Let Me Tell You Why You Are a Starving Artist

Dear Small-Time, Small-Venue Performers:

These days, I hear you call yourself a starving artist, living hand to mouth on the art that you make or perform. Well, have you ever wondered why you are not a well-fed, plump artist? Well, let me tell you, artists who eat, do the following: answer their phones, return emails, send out emails to get gigs; and, have a website that works. The really well-fed ones have a performer Facebook page.

If you are a performer and you make your living by performing then you need to make it easy for people like me (a public librarian) to hire you. You can do this by getting a phone and remembering to pay the bill. Cell phone or landline, really doesn’t matter as long as you keep it turned on. If you have a website, it needs to be updated more than once a decade with full descriptions of what you do, videos of your performance, a list of past performances, and current contact information. Make sure your email address works and check your email regularly. If keeping an Internet provider for your email address is a problem, use a cloud service like Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo.

And by all means, if you can get an email that says, "I may be interested in hiring you," which really means "I will pay you for your talent,” you certainly should answer that email promptly. It is absolutely unacceptable to check your email every two months and then be shocked when I already booked someone else for the performance.

I should not have to contact one of your colleagues from ten years ago or hunt down a venue where you played for an hour about four years ago. I should not have to ask a librarian in a city many miles away for your phone number and email. This is not good business for anyone. This wastes my time, and it means potentially no income for you.

Even if you are on a hiatus from performing or if your group has disbanded, it is your responsibility to set-up an automatic reply email that provides that information. If you are on tour, busy, or just experiencing a lazy streak, you need to send an automatic reply email that says you will be reply within 72-hours. Then, you need to actually reply, so an event planner can move on quickly if you are unavailable.

Although there are seems to be an endless supply of starving artists out there, event planners for institutions like libraries, schools, nursing homes, senior centers, museums, recreational centers and children’s hospitals tend to have specific needs that must be filled by specific types of performers. In other words, if you specialize in performances for children or multicultural presentations, you will be in high demand. Sometimes depending on your geographical area and local demographics, you may be the only performer that fits an institution’s need. For instance, if you do African stories and you live in rural Iowa, you are going to get a lot of calls during Black History Month. You need to be prepared to answer in a timely fashion to not cause panic and worry for the scheduler who may be banking on you and you alone for her multicultural celebration. If you perform Hispanic dance or music and you live Texas, you better answer those emails quickly and with a reasonable quote, or the planner will just find someone else.

Non-profits (especially libraries) have a specific methodology for planning events for their communities; it is not party planning. A performance in a downtown library which serves people of all racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds is not the same as little Sally’s birthday party in the suburbs, so you need to be aware of your market and their needs. A random clown can work anywhere but will be competing against other random clowns. A clown who creates his show around the summer reading program theme in his area can most likely work every day all summer long. Know your area and create a niche for yourself.

In regards to higher-paying gigs in the for-profit sector, I have limited information on their procedures because as a committed non-profit-making librarian I tend to shun those who use skills similar to mine to actually earn a livable wage. But, I do know libraries and will leave you with a few “musts” if you want to have a successful career as a small venue performer.

1. Keep all contact information current and updated regularly.
2. Make video or audio recordings of your performances available on your website.
3. Occasionally send emails to libraries and other non-profits announcing your services.
4. Know your niche and market prior to peak times. Multicultural performers need to be targeting venues about three to six months before to a specific heritage month. Children’s performers need have their performances for summer reading in place at least nine months to one year in advance.
5. Keep your fees within reach of non-profits. Libraries tend to have limited budgets but are very good, solid customers. They pay on time and will recommend you when contacted by other libraries if you are entertaining and professional.
6. Arrive on time. Seems obvious, but tardiness is a huge problem in the arts community.
7. Maintain courteous prompt communication from the time of the initial contact until the final performance. Confirmation calls prior to performance are essential.
8. Remember to take your cell phone with you on the way to performance.
9. Figure out driving directions in advance and allow time to get lost.
10. If you are feeling overwhelmed by any part of the process from booking to marketing to collecting payment, consider hiring a booking agency. Many specialize in small venue performances and charge fair fees. In most cases their fees, are just tacked onto the performance price resulting in higher cost for the library and not subtracting from your profit.

Simply, by following these ten steps, you will go from starving artist to well-fed artist in no time.

Sincerely,
Garbageman’s Daughter