Writing a quote for a gig or event

What belongs in a quote for a gig?

Start with the hard facts: date, venue, times. Get-in, soundcheck, doors, end. A booker or venue manager reads that first. If it's right, the rest is almost a formality.

Then what you deliver. Set length, line-up, what you bring yourself and what you expect to find there. Write down what is not included too: renting tech, a second set, an extra night's stay. That prevents the awkward conversation afterwards.

Then the money. Fee, travel, tech if you arrange it — each on its own line, with the VAT rate next to it. One total at the bottom. Nothing that only surfaces during the phone call.

And last: how long this offer stands. One sentence, but the one that matters later.

How long do you hold a date?

In our world that's called a hold or an option. You keep the evening free, they think it over. Put in the quote until which date you're holding it, and what you'll do if someone else calls about that same evening in the meantime.

That isn't pressure, it's clarity. A booker knows exactly how this works and would rather you write it down than have it go sideways later.

Add how long the price stands, while you're at it. Travel and tech costs move. You don't have to honour a quote from six months ago, as long as you said so up front.

What do you put in the terms without sounding stern?

Three things are enough. When you get paid. What happens if the booking is cancelled, and whether it matters that it's a week or a day beforehand. And what you need on the day itself: power, a dressing room, parking, food.

Write it in plain sentences, the way you'd say it on the phone. Nobody reads legal-sounding paragraphs, and they turn a friendly request into a negotiation.

One tip: put the cancellation lines in before you ever need them. Adding them afterwards reads as distrust. Beforehand, it's simply how you work.

How do I write your quotes?

You forward me the request exactly as it arrives. Text message, email, a voice note someone sent you. I pull out what's actually there: date, venue, times, what they're asking for.

What I don't know, I don't invent. If the end time or the budget is missing, I put that question at the top so you can answer it in one line. Then I write the quote in your words and with your rates. You read it over and hit send — that stays your hand, always.

And then I keep track of it. When the hold runs out, when it stays quiet, when a reply slipped past you: I tell you in time and put a draft follow-up next to it. You don't have to lie awake working out which request is still open.