OK, so you've thought of roughly what to put, you've decided to type the letter, but sign it by hand, and of course, you've vowed to spell-check your letter, and read it through to make sure it makes sense.

But what format should you use? And how do you ask the ultimate question?

Well, you should avoid what's known as the 'fill-in the gaps' job lot type of letter: you know the one:
Hi (fill-in the gap)
I thought you were great in (fill-in the gap)
and I especially liked how you managed to (fill-in the gap)
so, anyway, please can I have your autograph?

OK, you needed some of that knowledge we talked about to fill-in what you thought they were great in and so on, but this sort of letter they get 60 times a day, and they can spot them from a mile away.

What does the celeb think? They think 'Minimum effort from this one......boring, unoriginal letter; I won't put any effort in either, except to throw this letter away'.

OK, probably not as drastic as that, but the point is that it doesn't do you any favours (that's how it's spelt over here!) in your request for that autograph

If you have to use the same old format every time, cover it up well with more detailed information inbetween......if you liked the latest song by Joe Bloggs or whoever it is, say why, and how you've wondered what the background to the lyrics is, as it's an emotional song, or does he write the words before the lyrics or vice-versa.....even if you're not particularly interested in the answer.

If you're still not sure, then ask someone: ask other collectors how they got that persons autograph, especially if they're known not to be the most co-operative of signers, or ask people who specialise in that area or genre: someone who only collects sci-fi actors autographs, or whatever it may be, will probably know what strings to pull to get the autograph.

And it's not a bad idea to specialise in a particular area, as you're success rate should go up-and-up as you get to grips with the topic.

However, you can be very successful without specialising and ruining your eyes watching every Star Trek ever, or something like that.

Not that I have anything particular against Star Trek, that is.