a lot of women on these forums!

Thanks, and sorry for all the questions, but I just want my first autograph to be perfect!

[cb1892]

Hey guys. I just have some general questions on getting autographs and the whole autograph hobby. If they've been asked before, I'm sorry!

I plan on sending my first letter requesting an autograph soon. Would the following letter be okay:

My name is [Name] and I am from [Location]. I have been a fan of yours ever since I first saw you in [Show] when I was a kid. One of my favourite shows is [Show] and I really love your performance as [Character]. Hopefully I’ll get to see you playing that character again in the near future.
You seem like a really cool, down to earth guy, especially after watching [Interview]! The reason I am writing is that I was hoping you could autograph the photos I have sent or a personally signed photo of yourself. If you could sign it with “To [Name]” or something along those lines, it would really mean a lot to me. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter.

P.S. [I put in a comment relating to some funny thing I noticed or interview I saw etc.]

1) Does this seem okay? I could put in more shows and movies that I've seen him in that I've really liked, but it seems like it'd be too much, even though I really want to. What do you think?

2) Also, do you think I am being too pushy asking him to put "To [Name]" on the photos? To me that whole section seems a bit too pushy!

3) What sort of paper should I write on? I purchased some yellow 7" x 9" fancy paper. Is this okay?

4) I also bought some 13" x 9" brown envelopes. Are these too big, and should I use the same size envelope for the SASE?

5) Just a general question: Is this hobby mostly done my men or women? It seems to me like there are a lot of women on these forums!

Thanks, and sorry for all the questions, but I just want my first autograph to be perfect!

1) Your letter is fine, I usually just sit down and everything comes pouring out.

2) I don't think you're being pushy by asking them to write your name. Them writing your name on it makes it more personal to you, they'll definitely understand. Some celebs always personalise to try to stop them being sold anyway.

3) You can write your letter on any kind of paper you wish, your nice fancy yellow paper sounds great and should make your letter stand out from others they receive.

4) I'm not sure on the envelope one, sorry.

5) I think the male to female ratio is slightly higher in favour of the females but I don't think there is much of a difference to be honest. There are millions of collectors out there who aren't members of this forum so we'll never really know.

Good Luck!

[jasonw]

You are heading in the right direction, although I think it is a bit too short.

Jason

[ursha]

1) Does this seem okay? I could put in more shows and movies that I've seen him in that I've really liked, but it seems like it'd be too much, even though I really want to. What do you think?
You can try to choose maybe 2 more and comment them. It will be ok if you don't do this but maybe it will be little better to do. Just my opinion.

2) Also, do you think I am being too pushy asking him to put "To [Name]" on the photos? To me that whole section seems a bit too pushy!
No, you're not. I always ask for photos to be personalised

3) What sort of paper should I write on? I purchased some yellow 7" x 9" fancy paper. Is this okay?
I'm sure it will look great on that paper {thumb2}

4) I also bought some 13" x 9" brown envelopes. Are these too big, and should I use the same size envelope for the SASE?
You have to put SASE into the another envelope so it's alright if the envelope you're sending everything in is a little bit bigger.

5) Just a general question: Is this hobby mostly done my men or women? It seems to me like there are a lot of women on these forums!
Probably there are more females But there are many males too ;)

[EastendersFan]

1) Does this seem okay? I could put in more shows and movies that I've seen him in that I've really liked, but it seems like it'd be too much, even though I really want to. What do you think?
I think its a little short. It wont hurt putting in a bit more about the shows you have seen him in

2) Also, do you think I am being too pushy asking him to put "To [Name]" on the photos? To me that whole section seems a bit too pushy!
Not at all. You have worded it really well. When i write letters i write 'I'd be very greatful if you could send me your autograph please (if possible personalised but if not I'll still be very happy!)

3) What sort of paper should I write on? I purchased some yellow 7" x 9" fancy paper. Is this okay?
Thats excellent. I brought some lilac and green paper the other day and when i write my letters on them, they look so much better rather than white paper

4) I also bought some 13" x 9" brown envelopes. Are these too big, and should I use the same size envelope for the SASE?
They are big and would cost you a great more in postage. It depends what photos come back in the SSAE. If your sending a A4 photo to be signed, that should be ok to be sent back in the envelope but if your not sending a photo and the celeb sends back 6x4 the envelopes are a waste of money really. If you use the same size, your ssae would have to be folded in half within your letter

5) Just a general question: Is this hobby mostly done my men or women? It seems to me like there are a lot of women on these forums!
I havent really noticed one or the other. I think theres a wide range of people on here, both male and female

Any more questions feel free to ask

[Gaunt]

Hehe, I had the letter short because I always read that you should keep your letters short. Maybe I took it too literaly!

