It's the Fringe! I'm giving Free Advice! Ignore at your Own Risk

Sigh. It's that time of year when I begin to flinch, and write a curmudgeonly article about the Edinburgh Fringe. I guess if I wanted a quiet life in August, I'd infiltrate a Taliban training camp: but this year's extended whine is a list of things artists can do if they want to make my job easier, and possibly increase their social media reach.

 I know it is hard to accept, but you are not the only company hoping to gain fame and glory at the Fringe. By June 10, my inbox will be full of optimistic press releases. I'm sure you have a Unique Selling Point and an Elevator Pitch, but the individuality of your performance is not going to work out.

Work in tandem with other companies. Have a look at the brochure: are there other companies with which you might have sympathy? Maybe they share a training, an attitude, or a subject with you. Maybe you really like the look of their show. Whatever.

Team up with them. Share information, contact the press together, maybe even suggest a themed feature. Retweet their social media, chat on Facebook with them. The Fringe might look like a Darwinian battle for audiences, but Kropotkin's take on natural selection could be a better guide, even if it is scientifically discredited. 

Putting my name at the top of a generic mail-out doesn't cut it. I'm not fooled by the email from the lovely ladies who want to date me, and I know that you've used some application to 'personalise' your press release. 

Actually think about the publications or writers you want to come to see your show, or might do a review. Most critics respond well to flattery and attention, although you'll never buy their integrity. 

Take me, for example. If you write to me, bear in mind that I am a pseudo-intellectual who is seduced by fancy words. Then remember that I have a blog with interviews on it, and I offer a place to any company that can answer email questions. 

Last year, I replied to over a thousand companies, and about half got back to me. That was more than enough, but it means that 500 companies decided that they weren't interested in free publicity. Being nice to me, and giving me content for the Dramaturgy Database is easy enough.

You never know. This year's blogger might be working for The Stage next year. Never 'discern' the value of a critic. Taking my blog again: where do you think my last minute previews for The List come from? And I know that other sites use my interviews (and academics), because they have asked for permission. 

Without being entirely Darwinian (see point one), there is competition for attention. Disdain the humble writer - who is probably being read by editors in the hope of finding a company who fits the article they are about to commission - and you are guilty of not taking the Fringe seriously.

And again, repost articles about other people's work. Show that you love the critics. 

Okay, there might be rivalry between the critics, friendly or not so friendly. If you tell me about the behaviour of another critic, I'll probably giggle. But if you act the arse in an interview, or make demands, or annoy the shit out of one of us, it'll get around. 

Even if you have a valid complaint about a critic, address it with courtesy. Yes, I know that two star review ignored your cunning application of Aristotle's Unities to a 1920s' farce script. I know you've spent a year rehearsing. But politeness goes a long way. 

This advice even applies to those lucky enough to have a press agent, hence...

This is where I am going to get blunt. A good PR has a roster of quality companies, never lies about the work they represent and makes sure that they do everything possible to make my life easy. 

This includes sending high resolution images, press releases that are coherent and following up my requests for an email interview.

Sadly, there are PRs whose names are mud. An email from them means I get a pain in the hoop. I know that they'll send me terrible images, not forward requests to clients for interviews, then, three weeks into the Fringe ask me 'for a favour'. 

If you have signed up with one of these, you might as well have gone down the casino for all the help they'll give you. I am not naming names - although maybe a brown envelope to the usual address might help - because that might be libel or something. 

However, I can give you a plan. If you haven't received a request for an email interview from me by July 30th, it is about 90% likely that they either haven't contacted me, or forwarded my request to you. It is possible that I missed their email, or it went in my spam (that does happen to mass mail-outs - which is a bonus tip). 

Oh yeah - for those who have read this far... here's my email address.

I know this all sounds rather arrogant, but it is free...

How to get on The Vile Arts' Shit List

I regard myself as a gentle soul, prone to occasional tantrums. The gentle soul has removed all references to specific companies: the tantrum begins now. 

1. Forget to send me a press release.
There is nothing that I love more than finding out about a production via a poster on the wall at the CCA, or a post on Facebook. It makes me feel that you really care about the media, and that you want to receive some kind of review or preview to help you sell tickets and raise your public profile. The only thing you could do to make me even more enthusiastic about your work is to moan that the media are ignoring you, because they haven't featured you in their publications. 

Alternatively: send me a polite email - and follow it up if I don't reply - and use my guide to The List's listing process to get my attention.

2. Send me a pdf press release.
There is a metric ton of churnalism on my blog, and it allows me to tinker vaguely with design when I am warming up to write an article. So it's totes amazeballs when I get a document that I cannot cut and paste: make it at least five pages long, with quotes from everyone involved, because I love trying to work out how to extract the information. Don't add an image, because I would much rather trawl through Google images to find a thumbnail of you. And if you must send an image, make sure it's the same one everyone else has.  
Alternatively: send a range of images and a brief, precise description with dates and extra material on the event underneath, and offer to do an interview via email. And include it in the body of the email, not just as an attachment.

3. Assume that I don't like to be bothered.
I just sit at my desk all day, and never do things like go to

Sunderland for a comic convention, or Edinburgh to cover a festival. So if I don't reply to your email in a day, don't follow it up. I am a tyrant who makes snap decisions, and reminding me of an event via email is much less likely to succeed than relying on me going through my backlog and emails and making another snap decision.
Alternatively: wait a week, and if you have not heard from me, send a follow up (ideally resend the original with a note). I am not promising anything, but I do my best to support as many endeavours as I can. 

4. Refuse to tweet or Facebook my posts.
Because there is clearly no way I can track this by looking at the analytics of my blog. I never see a spike in traffic to a particular post when companies bother their ass - certainly not up to five times as many hits if something goes out on Facebook. I write to indulge my vanity, not in an attempt to reach audiences with information that might be of interest, and tweeting it will only add to the dangers of letting people know about your event.
Alternatively: tweet your own article and anything else that you think might be of interest on my blog as often as you remember. Show generosity to other company's post - maybe even engage in a conversation with some of my other posts, mentioning your own work.

5. Don't have a dedicated press person.
It is always much better to leave publicity to chance, rather than have one person who takes responsibility for a press releases and organising chat. The optimum way is for the director to be in charge of everything, because they have so much spare time. Good forbid that you might organise a strategy for engaging with the media, who only want to come along and slag off your efforts anyway.
Alternatively: regard the press responsibility as being as important as the acting, and get someone to do it. Professional companies hire someone. If you are working on a volunteer or amateur basis, have auditions for a press liaison or ask a spear carrier to take control of it.


On a final note: these tips are a sardonic reminder that I like content AND the only reason that your work is not on my blog is the failure to work a little harder on it. By theatre companies.