This is a good time of year for authors to establish a speaking calendar. How do you get speaking opportunities? And why would you want to go out and do speaking engagements, anyway?
Contrary to what many people believe, program chairpersons don’t generally go in search of speakers for their groups; that is, unless they’ve heard about the speaker or they read about him or her in the local newspapers, for example. Typically, if you have a book to promote and if you’d like to give presentations around the theme of your book, you’ll need to make it happen.
As for why you should pursue speaking opportunities? That’s a darn good way to sell books. I sold three dozen copies of my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book after speaking to a fairly small group of writers in Nashville a few years ago. That same year, I sold ten books at a writers’ conference in Baltimore, fifteen at the LA Times Book Festival, fifteen at the Wisconsin Women’s Writers’ Conference and ten in Atlanta. That’s 76 more books than I would have sold if I hadn’t appeared personally on behalf of my book. And that’s 76 more people who might buy any subsequent books I’ll write on the topic of writing and publishing.
How can you land speaking engagements? The first step is to get a list of local groups and organizations that meet regularly. You may find them listed in the front pages of your phone book. Or check with the local Chamber of Commerce. If you plan to travel, check the Chamber in the cities where you’ll be visiting.
Seek out organizations related to your topic. When I plan a trip, for example, I check to see if any writers’ groups are meeting nearby during my stay.
Plan ahead—most groups schedule speakers in advance. I would shoot for summer/fall engagements. Locally, you might find opportunities in the spring.
Do a Google search in order to locate appropriate opportunities in specific areas. Use keywords, “health conference Nashville,” “spring pet events New York,” for example.
Here are a few sites for you to study. To locate conferences on topics such as cooking, arts/crafts, writing and photography, go to: http://www.shawguides.com
http://www.tsnn.com They list events world-wide on over 100 topics.
http://www.eventseye.com They list over 15,000 trade shows, events, conferences, fairs throughout the world between Oct. 2009 and Sept 2011.
http://www.eventsinamerica.com. Here, you’ll find events related to photography, catering, advertising, education, architecture, business, health/foods, travel and others.
For more about how to prepare for a presentation about your book, read the blog posts under “Public Speaking” and “promotion.”
Today is the first day of my online Book Proposal Course. It’s not too late to sign up. Contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com. Learn more about the course here: http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm