# The economics of autograph shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568 "2011-09-08T01:37:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/21 "2011-09-08T19:25:29Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Paying for autographs? I feel so old. I remember at the first comic cons that the artists and writers were flattered that anybody would want their autographs. Many artists would do a little sketch for you and sign it. No charge. They definitely still do. Of course, it helps if you’re a kid - we took my boyfriend’s niece to Heroes Con in Charlotte and she came back with a sketchbook full of really fun sketches. Don’t think she paid for any of them. The indie comic artists were all very happy to do really neat sketches (man, the guy who does _Cursed Pirate Girl_ will do an absolutely gorgeous fine line ink sketch for you and not even accept if you _try_ to pay him), but the better known artists did charge various amounts - the really famous ones charged an arm and a leg, middling ones more like $25-$50. Some would do a “quick con sketch” for free but charge for anything more elaborate. I’d never been to a comic book convention, only anime ones, so I didn’t know about the sketch thing - next time I’ll take a book. Maybe I’ll enlist a child to solicit for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/22 "2011-09-08T21:28:35Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Lloyd is a self-important fucking asshole. We both go to the same excellent sushi restaurant in Montecito. He asks the staff to keep the chair next to him at the sushi bar open so he doesn’t have to sit next to any of the rabble. One time, on a busy night, the stool next to him and the one next to that were open. There was also one open table. The hostess tried to steer me to the table but I pointed to the bar and my date and I sat there. I was next to him. He looked at me like I was a worthless piece of trash and then turned ninety degrees so that his back was to me and his side was to the sushi bar. He spent the rest of his meal like that. That sucks, I always liked him in various movies and such. I’d probably mutter under my breath “what… does… a… yellow… light… mean…” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/23 "2011-09-08T22:07:23Z")
Most of the questions seem to have been answered. Most celebrities get their expenses paid (travel, room, meals), and sometimes a fee, in addition to what they make with autographs. This is negotiable based upon the celebrity, their draw, and the type/size of convention. Something like Dragon\*Con is in much better position for paying media guests than a small, couple hundred person attended fan run con. The person with them is typically an agent or companion of some sort to help them man the table and take the money and such. For big name stars or stars who actively work, it may not be crucial to their income base, though they are also more likely to charge more - witness Shatner mentioned above. For the smaller actors and those not getting acting jobs, it is a significant portion of their income. They live off the con circuit. Autographing rules are generally determined by the celebrity, perhaps negotiated with the venue. Usually there will be a per autograph charge, with your choice of a photo from a couple types included in that fee. If you bring your own item, you still pay the fee. They do this for a variety of reasons, one of them being that it is how they make their living once their show died. Authors are in a different boat than actors. Authors will typically autograph for free. Some will institute an autograph limit per person. Like David Webber. He has arthritis and can only write so much in a given day. So he has a 2 item per person in line limit. You can go back to the end of the line and get more. Assuming his hand holds out and he doesn’t run out of time. This is mostly for authors with big followings, to keep someone from showing up with a dozen books from their series, holding up the line for the rest of the fans. Bookstores like you to buy their book from the store, so they get something out of the deal. They are different than con type venues, so they get their benefit from the book sales for the autographs. Con settings usually don’t have that restriction. Often actors will provide a few items you can buy and get autographed. Claudia Christian had copies of her turn in Playboy available when I saw her (this wasn’t Dragon\*Con). She also had some Vampire roleplaying game she modeled for the cover art, as well as a variety of glossies including Ivanova. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/24 "2011-09-08T22:19:09Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Often actors will provide a few items you can buy and get autographed. At Comic-Con a few years back, Robin LaMorte had a stack of photos of Jenny Calendar and Giles in an embrace already signed by Tony Head. That way she could personalize and sign each one as needed, since Tony was in England. At the same con, I damn near threw my back out carrying books to be signed by S.M. Stirling, Harry Harrison, Kevin J. Anderson, Greg Bear, and David Brin, who were all on the same panel. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/25 "2011-09-09T00:17:41Z")
Oh, I’d also like to mention that when I was at Fan Expo in Toronto two weeks ago, the main cast of ‘Lost Girl’ all signed personalized cards for their fans for two hours after their Q&A panel **for free**. I think that they were totally overwhelmed by how much fan response the show got this year. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/26 "2011-09-09T01:01:06Z")
