The thrill of the chase.

So, the last post was a tad mooshy. I apologise if you read it while eating. I now have my business head on so that's a relief.

I am finding that there really is no off switch to this whole running-a-theatre-company malarkey. So many things to do. It's a real ride.

And, in fact, something of a rush, even when this week I have found myself almost exclusively sitting in front of the computer, building databases, writing letters, grappling with far from perfect mail merge tools and stuffing envelopes. So far so boring and adminy.

But actually, no. I have found it quite exciting (wait! come back!). You see, the reason for all this office stuff is I am trying to book a proper tour for our new show. By proper I mean one that goes to venues that are new to us, in different and far flung parts of the country, that we can't rely on simply to book us because they know us and quite like to support us. And, ultimately, venues that will pay us.

The excitement comes from the potential for success. There are hundreds of venues out there, all possibly waiting for exactly our show, and any one that might get back to me is a mini triumph that encourages me to think that, yes, we are now being looked at as an actual pro company.

This despite the fact that I am really muddling through, having never been shown how to approach venues, how much to ask for, how to negotiate. I am slow, and inefficient and need to find quicker ways to do things. I sent out nearly 100 letters at the beginning of the week, all of which have now been followed up by emails. Every one I have sent has been posted with this sneaky feeling that I'm kidding myself.

Well you know what? It's only bloody working! Two venues have been booked (these in addition to a week in London) and in the last couple of days two completely new theatres have got back to me expressing their interest. If it isn't naive of me, I reckon that any expression of interest is very likely to turn into a booking. Venues must receive countless appeals like mine, and I think they wouldn't even acknowledge receipt if they didn't want the show.

And this is also at a time when most venue programmers disappear to Edinburgh, so there are plenty more people who might get back later this month and find our show is just what they were looking for.

The optimist in me says that a success rate of just over 2% in a week is actually pretty good going, and if we are capturing the imagination of these venues, then there must be others out there who will feel the same.

This might just work, y'know.