Time to Refocus and Repurpose

I hope this hiatus is finally over. I really enjoyed getting into the “blogging zone” earlier this year when I started to enjoy my stride, writing about things I usually don’t talk about in other venues. For those of you who have been reading my blog and wondering what I’ve been up to, a brief explanation follows.  

Unlike summers past, I am not touring libraries and community centers around the country. Instead, summer bookings for my storytelling shows and “Squirrely Shirley Meets Fry-Fry” are mostly in and around Arizona.  My ambitious plan to be on tour this summer turned out to be unwise, once I took a good look at budget cuts and the high cost of gas for the tour bus. By not being on tour, I am able to focus on other opportunities and take more time to expand my repertoire.   

The last two months have been very busy. I could call the last six to eight weeks a time of “repurposing” - a word used by my friend, Linda, when she came over to help us revamp our property - prior to opening “The Storyteller’s Place.” a Bed and Breakfast for folks who want to spend time in the heart of Tucson and enjoy the fantastic art and cultural scene our city has to offer. We could not wish for better advice, since Linda and her husband, Dan, own a magnificent B & B near the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum: Hacienda Linda (www.haciendalinda.com). If you check out their website, I am certain you will understand why having Linda and Dan Leonard mentor us on this project is so thrilling.

Entrance to Hacienda Linda, Tucson, Arizona

 At “The Storyteller’s Place,” we will provide stories and historic tours to guests who have an interest in such things. Our main goal, however, will be to provide visitors with comfortable, lovely and convenient accommodations to make their Southern Arizona visit memorable. To that end, we’ve been painting, fixing and planning for a fall opening. While this change of direction has been exciting, it has also been somewhat exhausting.  So you see, although I’ve been quiet, I have been busy repurposing in more ways than one! I’ll keep you posted as we get closer to a launch date. 

I hope one day in the near future, you will visit Tucson and stay at “The Storyteller’s Place.”

Until then, be sure to share your stories with someone you love.

April Lessons Learned

I am not a person who pays much attention to April Fools Day or Friday the 13th, but in retrospect it seems I should have taken both days a bit more seriously. Between my work and doing the labor of painting our home in anticipation of opening a Bed & Breakfast (The Storyteller’s Bungalow) in the fall. I was confident I had no time left in April for distractions or any new endeavors. 

By mid-month, I had finished up a delightful 4-day residency for 1^st grade classes at a school in Scottsdale, Arizona, performed a multicultural storytelling show at a local library and presented “Squirrely Shirley Meets Fry-Fry!” during Tucson’s  Healthy Kids Day Celebration. My mind was occupied with thoughts about learning some new stories, and I was looking forward to developing shows for two new programs I will be doing later this year. I had reached a point where I believed I had finally gotten into an easy rhythm with this blog. I was feeling great. 

Just about that time (April 13th), a hacker struck my email account and caused most of my plans to come to a halt.  

All this is to say, I came face to face with a lesson I thought I had learned many other times in my life: we never really know what can happen. No matter how much we think we are in control, something out there or some unexplained event can change our plans before we know it. That’s life, and because I sometimes get so wrapped up with what I am doing, I guess I needed to be reminded again about how uncertain life can be.  

Thank goodness I have my health, a wonderful family and am surrounded by good friends. I love my work, and I appreciate having the freedom to be able to do many of the things I enjoy. It is unfortunate that we must occasionally deal with troublemakers on the Internet, dishonest and greedy folks, and other problems that come our way. How easy it is to become angry, frustrated and depressed about things we cannot control. I am happy to say that my nature won’t let me stay in these dark places for long. I don’t want to miss out on the moments I live for: love, joy, accomplishment, creating art, spending time with my favorite people and having the satisfaction of doing some good in this world. Most of all, I don’t want to let trouble win. I hope this is true for you, too!

I'm looking forward to the month of May.

