CJWilkes said:
How many of you have done public speaking? I have noticed that some authors are booked for public speaches and I am wondering how you came to do this?
One thing always leads to another. If you do one public appearance—and do it well, someone sees you and tells another group, etc. I have spoken to book clubs, AAUW regional meetings, school groups, 4-H meetings, a quilter's club, a new-comers' club, a historical group, writers' groups—you name it.
One thing that helps is that I write for local publications. People know who I am and know what to expect. Another helpful thing: writers' groups are often called to provide a speaker for a meeting. I am a member of two local writers groups and also the Virginia Writers Club, which maintains a speakers' bureau of its members who want to be listed.
Have some "specialties" that you're qualified to talk about, or a cause you want to promote. Because I was a public school teacher for many years and now teach college English—and because I've won several writing contests, I'm often contacted to do writing improvement workshops. Because I have both sucessfully self-published and POD-published, I can talk about the advantages and disadvantages of each type. I also do appearances as a character that I've created. (Sometimes she gets invited to more places than I do!)
One hint: Each time you do a performance/speaking engagement, have someone take a picture of you in action. Send the picture and a press release (that you wrote) to your local paper. Since I write a column for one of the local papers, they're always delighted to mention that their columnist did something. Sometimes they even send a reporter to cover it.
Another hint: I have a home-made brochure that I give to people who ask what I do. It contains my bio, info about my books and where to get them, my web site URLs, a list of what I can do for a group, my contact info, etc. I have a copy shop run off about 20 copies at a time. I continually update this brochure (it's in MS Word on my computer), so I don't like to run many copies at one time. If I'm a guest at a book festival or book fair, I make sure I have copies of the brochure with me.
I primarily promote myself in my immediate area and two surrounding counties. However, this summer I'll be a guest speaker at a writers' group on the coast—about 200 miles from me. (You never know who you might meet.)
Another hint: Have a press kit—a list of questions you're likely to be asked and their answers—on your web site. Up-date this periodically. Program chairmen find this info very helpful when they're trying to set up a program and want to know more about a speaker.
Oh, yeah—everytime someone invites you to speak, always ask, "You don't mind if I have my books for sale at (whatever event), do you?