cellini's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also I Signed Wth a Speakers Bureau In my desperation to survive financially over these last few weeks I have been on a tear of constant activity on various fronts. First, I started offering classes to locals on shooting and fishing for total beginners. Those have been getting me at least $200 every weekend, which is something. I have fun teaching and the money is a nice bonus. Second, I've been pitching articles a league up from what I've been doing. The to NYT and the WP. Either would pay thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, my next piece for S@te ran and got front-paged and drew a shit-load of traffic and comments. More fan mail. Last night I finished my new piece for them, which won't run until mid-September. When it does run, it will be big. It was designed to be controversial and though-provoking and start debates on F@cebook and get linked around and go viral. Not that Sl@te pays me any more for that, but I want to establish myself as their new star writer who is driving traffic and making money for them. This makes other magazines that pay more money want to hire me, and it will make me matter more and be more in demand for interviews in early October when the book launch for the new book is really under way. An awesome thing happened today, too. I had emailed someone recently at a speakers bureau to ask about representation. She had emailed back asking for a link to some video of me doing my thing. I sent it to her last night and then apparently she spent all morning scouring the web for everything else she could on me. Long story short, they want to sign me. She asked me to call her on the phone right away, which I did this afternoon. So a few minutes into the phone call she asks me how much money I've been charging for appearances so far and where I would like to be priced within her agency. I told her I'd been paid $800 for a gig last summer and that the St@te Department still owes me a few hundred bucks for something, but I would be thrilled to get $500 a day plus expenses. She was silent for a moment. "Actually, we aren't going to book you for anything out of state for less than $7,500 per appearance." Uh, ok. Actually, FUCK YEAH! Now the question will be whether the gigs and checks actually materialize. The owner of this agency, which also represents B1ll C0sby and B0b Dole, thinks that organizations are going to pay $7,500 a shot to have me appear at events for them. Oh sweet mother fuck how I hope this works out. It would take so few of these to make me very happy. One gig, minus the agency's cut, would keep me afloat for the rest of the year. If I get two, I'll use the second one to buy a truck that might actually pass inspection. If I get 10, I'll buy a piece of land free and clear and build a cabin on it and not have to worry about paying rent or mortgage again. There are people who easily fuck up even a little bit of fame and fortune but I will not be among those. There will be no expensive cars or mortgages on million dollar houses. No yachts, no expensive drug habits. I just want to buy a piece of land and build a comfortable place to live on it. Hopefully a solar/wind set-up so that I can avoid paying for utilities for the most part. I just want a durable life in which I can be comfortable and happy even if I have a year or two where I only make a few hundred bucks a month. I also did another magazine interview today. And Prevent10n Magazine wants me to come to NYC to do a face-to-face interview with them but I am trying to get my publisher to pay the cost of me getting there. Being slightly famous does not pay jack shit. Not at all. Even the book advances are kind of shit. The key to making this work out for an actual living might come down to getting these paid speaking gigs. 9:36 p.m. - 2012-08-21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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