Services

If you're planning a book tour, a lecture event, or seeking Mpls/St. Paul media coverage, Around Town Agency can provide you with everything from industry-leading media escorting and food styling to media consulting, publicity booking and promotional outreach. We've been at this for a few decades and the scope of our knowledge of book tours, lecture events and local media almost makes us blush (this is common for Minnesotans).

Looking for the short version of our services? Check out the About page.

Media Escorting

Book Tours
For many authors, the whirlwind exposure of a book tour is 180 degrees from their solitary writing lives. What we do is devour the logistics of a tour and provide a composed platform for our clients to operate from: they can relax and focus on their appearances, we focus on taking care of them and anticipating every conceivable detail. We're accustomed to working with all kinds of writers, from children's authors to Nobel Prize winning icons (we promise we won't be nervous). And we practice zen-like awareness...of the itinerary, in our driving, and in how we relate to clients; we're happy to converse and share local flavor, but we're also comfortable with a quiet day (to the relief of talked-out clients). Everywhere we take our authors our experience comes into play; from prepping clients for media to drop-ins at NYT-reporting stores, from finding the perfect food fix to delicately extracting clients from a post-event reception. The nature of a book tour is 2nd nature to us, which translates to a smart, effective and fun experience for our clients. 

Lecture Events
If you sponsor a lecture event, you're undoubtedly familiar with the uneasy rush of fielding last-minute glitches and then having to drop everything, meet the speaker at the airport and get them settled. You could send a volunteer, but that may present some lingering unknowns. A car service would certainly be acceptable, but for around the same cost, we can step in to make a professional first impression, brief them on the event and deliver them on time, outfit your green room, help with the Q & A, and provide technical support and fresh insight on your program. (All this while the limo driver would be eating a sub and doing the crossword.) There's something perfectly fitting and respectful about providing your speaker with an independent assistant/advocate. They won't feel compelled to be "on" at every turn, and you (and their lecture agent) will experience unprecedented levels of peace of mind. 

Promotional Services

Minneapolis/St. Paul Media Guide
Our media guide, which has been evolving for around 20 years, focuses on the leading Twin Cities media outlets that consistently cover books and lecture events. While other jumbo media databases provide hundreds of entries with generic contacts, we apply our market experience to our guide by omitting redundant media and providing detailed, multiple contacts and characterizations of the media we routinely work with. Want to look into it?
Go to the Media Guide page.

Media Consulting
If we were publicizing a book in, say, Chicago, and we wanted inside media advice, we'd call Midwest Media, the leading media escort firm there. They have the deep dish (sorry) on their media, and we not only have intimate knowledge of Mpls/St. Paul media, we drink their coffee on a regular basis, which gives us an inside line on who/what they're looking for (and frankly, they're always asking us about who's coming to town...kind of a nuisance). So, the good news is, existing clients of ours are welcome to check in with us to brainstorm media strategies...free of charge. And the almost-as-good news is everyone else in search of coffee-stained media intel, from publicity pros to lecture hosts to individual authors, can pick our brains for a reasonable fee. To find out how reasonable, please e-mail Tim.

Publicity
Some times it makes a lot of sense to go local. And whether you're an author, lecture sponsor, or publicity director with too many books in the air, we can acquire effective media for you on a rate structure that's radically different: no retainer, à la carte pricing and we only bill you for what we book. Say goodbye to that queasy feeling you get from forking over a few grand with no guarantees. Our rates are based on the audience and efficacy of the actual media we obtain. So you get what you pay for (or rather, pay for what you get). And, if you're in need of a succinct press kit, or maybe just some fresh eyes on your current one, we'd be happy to do the writing/editing (we've seen loads of press releases and we have a good idea of what a great one reads like). Want more info? Please e-mail Tim.

For a complete rundown of our services with rates, please e-mail Tim Hedges.