The first step in starting is to know who you would like to write to.  Most experienced collectors first started off writing to celebrities of a particular theme.   Themes are areas that made the person famous such as Hollywood, sports, politics, historical (explorers, discoverers, etc.), writers, musical entertainers and so on.  This is just to begin and everyone eventually crosses over into other themes.   I mainly collect from movie and television actors and actresses and that will be my theme in this site, although, I do have a couple of successes from sports and historical figures.

These tips come from doing lots of research and from my own experiences; results may vary from person to person.

The following is an outline of the steps I use to get my successes:

1. FIND A GOOD WORKING ADDRESS.  This is probably the most difficult part of this hobby.   Even though an address may be listed as good one day, it may be bad the next.  Some of the best sources for up-to-date addresses are:
• Publications:

Autograph Times

($24/year) e-mail them at AUTOTIMES@aol.com for a free one-time trial subscription (3 issues)

Autograph Collector

($36/year)
510 S. Corona Mall
Corona, CA 91719-1420

The Autograph Review

($14.95/year-6 issues)
Jeffrey W. Morey
305 Carlton Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13207

• Address lists and books:

Jim Weaver's Address Lists

e-mail him at WEAVERJIM@aol.com to find out how to get a hold of them

Celebrity Home Addresses Newsletter

Allen Thompson
4343 Monaghan Point Rd.
Alpena, MI 49707

V.I.P. Address Book

c/o Assoc. Media Comp. Ltd.
PO Box 10910
Marina Del Rey, CA 90295-8864

The Baseball Address List - by R.J. Smalling

2308 Van Buren Ave.
Ames, IA 50010
Website: www.public.iastate.edu/~dsmalling

• Web sites: (also check out the links in the Site Index)

The Star Archive

www.stararchive.com/starc2000/frame.htm

Matt's Celebrity Hangout

www.celebrityhangout.co.uk

• E-mail groups:

ACL (Autograph Collector's List)

Autograph Collecting from Onelist

Onelist is an email service for groups with a common interest. You can sign up for the many types of lists they have or even create your own, for free!!!  Go to www.onelist.com to sign up and start receiving posts immediately. As with the ACL group mentioned above, expect around 30-40 e-mails daily.

2. DO RESEARCH ON THE PERSON YOU ARE WRITING TO.  Unless you know absolutely everything about a celebrity, you should do some research on them.  The chances of getting a success will improve if you have listed all of the correct information  Besides, if you don't know anything about them, why would you want to write to them in the first place?   Here are some web sites that provide a lot of good information about a celebrity:
• The Internet Movie Database - (by far, the best site for online research). I have even created a direct link to their search engine below:
  
• All-Movie Guide (you can also search for music artists)
• Biography
• Hollywood Online
• E! Online (use the search engine)
• CineMedia
3. Another good source would be your local library; check the reference section for biography books like "Who's Who".   Also, as enormous as the Web is, every celebrity will probably have a site dedicated to them.
4. WRITE A SHORT, POLITE AND SINCERE LETTER.  The letter should be no more than one page and can either be handwritten or typed (especially if your handwritting is hard to read).  Don't forget to use the words "please" and "thank you."   I divide the body of my letter into two parts:  reference section and request section.

reference section:

this section deals with you telling the person what you like about them (the movies they were in, the discoveries they made, their athletics feats, etc.)  Make it sound like you really are a fan (and I hope that you are.)

request section:

this part of the body is when you ask for an autograph on something that either is provided by them or sent by you.   (Hint: Do not ask for more than three items to be signed; this makes it sound like you are a dealer which reduces your chance of getting anything.)

Here's an example of one of my letters to a movie celebrity:

Dear <CELEBRITY'S NAME>
I hope that the receipt of this letter finds you and your family in good health.   I first became a fan of your from the movie, <MOVIE TITLE>. I have since seen your other movies, <MOVIE TITLE(S)> and I have enjoyed them just as much.  I feel you are a brilliant actor because of the intensity that you take with every role.  I am thrilled that you will be starring in <MOVIE TITLE> and I can't wait to see it.   I hope your career will last a long time and I look forward to your future films.

Would you please fulfil a small request from a devoted fan?  Could you please send me and autographed picture of you and sign the index card that I have enclosed?  I would greatly appreciate it and I will cherish them for the rest of my life.  Please use the self-addressed stamped envelope provided for your convenience.

