Have you ever written fan mail?

[Guest]

Whether it was an email, a letter or even an Instagram message, for example.

 

I've written an email to an author I really like, but I've never gathered up the courage to send it. I worry about sounding parasocial and weird (especially due to the content of her books - memoirs), being inconvenient (the draft I made got quite long lol) and things like that. I'm still considering it, though.

 

Besides, I once went to Bernard Cornwell's website, asked for an autograph and wrote about how much I love his books and credited them for making me an avid reader. The autograph arrived a couple of months later (which I still have), but that's it. I have him on Facebook too, and I would get thrilled when he sent me birthday wishes

 

PS.: When I was a kid, I also wrote letters to Bill Clinton, because he was my childhood crush lol But obviously I never sent them, and maybe my mom still have them somewhere

[Ceebs]

When I was a kid I wrote a poem about then-Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, shortly after he took office in 1993. It was in French and I rhymed his name with the French word for 'dog' -- 'chien'. I think it was about him taking a dog for a walk. 😂 Anyway, I sent it to him. I got a letter back, but who knows if the PM himself actually read it.

 

I've also exchanged messages with my favourite musician, but I've met him in person many times and we're casual friends so I'm not sure if that counts. I did actually write him a letter 20 years ago though, when I'd only seen him play a few gigs and we didn't properly know each other yet, but I never sent it. I still have the notebook with the rough draft.

 

Can't think of anyone else.

[blunose2772]

I don't know if it counts as fan mail but as a kid I bought a book of Knock Knock jokes and on the last page was an address to submit a joke for a future book. I sent one in (I don't remember what joke I sent) and got a handwritten thank you letter from the author. I held on to it for years. 

 

But I have sent fan letters to my favorite baseball player Ozzie Smith, Britney Spears, and Taylor Swift. None of which replied (I doubt they even saw the letters)

[paladude]

As a kid I did once. I forgot who it was to, but I remember seeing those fanmail addresses in J-14 and just wanted to see if I really could send a fan letter and get a response. Never heard back though.

[Tystie]

I wrote to Brent Spiner back when Star Trek The Next Generation was still in production. I got a signed photo back. I still have it.

[Guest]

Yes, but I didn't put my return address because I didn't want a reply

[daveb]

I never wrote or sent any fan mail. I don't think I would have had the nerve to do it when I was younger, and I'm not sure who I would have even thought about sending fan mail to.

[ei-hvað]

I read a very niche trilogy of choose your own adventure type books for adults, only available through Kindle. I really enjoyed all of them, and this was over a decade ago, so before the CYOA revival of sorts we've had in the last few years, so it was an intermediate period when those types of books (especially independent ones) were still very niche. I reread them five years back, and still enjoyed them so much that I found the website of one of the authors and sent him an email, thanking them for the books and giving a sort of critical analysis why I enjoy them much more than other CYOA style books (including the originals). I got a reply back the same day where he thanked me for the nice message, and then told me that though he had received some fan mail before, none of it went to quite that much depth on why they like the books.

 

Quote

Thank you for you very detailed email.  Daniel and I started writing Whatley Tupper as a lark a long, long time ago.  It was just for the fun of it--really, each of us just wanted to find ways to make the other laugh--and then over the years we tried to keep that same mentality when writing the next books.  It's been a long time since Daniel and I have been able to collaborate on something (life is keeping us busy, and especially Daniel) but hopefully some time in the future we can do something together again.  Although, the whole CYOA thing has become much more mainstream since we first published The Adventures of Whatley Tupper back in 2010 (and the draft of which was finished back in 2006).  

 

Anyhow, thank you, again, for the the message.  I've had the odd email from fans in the past, but never one so detailed.  

 

Take care,

Rudy

I read them to my partner this year, and she really enjoys them too. Especially with my voices.

[verily-forsooth-egads]

When I was around 8 I wrote a letter to my favorite author. It was 7 words long so I put it in 72-point font to fill the page.

 

Her response was long and heartfelt. I'm sure it was a stock reply but it meant a lot to me as a kid.

[hagathorn]

3 hours ago, Tystie said:

I wrote to Brent Spiner back when Star Trek The Next Generation was still in production. I got a signed photo back. I still have it.

That's awesome!!

[Blueberry Pie]

 

13 hours ago, daveb said:

I never wrote or sent any fan mail. I don't think I would have had the nerve to do it when I was younger, and I'm not sure who I would have even thought about sending fan mail to.

This is me as well. I was too shy. I’m not as shy nowadays, but I don’t know who I’d send it to or what I’d say. 

[A User]

I wrote a letter to TVOkids once because I was 9-10 and I loved the channel a lot. No reply 😕

[mori child]

I have written fan letters to: 

 

Roald Dahl (British author)

The CEO of Klutz (toy company)

Juana Molina (Argentinian singer)

 

Roald Dahl's family replied to me(!), and so did the CEO of Klutz! Never got anything from Juana Molina 🥲

 

Juana, if you're reading this, I love you~

[Miss Grey]

I've sent fan artwork before. I was ignored. 🥰

[iff]

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