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Waiting in the Wings: The Complete Guide To Becoming An Entertainment Agent, Manager or Promoter

by Michael J. Lawrence

149 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); Contains Sample Contracts; catalogue #06-1357; ISBN 1-4120-9601-4; US$19.11, C$21.98, EUR15.70, £10.99

The definitive 'How To' book on becoming an Entertainment Agent, Manager or Promoter, covering everything from setting up an Agency on a minimal budget to contracts and case histories.

About the Book

Waiting in the Wings is the brainchild of Michael J.Lawrence, a man with over 20 years experience at very Senior levels in the Record Industry with both RCA and Pye Records, and a further 20 years running his own successful Entertainment Agency and Artist Management company.

This book navigates the reader through a chronological list of chapters, commencing with Chapter 1 'Am I right for this business?'. This chapter asks a few searching questions about the readers suitability to become an Entertainment Agent, and the demanding nature of the job. The reader is then taken on to look at the basic office equipment that would be required, together with current legislative requirements. Subsequent chapters look at the best ways of building both an act and a client portfolio. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Do you concentrate on building an act portfolio or a client portfolio first? All is revealed. The reader is shown the best ways to go about promoting and marketing their agency, and deals with 'Press Releases' and the invaluable use of the internet. What contracts should contain and contractual layout is covered in depth, both for the acts and the clients/venues. The reader is also shown some 'case histories' where things have not always quite gone according to plan, showing them the 'early warning signs' of something going wrong and how to avoid them.

The book covers every aspect of this intriguing business, being one of a small number of businesses that can be set up on a very minimal budget, with few additional overheads. When the Author started out, there was nothing or no-one to show him how to go about starting off, just that well known double act 'Trial and Error'. There were no books on the subject to turn to and he would have given anything just to have some help or guidance. Now, determined that nobody else should have to go through what he went through in the early stages all that has changed with the release of 'Waiting in the wings', THE definitive book on becoming an Entertainment Agent, Manager or Promoter.

About the Author

'Mike' Lawrence was born in December 1943 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, U.K. His family uprooted to the U.K's second city, Birmingham, when he was 4 years of age. His Grandmother ran a theatrical guesthouse where acts of all types would come to stay whilst appearing locally, and Mike quickly found that he had ‘entertainment’ in his veins. He joined the Barbara Humphrey’s Stage School at the age of 11 years, and also studied under the London College of Music and Dramatic Art. For the first 10 years of his working life he became an Actor, working on stage, radio and television. It became apparent that the ‘out of work actor’ was a fact of life, it almost goes with the territory. A chance meeting with American Rock-‘n’-Roll singer, Gene Vincent, and his then U.K. Manager, Don Arden, got Mike to thinking that perhaps life ‘on the other side of the fence’ would be preferable to the uncertainty that is a part of every struggling Actor’s life. After a while searching for the right opportunity to come along, Mike joined RCA Records where he learned virtually all there is to know about the Record Industry and worked with some of the biggest names in Pop, Country and Classical music. He worked on a marketing campaign for Elvis Presley, which resulted in the simultaneous ‘charting’ of 11 of Elvis’ records. For this achievement, in 1977, he was awarded what is believed to be the last Gold Record awarded to anyone prior to Elvis’ death. Although very happy at RCA, Mike was headhunted by Pye Records in the UK, becoming Head of A&R and Promotions. Personal tragedy struck when, in 1978, Mike and his wife lost one of their identical twin sons to leukaemia. This signaled the start of a very bad time indeed. Giving up his job and leaving his London base to spend more time with his family, Mike drifted in and out of one dead end job after another. Nothing could come close to the buzz that working in the entertainment business gave him, and if the opportunities are not there, then he would go out and create them. Armed with nothing more than his boundless, infectious enthusiasm, he set about becoming a very successful Entertainment Agent and Manager. He has appeared on many TV and Radio programmes and is in demand as a Presenter and Compere.

Excerpts