The Personalized Autograph Book

Over the years, I have seen a few thousand fans take photos with their favorite athletes and celebrities.  In today's world of pretty good quality camera phones and the advent of the "Selfie", photos are easier to come by and slightly easier to manage at autograph signings.  Additionally, athletes are becoming more accommodating to pose with fans in many different ways.  So the question is, what do you do with all those photos?  After they are posted on twitter, instagram, facebook and texted to a few friends, what happens?  I cannot imagine the process stopping there.

So here is an idea for you that I successfully make work.  I created my own autograph album out of an artbook.  I went to a chain craft store and purchased a 100 page sketch book for $22.  And for $4.79 I purchased a box of 750 photo corners to stick the pictures to the pages.  So for just $27+ you can create a unique treasure for your collection.  Additionally, many players will now look in the album to see who I've met and who they know.  It is a conversation piece with friends, colleagues and the celebrities.

There a couple of key practices that I follow to make this work.  The first is to have the player sign only in pen ( I prefer blue).  A sharpie will bleed through the page.  I also request that the player sign on the bottom half and I'll adhere the picture to the top half.  That keeps everything consistent and clean.  Lastly, I sometimes have the athlete or celebrity sign the page before I have an opportunity to print the picture.  There's no guarantee you'll see some of these people in the future, so if possible I'll have them sign the page as a place holder.

Picture with Rob Gronkowski and autograph on bottom.

Picture with Pedro Martinez and autograph in pen on bottom.