Autograph Guide

[irishkale]

This guide is broken up into several different sections for convenience.

I. INTRODUCTION
II. CRAFTING YOUR FAN LETTER
III. PRINTING AND STATIONERY
IV. ENVELOPES & POSTAGE
V. SENDING PHOTOS
VI. FANS OVERSEAS
VII. LIST OF ADDRESSES



I. INTRODUCTION

Remember as a kid how much fun it was to get something in the mail? Those free offers where you had to mail proofs-of-purchase? Or maybe a Birthday card with money in it?

Autograph collecting is a good way to recapture that fun feeling of getting stuff in the mail. As adults, we get mail, but it's usually bad stuff like bills!

Autograph collecting is also a good way to give a gift to your favorite TV stars. One of the basic human needs is the need to feel appreciated. By writing a fan letter you're telling your favorite star how you get enjoyment from their performances on television. You are letting them know your appreciation for their work.

Enough of this theory stuff... you probably don't need an excuse to write a letter to your favorite Cold Case actors!

[irishkale]

II. CRAFTING YOUR FAN LETTER

This is the hardest part of the process. Most people encounter feeliings of fear and trepidation at even the thought of "WHAT DO I SAY? I'M JUST A REGULAR PERSON! WHY WOULD THE GREAT KATHRYN MORRIS EVEN BOTHER READING MY LETTER?!?!"

The first thing to do is relax! Remember what I said in the intro about expressing appreciation? What you want to do is write a letter that pays them a compliment and lets them know that you appreciate their work.

So using KM as an example, I'll pick a specific scene where I thought KM was awesome. Let's pick the scene from "Glory Days" where she's with Eddie in the bar.

Now onto writing the letter. What I do to make it as painless as possible, is that I use the same template every time, for every letter, regardless of the actor. You want to make sure that you follow standard business letter format and put your full name and full address in the top left of the letter. Here's my template:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FULL NAME]
[FULL ADDRESS]


1st paragraph
"Hello [ACTOR] my name is [FIRST NAME] and I am from [CITY, STATE.]

2nd paragraph
[IN THIS PARAGRAPH TALK TO THEM ABOUT SOMETHING SPECIFIC THAT THEY DID]

3rd paragraph
"Thank you for reading my letter, [ACTOR] I would treasure it if you would send me an autographed picture of yourself, personalized to me, [YOUR NAME.]

Sincerely,

[YOUR FULL NAME TYPED OUT]
[YOUR HANDWRITTEN SIGNATURE UNDERNEATH]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So let's write our letter! For ease of editing, you can use a word processor program on your computer. The windows "wordpad" software that's free on all windows computers works great.

[MY FULL NAME]
[MY FULL ADDRESS]


"Hello Kathryn, my name is John Doe and I am from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


I'm writing you because Lilly is one of my all-time favorite TV characters, and your portrayal of her really brings great joy to me! I really loved how you portrayed Lilly in the episode "Glory Days," specifically that great bar scene with actor Bobby Cannavale. You two had such great chemistry together. I know how sometimes Cold Case can be very serious, so it's important to have the lighter moments of fun. Season 6 had many great moments where you were allowed to show a warmer side to the Lilly character. I hope for the upcoming Season 7 that the storylines allow you to showcase your great range of acting ability. I'll be watching for sure!

Thanks for reading my letter, Kathryn. I would treasure it if you would send me an autographed picture of yourself, personalized to me, John.

Sincerely
John Doe
[HANDWRITTEN SIGNATURE HERE]"

That's it! The hardest part is over! Now make sure you save the document. I have a folder on my harddrive where I save all my fan letters. This is so I can reprint them later if I need to.

[irishkale]

III. PRINTING AND STATIONERY

There's some debate in the autograph community about whether you should print your fan letter on the computer, or if you should physically hand-write it with a pen. I personally have always printed them out on my computer. My theory is that the stars have very limited free time, so that if they're going to take the time to read fan letters, I want to make their experience as easy as possible. I don't want them to struggle trying to decipher my bad handwriting! A printed letter also allows them to visually scan the page so that they can see my autograph request without having to read the whole letter.

I do make sure to print out the letter on some nice stationery that I get from the office supply store. I just feed it into the paper tray on my printer.

