Tips & Tricks

Writing to Celebrities

• Complement the celebrity on a commercial or some performance, tv show, commercial, movie or cartoon that he/she guest starred in years ago. This will increase your responses.
  


• Have patience. Celebrities get a lot of fan mail. It may take weeks or months for a celebrity to respond. It can take as long as 9 months to get a response from a celebrity.
  


• Some people send a self addressed stamped envelope along with their letter. I recommend including the SASE with your letter.
  


• Many people send cue cards for the celebrity to sign. This is optional. It is great to do just in case the celebrity doesn't have anything to sign. I have tried printing a photo of the celebrity from the computer and have found that this method does work. More recently I have been printing my photos on 4 x 6 inch Kodak photo paper. It gives a nice tidy look to the photo. Photos that you find on the internet will not be 4x6 inch, so when you print a photo on the Kodak photo paper you will see a gap at the bottom. Leave the gap, because it's a great place for the celebrity to sign.
  


• Not all celebrities may respond. It may depend on how much fan mail the celebrity gets or your letter may get lost in the mail. If you haven't received a response within a year, try writing again.
  

Autograph Sessions

• When going to an autograph session take some money to buy some food and/or possibly a celebrity photo. Some sessions you have to pay for the photo while others you don't.
  


• Take a photo with you to sign. Some events are not intended to be autographs, instead the celebrity is just making an appearance. In that kind of event there won't be any photos. If you don't have a nice glossy photo, or a sports card to sign or some other item, search for photos on the internet and print up a photo you like of the celebrity. If the photo is way too small, you can always enlarge it in a simple graphics program like MS Paint. MS Paint is not an advanced graphics program, but it will do. When you enlarge the photo in MS Paint it will look a bit distorted on your screen, but when you print, it will come out fine. I prefer to print black and white photos. They look much better.
  


• Arrive at the autograph session at least two to three hours before the autograph session starts. Sports celebrities attract lots and lots of people to the autograph session. The earlier you arrive, the greater your chances are at getting an autograph.
  


• Bring a long a friend so that you have someone to talk to or get to know the people in line so that you don't lose your place.
  


• When you are meeting the celebrity, be polite. Don't ask for anymore than two items to be signed. Also, don't spend a lot of time chatting with the celebrity. Remember there are other people waiting to get the celebrity's autograph.
  


• Be polite! Always thank the celebrity after you get the autograph.

Taking Pictures with the Celebrity

• Don't be greedy. There are other people waiting to pose with the celebrity for their own pictures. I recommend no more than 2 pictures with you and the celebrity.
  


• I recommend stepping off to the side and taking pictures of the celebrity so that you have a few extra photos.
  


• Never use disposible cameras that are designed with no flash. I took one with me to an autograph session and I found out the hard way. One time I was at an autograph session that took place indoors. I took pictures thinking that there would be sufficient lighting, but when I got my photos developed I found out that the pictures never turned out, due to not enough light. These disposible cameras with no flash need outdoor sunlight. Indoor office lighting or lighting in a shopping mall is not enough. So if you are going to take pictures make sure you have one with a flash on it.

• If you have any autograph tips & tricks, please contact me by email. You can email me at hotrodspike@hotmail.com If I find them helpful or interesting, I will post them on this web page.