Do you have to include a photo with your SASE?

[JoeCox1990]

Hi guys!

Joe Cox here, a freshman autograph collector. Well I learned something the hard way recently: Not all agencies provide photos of the celeb. If you've seen my post about Lauren Lapkus and how I might've failed with that particular fanmail address, not the case. Actually, what happened was I sent them a SASE and LOR back in December, and recently (last week) decided to call up her talent agency (Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment). They said they didn't have anything in her pile from me, and the guy on the other end of the line was very nice and said for me to try again and send a photo this time. What a nice guy.

Well, I guess my point is, do you have to include a photo with your SASE? BTW, the guy at Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment told me that they don't have photos of her already there to send back.

Again, it's my first time doing this so please be gentle with me.

Thanks.

-Joe Cox

[kimmylee]

There are no rules with fanmail, it's down to personal preference. I always send a picture because that is my preference. I find it unusual your celebs agency doesn't provide them for the star you wanted, especially as she seems quite well known.

[JoeCox1990]

Yeah Kimmy that's really weird that they didn't have any photos. Ah well, better follow the guy's recommendation to send a photo and see what happens! Fingers crossed.

[Hartster]

Make things easy on them: ALWAYS include a photo with your LOR. You're asking them for a favor, and printing up photos costs money. This way they can open up your envelope, read your letter (or not), sign your photo or whatever you send them, then put it back in your SASE. It's a lot faster. Depending on the celebrity, they may not have photos of themselves, and this way too, you can get the photo (or other item) YOU want signed, rather than a headshot or something you don't like just because they had it lying around.

[Münchausen]

I used to be in the same boat as you... I would never include a photo and my success rate was somewhere around 5%. Now I always include two photos (one horizontal and one vertical, for display preference) and my success rate is around 60%. It truly makes all the difference!

[Sun Devil]

Hi guys!

Joe Cox here, a freshman autograph collector. Well I learned something the hard way recently: Not all agencies provide photos of the celeb. If you've seen my post about Lauren Lapkus and how I might've failed with that particular fanmail address, not the case. Actually, what happened was I sent them a SASE and LOR back in December, and recently (last week) decided to call up her talent agency (Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment). They said they didn't have anything in her pile from me, and the guy on the other end of the line was very nice and said for me to try again and send a photo this time. What a nice guy.

Well, I guess my point is, do you have to include a photo with your SASE? BTW, the guy at Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment told me that they don't have photos of her already there to send back.

Again, it's my first time doing this so please be gentle with me.

Thanks.

-Joe Cox

Joe- Were you successful with the address of Odenkirk Provissiero Ent?

Thanks,

Mike

[JoeCox1990]

Hey Mike. I haven't tried in a while because my first time was a failure but I think I'm going to try again (this time with at least two photos to get signed) possibly in September.

Thanks.

-Joe Cox

[goswannies]

ALWAYS send a photo! It costs not very much for you to print it. Costs them a fortune toot ivied their own for everyone writing to them. If they want to include their own photo when they reply, it's s bonus (& they sometimes do)