lecture "agents"

**M* W* <m*@earthlink.net>**

Graham wistfully mentioned an agent for lectures, and I thought of  
this Web site I found while searching for info on a local celebrity  
chef:  www.allamericanspeakers.com.  Under the home-and-garden  
section are mostly the makeover people, lots of HGTV (where, I am  
often reminded, the "G" is silent).  There's little indication of  
fees ("Please contact us for fee info") and no telling how much the  
company takes.  But Graham's suggestion reminds me of a related topic  
that pops us with some of us from time to time - that of having an  
agent or PR person we could pay by the job, because we don't have  
enough money to pay for a full-time PR firm or personal assistant  
(one press release, X$; arranging all those annoying bits for an out- 
of-town talk, X$).

My speaking engagements, which range between 12-18 a year, are part  
of my income, which includes my weekly newspaper features, free-lance  
magazine assignments, tour-guide fees, and, always hopeful, the next  
book deal.  I charge $500, plus travel (if I go out of the Seattle  
area or have to pay for a ferry).  Occasionally a garden club will  
say that's too much for them, to which I reply (as someone else  
suggested) that they go together with another club to cover  
expenses.  Sometimes this seems logical to them, other groups can't  
seem to comprehend the idea.

(OK, OK, there are a very few events that don't pay that much and I  
go anyway, because the exposure is worth it.)

Very occasionally, I will give a free talk, but this year, I made a  
fairly firm decision to offer an auction item to those groups  
(everyone has a fundraising auction these days)..  Instead of the  
talk, I donate a 2-hour garden consultation.

Marty Wingate
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, NW Gardens, www.seattlepi.com
Author:
The Bellevue Botanical Garden: Celebrating the First 15 Years (2007)
The Big Book of Northwest Perennials
(Sasquatch Books, 2005)
Big Ideas for Northwest Small Gardens
(Sasquatch Books, 2003)

martywingate.com

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