It is difficult to get booked if you haven't been seen live, but it can be done. Here's my experience - in 2002/2003 I was self employed as a massage therapist and also doing gigs - by combining the incomes from these two activities I hoped to make a living. I did scrape by but just barely, and had to go back to a real job, but at least I gave it a shot. Anyway I decided I wanted to try to organize a tour for myself in Scotland. I'm in the USA, so I couldn't very well go around and do floor spots. I started working on it in March, hoping to set something up for November. I started by trolling the internet and getting contact info for folk clubs in Scotland. I reviewed the guest lists and looked for the ones that seemed inclined towards traditional folk, which is what I do, as opposed to singer/songwriter or folk rock. I also put up a thread on Mudcat asking for suggestions, and got some pointers and advice. I then contacted the organizers either by e-mail or by phone. This turned out to be extremely labor intensive. A lot of the links and phone numbers were outdated, I reached many people who were no longer running the club, or whose clubs had gone out of business. But I must say that the Scottish folk club organizers I spoke with on the phone were invariably nice and friendly and helpful. Lots of times if they couldn't book me they suggested others I might try. If I got the go ahead, either from the phone call or in response to my e-mail (which directed them to my website) I then sent them a demo CD and a press kit. Mind you my press kit is not all that impressive, but it contained a bio, a photo, a list of venues I had played, etc. The demo CD had 4 songs - two were live and two from my studio CD. I made sure the song selections were what I considered to be my best work, and also that it was a mix of fast and slow. I packaged it in a nice jewel case with a photo and my contact info on the cover. In due time I followed up on the CD to see if they'd received it and asked if they'd book me. I ended up with 10 paid bookings in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland, betweeh late October to late November. I ended up staying in Scotland for six weeks. (Luckily I had a place to stay and didn't have to pay for a hotel or I wouldn't have been able to do it). I felt like that was a pretty good result. The concerts were reasonably successful and I think if I hadn't had to go back to the day job I could have possibly built on that tour and set up another one for the following year - if you've got a 'resume' of folk clubs that have booked you it opens the door to others.   I also arranged to do floor spots in some of the clubs who didn't book me, and possibly could have approached them if I'd toured again as the floor spots seemed to go well.

Based on my experience, here's the advice I'd give:

- Starting in March to book a tour in November was very late in the game. You really should start over over a year in advance

- Have a nice website and a good demo CD that showcases what you do, and be sure to include some live cuts. Now that there's You Tube you'd probably want to have a video up on the net that they could see. I think now more people might be willing to just look at a Myspace page or website, but most people I contacted wanted a demo. In some cases the demo had to be listened to by a committee at a meeting.

- Be polite and don't be a pest but be sure to follow up after you've sent the demo.

- Clearly define what you do, and do the research - either on the internet (Mudcat is a good place to start) or by asking people, as to what clubs might have an interest in your niche. In my case it was traditional ballads. Some clubs were delighted with that, others told me politely that I was too traditional which was fair enough. If you read the club's website and review the list of guest performers you can often get an idea of what the club is looking for.

- Mostly it will be the smaller clubs and those who have frequent guest nights that will take a chance on an unknown. The ones who only have guests once a month will probably stick to "known" performers.

It takes persistence and determination and if you're trying to get booked on the basis of a Myspace page or demo CD you have to make sure your material is well chosen and well performed - be sure it's your absolute best work.   

Much of this echoes the advice that has already been given, but I thought it might be helpful to hear about a firsthand experience. Good luck!