Hello, there!

This is the greeting that you, as a member of The Author's Roost, can ask us to give on your behalf -- as an independent third-party recommender -- to up to 30 event planners, program chairpersons, retail booksellers and others in your local area whom you would like to notify of your availability for whatever purposes you think they can serve for you.

Here's the lowdown on our newest program -- one you can use at no charge if you're an Author's Roost member! In fact, we don't even do it for non-members; it's For Members Only.

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Authors: look around you and figure out which booksellers, organizations, schools, churches, special interest clubs or social organizations might like to know that you're available to them.

Because we know -- and you know -- that you're probably not a good salesperson for your own "product," it would be helpful, indeed, if someone else would recommend you rather than having to call those people yourself to "sell yourself."

Speakers: when you're not on the road, an occasional local "gig" can be very valuable to you -- easy to manage, easy extra income. But we know that approaching people in your local area can look a lot like begging for business.

So we're available to get in the middle and give you a leg up on fill-in engagements, with little or no travel or trouble. We also know that once introduced to a potential local client you can do a very good job of selling yourself, particularly if you come in as a "known quantity." It's a slam-dunk!

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(If you're not a member but like this program, click here to find out more about membership.)

Here's how it works.

Before you start, you may want to take a look at the message we'll be sending on your behalf to the people you select for us to contact. Take a look by clicking here. Then come on back here and proceed.

Click here and download the form that will appear on your screen.

Next, save the form on your computer, using the document name "HelloThereForm" -- then print it out and use it to manually enter the information for each prospect you want us to introduce you to. This way you can take as long as you need to assemble the information.

But please check your work as you go along. We will be unable to research any email addresses you submit to us that are returned to us as undeliverable.

Once you have identified as many prospects as many as you want, re-open the form you saved on your computer and enter your personal information at the top, erase the sample entry on the first form line, type each entry from your hand-written copy into the spaces in the onscreeen form, then save the completed form and send it as attachment to email addressed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . We'll acknowledge your submission as soon as we read it.

That's all there is to it. Within just a few days (if not sooner) we will send out an email to each of the people on your list, and we'll notify you so that you can follow up.

We suggest that you wait a few days after we send out the emails and notify you. Then start calling each of the prospects, introducing yourself by reminding them of the email they've received by saying, "I've been told that my online community, The Author's Roost, sent you an email about me, and I thought I'd just call to introduce myself. I'm . . ."

. . . and the conversation will go on from there. No selling, just telling. Easy!

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A few hints on whom to contact to obtain contact information related to clubs, schools, libraries, organizations, social clubs, etc. in your town:

1. Ask people you know -- friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. -- what organizations they belong to (including professional societies, social clubs, churches or schools, if that's your area of interest). Once you know that, you can easily determine if one or more of their affiliations might work for you as a venue for a talk, book signing, class, etc. At that point, just ask if they know who is in charge of programming for the organization, and if they do, get the information you need. If they don't remember the person's e-mail address, be prepared to get your informant's email, then follow up with an email of your own asking again for the email addresses and phone numbers of the people they mentioned. Since they're right there at their computers when they get your message, they're in the right place to simply look up the information reply with an email containing just what you want to know. By the way, I've even known people who take their prospect lists with them wherever they go, and when they get a "hot one," they ask the person to write the information directly into the form -- it's absolutely amazing how many people are delighted to do it and while doing so will tell you a lot about the clubs and organizations the are a part of (great stuff to know when and if you make later phone contact with an event planner, program chair, and so forth).

2. Check your local newspaper for information on clubs and organizations. Often a member or officer is mentioned in a news item or feature story, and all you need to do at that point is to contact that person and ask for information about the program chair, event planner, etc. No selling, just asking. Easy.

3. Get to know your local reference librarian. These folks know everything! And if they don't, they know how to find out. Make an ally of your librarian (and maybe check out a book or two while you're there). His/her job is to help you, and all you need to do is ask.

4. Use your imagination -- and your computer. Open up your Google machine and dig in. There's "gold in them thar listings!" Take a few minutes to learn about how to do an advanced search using Boolean operators (it's easier than it sounds) and other devices to nail down the local angle. This little bit of new knowledge will help you in a thousand ways, so why not make it work for you now?

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Here's an example of the kind of note we'll email to the people you'd like to meet as you promote your book or your speaking services in the area where you live:

(Prospect Firstname), (Prospect Lastname), (Prospect Organization),

Dear (Prospect Firstname):

Hello, there! We thought you'd like to know that one of the author/speaker members of our organization, The Author's Roost, lives in your area and might be a wonderful choice as the featured presenter at one of your functions. (Your Full Name) is always interested in being of service locally, and we are writing with this in mind.

If you are interested in finding out more about (Your Full Name) and the programs that may relate to your organization's interests, please click here and type our member's name into the "Keyword" box in the form you will see on your screen. A full profile will then be presented, and you may, if you wish, contact our member directly by email to make further inquiry.

We are delighted to help both you and our member, and our experience shows that there is enormous value in introductions of this sort.

Regards,

Paul McNeese, Member Relations Coordinator, The Author's Roost.

Back to How It Works

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