A Pause in Communication

I have had problems accessing the Internet since my email was hacked on Friday.  My computer may have been hit with a worm or some other invasive program, as well. This has created a break in my email responses and regular Blog posts, so I am using a borrowed computer until mine is up and working again.  

Please be patient with me as I l find ways to access blocked accounts and stumble through this unfortunate and time-consuming situation.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if mean-spirited folks used their talents in positive ways? 

Mother Goose, Libraries and Storytelling

Yours truly as Mother Goose in 1971.
The cute little boy looking at the book
 is my youngest son, John.

It’s interesting to note that many beginning storytellers who may have volunteered in libraries helping out during story times for tots, elect to take on the persona of Mother Goose as a way to launch a storytelling business. I decided to add Mother Goose to my repertoire several years after performing as Whispers the Clown.

My idea was to attract the attention of customers who had already hired Whispers for a venue and might appreciate an alternative to a magic clown for birthday parties and other family events. This was an easy and logical move on my part, because I had served as a volunteer coordinator for story hour in Matawan, NJ in the late 60s. By then, I had already developed Whispers the Clown to draw attention to our library program, register participants and recruit other parent-volunteers. I really had no idea that what I was doing might actually develop into anything other than a fun, temporary project. As I look back, I know now that serendipity was at work, helping to set the stage for my current work as a storyteller. 

In those early years, I learned a lot and got quite a bit of experience keeping toddlers interested and happy. Furthermore, the press started to notice what we were doing at the Matawan Joint Free Public Library, and in no time at all, many parents in the Jersey shore area had started to ask me to tell stories or bring Whispers the Clown to birthday parties. Trust me, this was not easy work, but I loved it! When we moved to Tucson, Arizona in the 70s, Whispers and the idea of Mother Goose came to the desert with us.  

With Mother Goose, I started to move away from the slap-stick, attention-getting antics of a clown into the quieter and more introspective arena of telling stories for the sake of stories themselves. Glenda as Mother Goose was off and running by the time the family had settled into our home on the east side of town. 

My Mother Goose phase didn’t last long, because Whispers was hired by KUAT-TV (local PBS station) to do some television segments and a 30-minute children’s special, “Whispers Magic Tent.”  By that time, some new “characters” had started to form in my imagination - I plan to tell you about them in future blog posts.   

If you have small children or grandchildren in your life, and if you want them to love books, stories and literature, be sure to check out what your local library has to offer. If the librarian happens to be looking for a parent/volunteer to lend a hand during story times, you might even want to say yes. I'm certainly glad I did! And please keep an eye out for beginning storytellers who bill themselves as Mother Goose – they are a sure bet to entertain at a young child’s birthday party. For some reason, kids always love Mother Goose.

Gaining Experience as a Performer (part two)

For any new storyteller or community performer looking to develop a small business as an artist, knowing how to entertain a wide variety of audiences and having many opportunities to demonstrate one’s work are essential for ultimate success. But how does an artist move away from constantly donating services to confidently asking for and receiving a fee?

When people contact you and say they are looking to find an entertainer for an event, but they have no budget, you are in a position to ask for something other than money as compensation.  By doing this, you establish the fact that your work has value, and it alerts people to the idea that you are seriously looking forward to the time when you will be charging professional fees for what you do. Do not be shy about asking that in exchange for your time and talent, they (1) allow you to use them as a reference, (2) be willing to write a letter of recommendation on your behalf, and/or (3) can help you network and explore new opportunities.

I was a little nervous the first time I requested a letter of recommendation, but I soon learned that people are quite happy to accommodate a performer in this way. Furthermore, the unspoken message is that you are starting to move beyond the need for experience and exposure alone.  This unspoken message translates into a new respect for you as an entertainer. It is a “cross-over” moment.  I know this to be true, because once I realized I had reached a point when I could ask for acknowledgement in a tangible form, I began receiving fewer calls to work for free and more calls asking about my fees.   

Performing Before Library
Audiences is a Joy for Me!

