blueprints

252 | toolkit: sandpaper, wallpaper, and paint
WIND UP
budget. Clearly communicate when you need to know, and let
your contact person know when you will follow up.
9. Sit down and put together your proposal. Remember to check
in with each partner as you draft, confirming the dates, times,
and natures of participation and what the financial contributions
will be.
10. Find out what sorts of documents your partners will need.
Some will have to issue their own contracts, whether with the
poet or with you.
11. Before presenting the proposal, circulate a written version to all
partners and ask them to sign off.
12. Present the proposal, understanding that the poet may want to
negotiate further.
13. If the poet or agent wishes to negotiate further, be especially
careful to ensure the poet knows which events are connected
to large percentages of the fee.
14. As soon as you have an oral agreement, follow up by e-mail
with the poet or agent, asking for confirmation that the terms
in the e-mail are what everyone agreed to.
15. Once you have a confirmation, immediately follow up in writing,
preferably with a contract.
16. Do not assume the poet is booked until the signed contract
arrives.
So, your dates are set, partners are on board, and fees are agreed upon.
Unfortunately, you don’t get to kick back between now and the week
before your event or events.
In the interval, communicate with your poet or poets regularly and
clearly, though without making a pest of yourself over small details. Use
your preparations as a way of keeping in touch, spacing out the contract
and necessary requests for vitae or bios and head shots, etc. Even if your
organization is as informal as they come, don’t let many months go by
between communications. If you don’t have a contract, a poet may decide
you weren’t serious or that you have forgotten about her or him and make
other plans.