Making a living as a storyteller, Part 2

Another section of my white paper on making a living as a storyteller, continued from the last post.

Know that building a storytelling business takes time and effort.

When I left my job and moved 1500 miles to begin storytelling full time (tip: don’t do that), I read many business books that said it would take 3-5 years to establish a business. I thought, “Hmm, not for me. It should only take me a year to be completely self-supporting.” It took five years before my business was solid, and even then, some years have been harder than others. Good thing I had savings and a cheap apartment.

To be continued...

Making a living as a storyteller, Part 1

Tonight I was a guest on Eric Wolf's Art of Storytelling With Children Podcast, speaking on the topic of making a living as a storyteller. It was a hoot! I highly recommend checking out all the fascinating podcasts Eric has done (and will do). He covers a wide range of topics.

At any rate, I promised to put my "white paper" on the subject up here. It actually is a bit like the storytelling tips, but more on the business side of stuff. I'm splitting it into sections for the blog. This is Part 1.

Making a living as a storyteller
Here are a few ideas on how to have a successful storytelling business. This is not an exhaustive list, just some of what I’ve gleaned in the many years I’ve been a full-time storyteller.

Be good, very good, at what you do.
• If you are just beginning to tell stories, put in the time—volunteer, find a coach, find gentle listeners, watch yourself on video, go to storytelling conferences and workshops, learn as much as you can about the artform. Be insatiable.
• Find your own voice. Don’t try to be the next X (fill in any other storyteller’s name).
• Remember what Texas teller Elizabeth Ellis said: “If anything can keep you from being a full-time storyteller, let it.” This is hard work. Do it full time only if you are absolutely passionate.
• Donald Davis said in a workshop, “The best way to get work is when people call you.” Build your reputation for excellence and integrity, and create ways for folks to find you, so clients will call you instead of vice-versa.

To be continued...

Gram's Place weirdness

The hostel is named Gram's Place for Gram Parsons, not for anybody's grandmother. Just so you know.

It's a strange place, stranger than I expected. In fact, I've decided it has all the charm of a wet washcloth mouldering in the sink. I figured out why, in part: the guy who started this establishment and poured his soul into it died last summer. The folks running it now seem a bit overwhelmed.

The place is really two small houses joined by some strange roofs. I dug around and found a video of it.

This afternoon the guy from the cable company came to the door. He didn't realize he was at the wrong gate, so he asked for Mark (that's the guy who died). One of the other guests went to get the current manager or his wife. The cable guy was just doing his job, but he made the mistake of parking his truck in the driveway, blocking the manager's car. The manager came in the gate and started swearing at the cable guy. At the same time, the manager's wife came out from another part of the hostel and began yelling at the cable guy. I was sitting at a counter right next to all of this.

None of this yelling was necessary. The manager was really belligerent. That was making the cable guy mad, but he left as quickly as he could.

I'm reminded of how much I value politeness and respect.

I don't think I'll stay here again.

Notes from Tampa

I've been in Florida since Saturday. This is my first visit to the Sunshine State. It has been unseasonably cold (down to the 40s at night) but today finally warmed up. It's nowhere near the 4 degrees (Fahrenheit) that it was at home on Saturday. Brrrr.

I had four shows on Sunday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, for their Wee Folk series. The crowds were predominantly preschoolers, with a few older kids and their accompanying adults. My first show was the weakest of the four, not sure why. The sound techie said that this is often the case. I don't think the kids or parents noticed. Many kids shook Trixie's hand at the end, except for the last show. I had a little guy who was afraid of her from the start. When that happens in performances, I always put her back in the bag. I don't want anybody traumatized by my puppets! Mavis and the baby puppet were okay with this young fellow. That crowd got to say goodbye to Mavis instead.

Yesterday I went back to the airport to rent a car. This trip is in three parts: TBPAC, then two days on my own, then the International Performing Arts for Children Showcase. For these two intervening days, I'm staying at Gram's Place, a hostel I found on the Internet. I've got my own room and bath here, so it's not exactly hostel living. Tomorrow I go back to a fancy hotel, which I'm sharing for the duration of the conference.

I had a pleasant day. I left the hostel around 8:30. First I took myself out to breakfast at a diner, a real one where the waitress called me "Hon" and "Baby." After gallons of bad coffee, I went to the Florida Aquarium. Very cool! They have an exhibit where they bring two penguins out to walk around among the crowd. The penguins were quite interested in strollers and shoelaces. There's also an exhibit where the public can touch the rays. Who knew stingrays were social creatures?!

From there I went to the sign store, to pick up my banner for the exhibit booth--I'd left mine on the plane in Houston. Grrr. Good thing I had the file on my computer so I could get a replacement.

Then I went to a big bookstore in St. Petersburg. I wasn't really in the mood to look at books. I checked out the Florida guidebooks on where to find nice beaches. I drove over to the west coast, stopped to get a picnic lunch at a health food store, and continued on to the beach. I didn't swim, but I did roll up my trousers and wade. The water was pleasantly cold. The air was probably 75 degrees. I didn't see anybody swimming (I might have, if I could have found a place to change into my suit).

From there, I came back to the hostel and here I am. I'll write about something that happened here in another post.