If you feel better hand-writing the letter, then by all means do so! Autographing is a very personal process so you should do what you feel comfortable with.

[irishkale]

IV. ENVELOPES & POSTAGE

Now that you have your letter printed or written out, you need to get an envelope & some postage stamps!

Main Cast (CBS Addresses):
If you're writing the main cast at their CBS Address, you only need a standard #10 envelope. Fold the letter into thirds and seal it into the envelope. You don't need to make a S.A.S.E. (self addressed stamped envelope.) You don't need to include stamps or money. They arrange for everything to get the autograph back to you.


Basic letter + envelope


Write the address on the letter very clearly, and remember to put your return address on it too. Put a single first-class stamp on it and mail it off!

Special note: I've read that all fan letters and items sent to CBS are DESTROYED/SHREDDED after they are read. So it's probably a bad idea to send artwork, gifts, stories, scripts, etc. Keep the transaction simple!


Other Cast (Guest Stars not at CBS):
If you're writing to a guest star from Cold Case, you'll be sending your letter to the actor's agency, not CBS. In this case, you should send them a S.A.S.E. (self-addressed stamped envelope), which is a 2nd envelope that's within your #10 envelope. An autographed photo is 8"x10", so youll need to send them a 9x12 manilla envelope along with your letter. Here's the procedure:

1) Fold your fan letter into thirds.
2) Get your 9x12 envelope. Put 3 first class stamps on it! This 9x12 will be coming back to you later with the autographed photo inside.
3) Write your address on the middle front of the 9x12. In black pen write "PHOTOS - DO NOT BEND" in the lower left of the 9x12 envelope.
4) Now fold the 9x12 into thirds.
5) Put BOTH the fanletter and 9x12 envelope into a #10 envelope. It'll be tight, the 9x12 barely fits.
6) Seal the envelope.
7) Put 3 first-class stamps on the #10 envelope.
8) Address it and send it out!


letter + 9x12 folded S.A.S.E.


The star will get your letter, unfold the 9x12 SASE, sign one of their photos, stuff it in, and send it back to you! Cool, huh?

Examples:

Jeremy Ratchford(CBS address)	Veena Sud(CBS address)

[/center][/td][td]Kenny Johnson (SASE to Agency)[/td][/tr][/table]

[irishkale]

V. SENDING PHOTOS

When I want a guest star's autograph, I like to send my own photos that I make of screenshots from their episode. I do this so that I can get a signed photo of them "in the costume of their character." So I need to send photos in addition to the fan letter. In order to do this, you need to get some 10x13 envelopes in addition to your 9x12 envelopes. Here's the procedure:

1) If you have the photos on your computer, you'll need to print them out onto photo paper on a color inkjet printer. Try to match the brand of photo paper with your printer. For example, I have a canon inkjet printer, so I buy Canon photo paper at an office supply store. Make sure your photos aren't of scenes that are dark, because the star will probably be signing with a black pen, and they'll need some light-colored area in the photo to sign their message.
2) Now to make the 9x12 envelope into a S.A.S.E. Address it to yourself. Now add the postage. For one or two photos, you should put on 3-first class stamps. For 3 or 4 photos, add another stamp, for 4 stamps total.
3) Put the photos INSIDE the 9x12 S.A.S.E. Also, put a piece of thin cardboard in there to add some stiffness to the package (to keep it from bending when it gets sent back.) A great source of thin cardboard are those priority mail envelopes that they have for free at the post office. You can cut those up into 8.5x11 pieces. A piece of cardboard cut from a cereal box will also work. Write "PHOTOS - DO NOT BEND" in the lower left corner of the 9x12. The final step is to write "PHOTOS INSIDE" on a sticky note and stick it to the 9x12 envelope. This is so that the actor, when opening the 10x13 envelope, will know that there's stuff inside your 9x12 that they need to sign.
4) Take the 10x13 envelope, address it to the star. In the lower left corner of this envelope again write "PHOTOS - DO NOT BEND". Now put everything into the 10x13. Obviously you don't need to fold anything up, because the 10x13 is big enough to contain everything flat. Seal it up and stick the same number of stamps on your 9x12 + 1 more. So if you put 3 stamps on your S.A.S.E, put 4 stamps on your 10x13. Send off the whole package.


