How to write to a venue or a festival so they answer

Whoever books a venue or a festival receives far more proposals than they can answer. They don't read every email to the end. They read the subject and the first lines, and if something catches their eye, they open a link. A good booking email is written for that quick read. This guide goes through it in order, from who to write to until when to stop.

Before you write: to whom

The first mistake happens before the first word: writing to the wrong place. Spend ten minutes on the venue or the festival before you draft anything.

• Look at their past programme. If nothing they booked in the last year looks like you, in line-up, style or audience size, it is probably not your room. Or not yet.
• Find out who books. Many venues say so on their site, under programming, artistic direction or bookings. An email addressed to a name lands better than one sent to the general inbox.
• Check how they want proposals. Some use a form, some a specific address, some open a window once a year. If they tell you how, do it their way.
• One email per venue. Never a blind copy to fifty addresses. It shows, and it almost never gets a reply.

The subject line

The subject has to say who you are, what you are proposing and for when. With those three things, the reader can decide whether to open it now, keep it for later or pass it on.

"Lucía Moreno Trio · gig in March or April · jazz, piano trio" does the job. "Proposal", "Hello" or "NEW ALBUM!!" say nothing, and a subject in capitals reads like an ad.

Three short paragraphs

The body fits in three paragraphs. If it needs a fourth, something in it is extra.

1. Who you are and what you propose. Your name, your instrument, the line-up and the style in one line, and the dates you are writing about.
2. Why this venue. One concrete thing that shows you know the place: the series you would fit, a gig there you saw, the audience you have in that city, the record you just released.
3. The links and the practical side. Your site, a live video and the press kit. How many of you there are and what you need. Then close with one concrete question.

Look at what the email leaves out: the full biography, the list of every place you have played, the adjectives about your own music. All of that waits behind the links for whoever wants to read it.

Links, not attachments

A heavy attachment fills an inbox and sometimes never arrives. A link weighs nothing, and anyone can forward it.

• Your site, so they can see who you are and which dates you have. If you are not sure it is ready, go through what a booker looks for on your site first.
• A live video of a whole tune. Not an edited trailer: one tune, start to finish, filmed as you played it. It is the closest thing to what they would be booking.
• The press kit, with the bio, the photos and the rider. The press kit guide explains how to put it together.

If you do attach something, send a single light PDF with your name in the file name.

Proposing dates

"Whenever suits you" hands the work to the booker. A concrete window gets a much better answer: two or three months, or a few specific days if you already have other gigs nearby.

Those other gigs matter. If you will be in the area for another date, say so. A venue finds it easier to book you when it does not have to cover the whole trip.

How far ahead you write depends on the place. A small club sometimes fills a date a few weeks out; series and festivals plan many months ahead. Look at when they announce their programme and count back from there, or simply ask in the email.

Following up, and when to stop

No answer does not mean no. It happens all the time. A short follow-up after a week or two rescues the emails that got buried under others.

• Reply in the same thread, so your first message sits right below.
• Bring something new: a confirmed date nearby, a review of the record, a recent video.
• Make it shorter than the first one.

If a second follow-up gets no answer either, stop. Make a note and write again next season, with something new to tell them. Writing every week won't change their answer, but it will change how they remember you.

If the answer is no, reply anyway. Thank them and ask whether you may write again later. A no answered well leaves the door open for next season.

When they answer

Reply quickly, and have ready what they are going to ask: your fee or how you prefer to work (door split, a fixed fee or a mix), the length of the set, the rider and how many of you travel. Answering within a day, with all of that clear, tells them a lot about how you work.

And when they write to you

It also works the other way: a booker who finds your site may want to write to you. Every Pages site has a booking form that asks for the kind of event, the date, the place and a message. The request arrives in the Studio Inbox and in your email, and your reply goes straight to the person who wrote. On the Pro and Max plans, the press kit can also live on a private page, behind a secret link or a password, so only the people you send it to can see it.