How patient I need to be?

[TheCollector]

I started collecting a couple years back and got a few successes. I sent out about 15 SFM and about 15 letters in the regular mail. I also sent 4 other emails to non SFM addresses. When I look on this site I always see how everybody is getting 10's and 10's of letters back a week. I started back about 8 or 9 days ago. I sent 1 SASE to a Pro Football Player. I was just wondering how patient I need to be and if you have any idea when I might get anything back. Thanks.

Hi again Dubsbball14!

Thanks for your questions! Generally I think requests to SFM can take as little as a couple of weeks, but anything up to a couple of months!

One thing worth noting (I have been told by SFM) is that when you email for a pre-print you MUST send a separate email for each celeb you want. If you "mass mail/spam" by sending one email cc'd or bcc'd to them, then your request is almost always automatically rejected.

Also, although I have personally had some success with requesting genuine autographs from celebs via email or their official websites, you generally stand a much better chance using mail. This is because even though some star's websites are marked 'official' quite often they have little or no input or association with it other than to officially endorse it.

It sounds like you did all the right things though when you mailed off to your Pro Football Player! You say it has been 8 or 9 days, but time is still very early yet! It generally (but not always) follows that the bigger and more popular the star, the longer it takes for your autograph to arrive - they (or their agents) usually have a lot more mail to wade through!

So give it a bit longer. Elton John's autograph took almost 10 weeks to get to me, and even that is quick compared to some.

Although agents often have a supply of signed photos which are usually done in bulk when the celeb comes into the agency, if you want something personalised it will take longer, as your letter will sit at the agency until the celeb next comes in.

If (like me) you do not want your autographs personalised then you generally tend to get them sooner, as the agency simply mails out one of the stock pictures (still genuine but un-personalised).

Remember to try to send out return postage with your request letters, or at the very least send a self-addressed envelope. The more you send - the more you will get back!

Remember, the easier you make it for the celebrity to reply to you the more chance you have of getting your autograph!!!

I hope this is helpful to you, anything else - please ask!

Cheers! {thumb2}