10x13 with photos and SASE

You're done! You'll get your photos back inside your 9x12 SASE; magically your photos will have nice signatures on them Sometimes you'll even get a full handwritten letter from the star!!!

Examples:

Ona Rodriguez 10x13 method	Kenny Johnson 10x13 method	Doan Ly 10x13 method

[irishkale]

VI. FANS OVERSEAS

One of our members located in France got an autograph from KM, so it's entirely possible to get an autograph if you live outside of the U.S.A.!
For the main cast, the procedure is the same as in the U.S.A., except that you'll put YOUR OWN COUNTRY's postage on the outside of the letter. I can't tell you how much it will cost, you should mail it from your local post office so that the clerk can sell you the correct postage to send a letter to the U.S.A.
The good thing though is that you don't need to send a Self-Addressed envelope! You also don't need to send I.R.C. (international reply coupons.) Just send your letter only. CBS will pay for all the postage to get the autograph back to you!

[irishkale]

VII. LIST OF ADDRESSES (updated 6-18-2009)

Main Cast

Kathryn Morris Danny Pino Jeremy Ratchford Thom Barry Tracie Thoms John Finn Jennifer Johnson (Producer)

[Actor's Name] c/o Cold Case 4000 Warner Blvd. Bldg. #185 Burbank, CA 91522

Guest Cast

Kenny Johnson PO Box 2083 Los Angeles, CA 90078	Brennan Elliot c/o Stone Manners Agency 9911 W. Pico Blvd. Suite 1400 Los Angeles, CA 90035	Susan Chuang c/o Adam Sussman David Shapira and Associates 193 N. Robertson Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Robin Weigert Independent Artists 9601 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 750 Beverly Hills, CA 90210	Raymond J. Barry c/o Metropolitan Talent Agency 204 N. Rossmore Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90004	Marisol Nichols c/o Wiseman & Burke 206 S. Brand Blvd Glendale, CA 91204

For other addresses, a good website is www.fanmail.biz

[niiny]

Thankx for posting it's a great idea and now i know how to sent a letter to my fav. actors/ actress

[byrdman9802]

Hey Irishkale!

First off, my hat is off to you! What a well thought out and excellently constructed series of posts!

You know, I have done this hobby for years, and it has always been a personal thing for me. I never thought to document my steps behind what I did. Excellent source of info indeed!

As another lucky recipient of a special KM autograph, I'm happy to throw in my two cents here.

These posts have gone step by step through what you will need to do, and it is very well constructed and put together.

On the steps, I would make a couple of points from me myself - not authoritative by any means, but I have had much success with this over the years.

When writing the letter, you have to find a good balance - you space is limited, but you really have to compress your letter. The star's time is not much, and nor should your letter be. And you have to make a good introduction and end properly of course. But the integral part of it is say something from your own heart/experience to said star.

Whether you have deep respect for a player's athletic accomplishments or a musical star's band, or if you really like a special girl on TV, I think you have to tell her that. I made sure to with KM, and I think it payed off! Including a part of yourself in the letter is integral, and it is a great way to show the star that you really enjoy what they did. Again, those are just my thoughts.

And on the return with a mailing, I always have (and probably always will) send an SASE 9x12 inside a 10x13. If they choose to make their own postage to return your request, so much the better. But you do not ever want to have someone read your letter and just pitch it because there is nothing to return it to you with.

Again, you will find exceptions with this, but I would say as a rule to include and SASE with every autograph request.

Also, I would make sure to go to a local store and buy a package of 3x5 index cards. Blank would be preferable, but lined ones work too. A pack of 50 of them is only a couple of dollars, but make sure to stick in a couple of index cards with your letter. Many of the people I have sent requests to have signed just those index cards for me. All of the actresses I have gotten (except Mariska Hargitay) have sent me their own pictures with the index cards signed as well.

I made sure to send a couple with my KM request, and I got them both back and signed. One with just her signature and another with a nice little message to me on it.

Index cards are a nice little way to get something to laminate and keep forever too!

I have gotten successes through the mail from professional baseball and football players, music stars, and actresses over the years. I can tell you that it is a wonderful experience to receive a return from a star.

