It sounds simple enough, write a brief letter to someone you admire, wait, and receive an autographed photo (or even a letter!) in as little as a week. That's just how it works...sometimes. There is always a risk that you'll lose the investment you'd put into the postage and supplies by receiving nothing at all, but just wait until you receive your first success! You'll be hooked. I guarantee it!

April 22nd, 1998. The sky is clear besides a few light fluffy clouds floating by overhead. I go into the post office and check my P.O. Box. There is a big manilla envelope inside. I'd just sent some requests off six days prior. Could it be? Yes! My first autograph! I remember the vivid details because it is something a Missourian rarely gets to experience. Interacting with celebrities. Even 2,500 miles away from Hollywood I get to correspond with the famous people of today. More cherished to me than the photo's themselves are the stories I get to tell my children and grandchildren. How Kato Kaelin and Dan Rather mail me Christmas cards to this day, how I wrote and received a letter from one of the original Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz, many stories that I will never forget. The best part? All I paid for was some stamps and letter-writing supplies.

Have I got your interest yet? Good. Allow me to share the tips with you that has helped me gain hundreds upon hundreds of autographs and letters over the last 7 years.

-Keep your letter short and sweet. Don't write more than a page. Celebrities get googles of letters and can't possibly read them all, so they stick with reading the short ones, if they read them at all!

-Hand-write your request! Why would a celebrity write you an autograph when you can't even write them a letter? A friend of mine typed a letter to Elton John and a month later received a photo of Elton, with a TYPED autograph!

-Be realistic when writing to certain celebrities. You probably won't get a Michael Jackson autographed picture right now, due to the paparazzi's focus on him. Although you can always try, don't get your hopes up when writing to the super famous. You never know, stranger things have happened.

-Always include along with your request an S.A.S.E. (self-addressed stamped envelope). Not all celebrities will be willing to dish out the postage to send you a free autograph.

-It helps to include a common, un-ruled index card with each request. That way, if the star runs out of pictures, you can still get the card signed. Many celebs, you'll find, send pics and still sign the card! Bill Cosby, Robert Duvall and Oprah will usually sign index cards. As for the un-ruled cards, they up the value later on down the road. Most cards get framed and matted with a picture of the celebrity, and it looks much nicer.

-When possible, use a self-sealing envelope as the S.A.S.E. Since the anthrax scare some years back, celebs think twice before licking an envelope from a stranger.

I hope these tips will help you obtain some autographed pictures that you are sure to cherish. As for getting the mailing addresses, they are all over the internet. Don't pay for them, as there are numerous websites that give them out for free. Just do a little research. Make sure the site you get them from has been recently updated, remember, stars move more frequently than the rest of us.

Follow these tips and your collection will grow quickly! Be patient, write often and good luck!