I don’t know about actors making money but there was a court case in 1995 involving two baseball greats, Duke Snider and Willie McCovey, and some figures on how much they made at a show. > **[Tax Fraud: Two Baseball Legends Say It's So (Published 1995)](https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/21/nyregion/tax-fraud-two-baseball-legends-say-it-s-so.html)** ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/27 "2011-09-10T19:29:43Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > I don’t know about actors making money but there was a court case in 1995 involving two baseball greats, Duke Snider and Willie McCovey, and some figures on how much they made at a show. > [http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/21/nyregion/tax-fraud-two-baseball-legends-say-it-s-so.html](http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/21/nyregion/tax-fraud-two-baseball-legends-say-it-s-so.html) Yep. Rose went to jail for failure to pay $360,000 in taxes, so imagine how much the underlying revenue was. To an earlier question about Rose: yep, that’s probably pretty much all he’s done the past five years. He’s a notorious memorabilia whore, to the extent that it’s significantly diminished any resale value for stuff with his autograph: [http://www.psacard.com/articles/article\_view.chtml?artid=1360](http://www.psacard.com/articles/article_view.chtml?artid=1360) What else is the guy going to do, I guess. No known marketable skills, never going to be hired by anyone officially affiliated with MLB (no announcer job, that is), a gambling junkie who likes young models. It adds up. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/28 "2011-09-10T21:24:36Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Oh, I’d also like to mention that when I was at Fan Expo in Toronto two weeks ago, the main cast of ‘Lost Girl’ all signed personalized cards for their fans for two hours after their Q&A panel **for free**. I think that they were totally overwhelmed by how much fan response the show got this year. 🙂 Yep. It depends on the person. To wit: Cal Ripken, Jr. During the height of his popularity he would voluntarily stay after games and sign autographs, sometimes for hours, for people who were at the game. He said they deserved everything he could give because everything he had came from them. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/29 "2011-09-10T21:53:16Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Yep. Rose went to jail for failure to pay $360,000 in taxes, so imagine how much the underlying revenue was. > > To an earlier question about Rose: yep, that’s probably pretty much all he’s done the past five years. He’s a notorious memorabilia whore, to the extent that it’s significantly diminished any resale value for stuff with his autograph: > > [http://www.psacard.com/articles/article\_view.chtml?artid=1360](http://www.psacard.com/articles/article_view.chtml?artid=1360) > > What else is the guy going to do, I guess. No known marketable skills, never going to be hired by anyone officially affiliated with MLB (no announcer job, that is), a gambling junkie who likes young models. It adds up. In the early 90s ,Rose had a radio talk show. I don’t know how long it lasted but I believe it was successful. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/30 "2011-09-10T22:22:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Which is good, because that’s how I collected most of my signed First Editions. Get the book, then wait until the author shows up on the convention circuit. It makes for interesting conversations sometimes. Like when I presented Larry Niven with a First of **Ringworld** ( the one with the mistake in it.) I asked Vonnegut to sign an old If magazine that had 2BR02B short story written by him (not Kilgore Trout). He said “amazing” and I replied “No, If”. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/31 "2011-09-10T23:41:29Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Yep. Rose went to jail for failure to pay $360,000 in taxes, so imagine how much the underlying revenue was. > > To an earlier question about Rose: yep, that’s probably pretty much all he’s done the past five years. He’s a notorious memorabilia whore, to the extent that it’s significantly diminished any resale value for stuff with his autograph: > > [http://www.psacard.com/articles/article\_view.chtml?artid=1360](http://www.psacard.com/articles/article_view.chtml?artid=1360) > > What else is the guy going to do, I guess. No known marketable skills, never going to be hired by anyone officially affiliated with MLB (no announcer job, that is), a gambling junkie who likes young models. It adds up. Rose is also the guy on the day he was banned for life by baseball went on one of those shopping channels to pitch merchandise. He said he had a commitment to due the show on that particular date and he probably did. But, gee, how tacky and money hungry can you get? I wish I could remember the source but a few years ago I did a lot of reading on George Custer. One of the books noted that several years after the Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull did a tour with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show. He charged for autographs..something like 25 cents for women and $2 for men. Small potatoes compared to what he and his people were cheated out of. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568/32 "2011-09-11T15:48:23Z")
[QUOTE=Jim’s Son] I wish I could remember the source but a few years ago I did a lot of reading on George Custer. One of the books noted that several years after the Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull did a tour with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show. He charged for autographs..something like 25 cents for women and $2 for men. Small potatoes compared to what he and his people were cheated out of. [/QUOTE] Geronimo did as well- not in the Wild West show but while he was living on the east Coast and touring World Fairs and other venues as a “guest” of the U.S. government. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-economics-of-autograph-shows/595568.md?page=1)