Some more questions!

6) Should I include anything else in my letter, like stuff about me, or asking questions (which I hear people do, but I don't know why seeing as they don't reply to letters)?

7) If I didn't send a photo to be signed, what is the largest photo you would usually receive back? I picked the large envelopes just in case they sent an A4 sized photo (does that happen?).

Thanks for the replies. ;)

[ursha]

Yes, I know what you mean with saying that you always read that we should keep our letters short.
Usually I write down one A4 page but it happened that I wrote 2 and it was the most personal letter
I've ever written.

6) Should I include anything else in my letter, like stuff about me, or asking questions (which I hear people do, but I don't know why seeing as they don't reply to letters)?
You can tell about you, your ages, your hobbies...Celebrities read in almost every letter only about themselves. They're always happy to read something about their fans ;)
7) If I didn't send a photo to be signed, what is the largest photo you would usually receive back? I picked the large envelopes just in case they sent an A4 sized photo (does that happen?).
It is difficult to talk about sizes here...probably it's much better if you DO send a photo. Not all of the celebrities sends out their own photo so I advice you to send one.
Otherwise they'll probably use their envelope and not yours if yours will be too small.
I think it rarely happen that someone receives A4 sized photo...Actually I can't remember any success saying this.

Good luck! {thumb2}

[BossC]

6) Should I include anything else in my letter, like stuff about me, or asking questions (which I hear people do, but I don't know why seeing as they don't reply to letters)?

I usually ask a question or two about them-I have had some people answer them and you stand a better chance of getting a letter in responce if you give them something to respond to.

7) If I didn't send a photo to be signed, what is the largest photo you would usually receive back? I picked the large envelopes just in case they sent an A4 sized photo (does that happen?).

You can't generalize a lot in this hobby because people are different but my observations: a lot of USA celebs send big photos but many Uk celebrites send smaller photos. But then again, Tilda Swinton sent me a A4 size photo. Normally, I try to find out what size they send by looking at feedback but if I don't know I send a large one.

Hope this helped.

BossC

[EastendersFan]

6) Should I include anything else in my letter, like stuff about me, or asking questions (which I hear people do, but I don't know why seeing as they don't reply to letters)?
You can include a paragraph about you as celebs might want to hear about their fans

7) If I didn't send a photo to be signed, what is the largest photo you would usually receive back? I picked the large envelopes just in case they sent an A4 sized photo (does that happen?).
The largest a celeb will send back to you would be A4. I doubt very much they would send you a bigger photo or its ridiculous

[Selise]

1) Does this seem okay? I could put in more shows and movies that I've seen him in that I've really liked, but it seems like it'd be too much, even though I really want to. What do you think?

Your letter seems a bit too short. Aim for 1 full front side of a page handwritten or typed. Anything else seems to be too much. Add a little about yourself - celebs seem to like that, they already know about themselves.

2) Also, do you think I am being too pushy asking him to put "To [Name]" on the photos? To me that whole section seems a bit too pushy!

No, I don't think you're pushy at all. It's nice to ask for a dedication. Plus, some celebs will only sign and dedicate photos.

3) What sort of paper should I write on? I purchased some yellow 7" x 9" fancy paper. Is this okay?

Any paper is fine. It doesn't have to be super fancy. Lined paper works well too.

4) I also bought some 13" x 9" brown envelopes. Are these too big, and should I use the same size envelope for the SASE?

I use a 4.5x9 envelope to mail everything in. I fold my SASE. Personally, I'd use the 13x9 as the SASE.

5) Just a general question: Is this hobby mostly done my men or women? It seems to me like there are a lot of women on these forums!

I've been collecting since the mid 80's and there are probably an even number of collectors men or women. Perhaps its just the women who registered here.

6) Should I include anything else in my letter, like stuff about me, or asking questions (which I hear people do, but I don't know why seeing as they don't reply to letters)?

You can include a paragraph about yourself. I tell them my name, age, where I'm from, or something that I might have in common with the celeb. Some celebs do reply to questions - I always try to ask one or two.

7) If I didn't send a photo to be signed, what is the largest photo you would usually receive back? I picked the large envelopes just in case they sent an A4 sized photo (does that happen?).

The typical size you'll receive from an American Celeb is 8.5x11, or A4. Most of the times celebs from the UK send 6x4 photos, but it really depends on the celeb.

Thanks, and sorry for all the questions, but I just want my first autograph to be perfect!

You'll see that as you collect for longer periods of time what works for you. I've changed phrasing in each of my letters, but kept the opening paragraph pretty much the same.