I can still vividly remember that special day when I received KM's return. It is without a doubt my favorite one. Just looking at that envelope with "Cold Case" in the address section nearly made me jump out of my skin! Then I opened it and I got all of her wonderful return to me - a Lilly Rush business card, two index cards, and a signed 8x10 paperclipped to a piece of cardboard.

I sent my last request to KM out in September of 2005, and I got her return in late May, 2006. I still get so fired up just looking at her picture! That night I bought a frame for my picture, and I got my index cards and Lilly's business card laminated. Kept the envelope too! I also wrote Kathryn a thank you note the next night and mailed it the next day.

I have seen on autograph boards that May of 2006 was the last time Kathryn sent out autographed photos. Please do not let this dissuade you in any way though. Another key element behind this hobby is confidence. Like Irishkale said, don't let your own worries trip you up, and go into this thinking that you will get what you ask kindly for (please make sure to do that as well, manners are very important too!).

But I wish you all luck, and if you choose to write to KM, go into it with the confidence that a winner has. As someone who did this himself, I can tell you that that is the only way to go about it, folks. Autograph collecting can be a wonderful experience, best of luck boys and girls!

[irishkale]

Excellent points, Byrdman! Thanks for posting your experiences here. Hopefully your successful return of KM"s autograph will inspire our other members to take that plunge!

So, Is anyone else going to write KM or her lovely and talented castmates???

Summer is a great time to send out your fan letters. I've gotten some very quick returns from autograph requests sent during the summer. If anyone sends out a request, you can post in this thread the date you sent it, and we can all share in your anticipation

[niiny]

I will sent a letter to KM this week, And maybe to the others cast the next week

[longislanditalian2]

I'm going to try and write to Kathryn, something this week if I get around to doing it.

[lillyrush1977]

I sent a letter back in April to KM. Just waiting patiently for the return. If I have time this week, I will try to send out some letters to the other cast members.

[smallbarbie]

I sent a letter to Kathy in January and I'm waiting........

[byrdman9802]

Hi smallbarbie!

Hey, girl! How are you today? So, you sent a letter to KM in January then? Attagirl!

Take care, and best of luck to you as you await your return - please let us know how it goes too! Have a good night, girl!

[byrdman9802]

Hello boys and girls!

Hey there, everyone! It's the Byrdman just reopening this great thread today.

First of all, has anyone else written to, or heard a response from, our favorite girl KM? Or anyone else on the show? Just wondering!

I know that Irishkale asked that we post any new exciting autographs that we got through the mail, and I got a new one yesterday from a pretty girl!

Leah Remini - you might remember her on "Saved By the Bell" as Zack Morris' summer love when the gang spent a summer at a beach resort. She was also the wife of the main character on "King of Queens."

Anyway, she sent me an autographed pic, and she personalized it and wrote "Hugs and Kisses, Leah Remini." I smiled! ;D

Just wanted to transmit that - anyone else get anything in the mail too?

[niiny]

I still wait, I sent my letter in July To KM =D

[byrdman9802]

Hello again boys and girls!

Hi there, Niiny! So good to hear from you! And best of luck to you as well. I know myself from experience that a wait was involved for me, but I'm hopeful that KM will come through for you and everyone who has sent her a letter. She is such a sweet girl, but she is also a very busy girl too. Just keep believing, Niiny.

Also, on the autograph front, I got another return today! From another pretty girl too! She was a model and is an actress, and a famous and lovely one - Brooke Shields! She put an "XX" under her name - I loved it! Just wanted to let you all know what is going on on my front here.

Take care, and keep writing, boys and girls!

[niiny]

Thanks Byrdman

Are you Autohgraph's collectioner ?? You look to have many Autographs that seems to be cool

[byrdman9802]

Hi niiny!

Hey, girl! Good Saturday to you! How are you today?

You're welcome for the words of encouragement. I'll tell you, when I was writing to KM and I did not hear anything back, I just had to rest easy and keep believing! And sure enough, my favorite girl on TV came through for me. I truly hope that she will for you as well, niiny.

And yes indeed, niiny! I am an autograph collector, and have done it for years! I have received autographs in person from several American sports stars, and have gotten several professional baseball and football players, rock and roll music stars and lovely actresses (my favorite! ). I'm glad that you like my successes - are you planning to become an autograph collector yourself?