Thank you very much for your time and I anticipate meeting you someday.

Sincerely,
<YOUR SIGNATURE>
<YOUR PRINTED NAME>

Of course you should fill in the <> with the appropriate information and change the content to adjust to the different people you are writing to.

5. INCLUDE AN INDEX CARD OR TWO.  Even if you don't collect index cards, some celebrities don't have any photos readily available at the time to send to you.  With index cards, you may still at least receive their signature.  If you don't know what to do with an index card, check out the Displaying Your Prize section for cool ideas.
6. It is more than likely that a celebrity will send you a publicity or portrait photo of themselves instead of a still photo from a movie.  IF YOU DON'T LIKE THESE KINDS OF PHOTOS, SEND ONE YOU LIKE TO GET SIGNED (sending a photo or item will also increase your chance of a success.)  There are lots of companies that sell different kinds of photos.   Here are a couple that you can get catalogues from:
   • The Movie Market (this is the catalog I order from)
     PO Box 3900
     Dana Point, CA 92629-8900
     (send $5 for their catalog of over 40,000 movie and television celebrity photos which are all pictured; this will include free monthly update catalogs)
     web site: www.moviemarket.com
   • Celebrity Locators
     web site: www.celebritylocators.com/photos.html
   • Pix Poster Cellar - thousands of posters and pictures (click on "Catalogs" to see the listing of unsigned pictures)
     web site: www.pixposters.com/newposte.htm
   • The Nostalgia Factory
     Original Movie Posters & Related Ephemeria
     51 North Margin Street
     Boston, MA  02113
     phone:  (800-479-8754)
     web site:  www.nostalgia.com
   • Movie Star News
     134 West 18th Street
     New York, NY 10011
     Phone: (212) 620-8160
   • Eric D. Sanchez's Photo Classics
     PO Box 14410
     Phoenix, AZ 85063-4410
     phone:  (602) 846-5734
     web site: www.photoclassics.com
     e-mail:  eric@photoclassics.com
     (send $2 for a b&w catalog containing hundreds of photos)
   • S & P Parkers
     PO Box 1868
     Laguna Beach, CA 92652
   • New York Sports Images
     PO Box 47
     Commack, NY 11725
     Fax: (516) 543-6625
7. ALWAYS INCLUDE A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE (SASE) OF THE APPRORIATE SIZE.  [If the person you are writting to lives outside of your country, at least provide a self-addresses envelope with either their country's postage or some IRCs ("International Response Coupons" - check out the Postage Information section for info on this).]   I cannot emphasize this enough - a success will hinge on whether you send one or not.  This is purely for the convenience of the person you are writting to.  Imagine you receiving a hundred fan letters a month requesting an autograph and having to pay postage for them all.   Again, check out the Postage Information section for more details.
   If you are asking for or sending a photo to be signed, you should use a 9"x12" SASE so the photo will fit into it.  If you are sending just index cards, a standard (or a #10) envelope will do.  Print "Do Not Bend" on the outside and hope that your mailman can read; he may even be willing to follow these simple instructions.
8. SEAL IT ALL UP IN AN ENVELOPE.  And don't forget to put on the right amount of postage.  Again, check out the Postage Information section for the appropriate amount of stamps.
9. KEEP A LOG OF ALL THE REQUESTS YOU SEND OUT. I use the spreadsheet program, Microsoft Works, to keep track of the address I used, the date sent, the item(s) sent, the date received and what was received for each celebrity; if you want to keep it simple, a notebook and pencil will do the same thing.  This way you won't accidentally write to someone more than once if you didn't mean to or to keep track of which addresses still work.  It is also a good way of sharing your successful addresses with others.
10. DON'T EXPECT TO GET A POSITIVE RESPONSE THE NEXT DAY.  This hobby takes alot of time and patience and if you don't have any then you will get frustrated quickly and give up.  Most of my successes have taken over a month to get to me and even a couple have taken almost half a year!  To keep yourself busy, write more letters.

This may seem like a lot to do but, once you get started, it will become a habit (don't worry, you won't need to attend any substance abuse programs.)  The more you do it, the more experienced you will get.  This experience will help improve your success rate especially when you share it with others as they will with you.  Be true to the hobby and don't be rude.