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?<\/p>\n
Contrary to what many people believe, program chairpersons don\u2019t generally go in search of speakers for their groups; that is, unless they\u2019ve 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\u2019d like to give presentations around the theme of your book, you\u2019ll need to make it happen. <\/p>\n
As for why you should pursue speaking opportunities? That\u2019s 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 <\/em><\/strong>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\u2019 conference in Baltimore, fifteen at the LA Times Book Festival, fifteen at the Wisconsin Women\u2019s Writers\u2019 Conference and ten in Atlanta. That\u2019s 76 more books than I would have sold if I hadn\u2019t appeared personally on behalf of my book. And that\u2019s 76 more people who might buy any subsequent books I\u2019ll write on the topic of writing and publishing.<\/p>\n 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\u2019ll be visiting. <\/p>\n Seek out organizations related to your topic. When I plan a trip, for example, I check to see if any writers\u2019 groups are meeting nearby during my stay. <\/p>\n Plan ahead\u2014most groups schedule speakers in advance. I would shoot for summer\/fall engagements. Locally, you might find opportunities in the spring.<\/p>\n Do a Google search in order to locate appropriate opportunities in specific areas. Use keywords, \u201chealth conference Nashville,\u201d \u201cspring pet events New York,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n 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<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.tsnn.com<\/a> They list events world-wide on over 100 topics.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.eventseye.com<\/a> They list over 15,000 trade shows, events, conferences, fairs throughout the world between Oct. 2009 and Sept 2011.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.eventsinamerica.com<\/a>. Here, you\u2019ll find events related to photography, catering, advertising, education, architecture, business, health\/foods, travel and others.<\/p>\n For more about how to prepare for a presentation about your book, read the blog posts under \u201cPublic Speaking\u201d and \u201cpromotion.\u201d<\/p>\n Today is the first day of my online Book Proposal Course<\/strong>. It\u2019s not too late to sign up. Contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com. Learn more about the course here: http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/courses.htm<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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\u2019t generally go in search of speakers for their groups; that is, unless they\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t