One of the most important goals to pursue as you “pay your dues,” is to clearly identify your ideal niche - the groups and audiences that can’t get enough of what you do, and the audiences you are most eager to serve. This is where your repeat and loyal customer base lives, and this is the group that will make it possible for you to transition from the world of “free-bees” into working as a professional performer.

I am always happy to share the benefit of my experience with other performers. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your questions or comments.  

Gaining Experience as a Performer (part one)

When eager new storytellers contact me for advice, they are usually interested in finding out what steps they need to take to eventually be able to charge for their services. Most of these folks understand it is necessary to polish performance skills until someone is willing to pay them a fee. There really isn’t a short cut from wanting to become a storyteller and working professionally as one. It takes work, time, focus and passion about what it is you want to accomplish.

Many years ago, I was a performing clown, and I had to teach myself the basics since the option to attend Clown College did not exist yet. Furthermore, I lived in a rural area in New Jersey, and I didn’t have a network of performers to call on for advice. So, I drew from what I had learned when I took theatre classes at Portland State College and the Portland Civic Theatre (Portland, Oregon). Then I read every book I could find on the subject at my local library. I found a local magic group, and convinced them to teach me how to become a magician. After months of study and practicing with these folks for a while, I decided I was ready to see if I had what it took to entertain as a clown.

Here's my alter-ego, Whispers the Clown.
This photo was taken before a show in Tucson, AZ.

I put out word that I needed audiences, and soon my calendar listed all kinds of volunteer jobs: library summer reading programs, sidewalk sales days, school shows, church benefits, hospital visits, Blue & Gold Dinners and birthday parties for neighborhood children. After each experience, I wrote down what worked and what didn’t in a notebook I kept for this purpose. Some notes listed more in the “what didn’t work” column than on the “what worked” side. At the time I didn’t realize I was ”paying my dues,” aka gaining valuable experience and developing sound professional habits.

Over time, I managed to improve my skills and polish my performances until I reached a point when I felt confident about asking for a fee. I found that once I started to charge for my services, requests for benefit shows became less frequent. Best of all, many of my past customers were now comfortable about paying me, since they already knew my work.

From that early experience of learning how to be a performing clown, I developed a sense about how to take the dream of accomplishing or doing something to a point where it is possible to move beyond the dream and into reality. In my next post, I will discuss what a new storyteller or any starting performer can ask for when people call and say they have no budget, but they can provide an audience that will be great for “experience and exposure.”

"How Much Do You Charge?"

Here I am telling stories on the
Storytelling Stage during the
2012 Tucson Festival of Books.

I am often approached by phone or by email by a potential customer asking the "how much do you charge" question. My answer is always "that depends.” I need to consider answers to the following questions before I can provide an accurate quote.

1) What kind of event is being planned?

A large school assembly is quite different from a family reunion, a festival workshop, a convention or a bridal shower. When I have an idea about what is being considered, I am able to determine if the event a good match for what I have to offer. This information also helps me learn if the potential audience will consist of children, mixed ages, or a specialized interest or age group.

2) What date and time will the show take place?

If I am already booked to do something else that day, I may not be available, or only able to book a program for another show if there is enough time to get from one venue to another.

3) Where will the event take place?

The answer to this question lets me know how much travel is required. For example, if I need to drive from one city to another to get to a venue, I may require a mileage stipend beyond my basic fee.

4) About how many will be in the audience?

The size of an audience helps me calculate the fee. If 500 people are expected, my fee will be different than what it would be for a show in front of 36 kids in a classroom.

5) How long will the anticipated performance be?

The cost for a 90-minute concert will not be the same as for a 45-minute show.

If you want to find out what I (or any performer) will charge to entertain your group, please be ready to offer details for these five questions.

I am always willing to discuss my fees with potential customers. When possible, I will do what I can to accommodate budgets. To book several shows the same day at one site or at nearby locations, be sure to ask about a block booking discount. Please feel free to email me through my website www.StoryWorksGroup.com or contact me by phone (520-235-4171).