WHEN most schoolgirls were playing with their Barbie dolls, Amanda Brooks was dreaming of growing up to be a
prostitute.
Retired at 29 with a steady boyfriend after two-and-a-half years working as an escort, she has published a handbook for aspiring call girls everywhere.
The
Internet Escort's Handbook contains tips on how to set up a website, advertise, screen clients to stay safe and keep out of trouble with the law.
quote Amanda Brooks :
"When I began working I had a lot of questions and there wasn't really any way to find out answers. I did what they always tell authors to do: I wrote the book that I wished I had been able to read," she said.
An excerpt from her book on
Myths and Definitions: What Escorts Work Is and What It Isn't can be found
here.
quote Amanda Brooks :
Misconception #1: "Escort" is just another word for "prostitute."
Honestly: No. If you are selling your time, undivided attention, and the (unspoken) offer of sexual entertainment, you're an escort. If you're selling a specific sexual activity for a certain amount of money, you're a prostitute. If you won't have sex with the man you're dating unless he buys you an expensive dinner, you're a (relatively cheap) prostitute.
Brought up in a small town in Texas, Amanda held a variety of part-time jobs through high school and college. Open-minded (and needing steady employment), she started working as a cocktail waitress at a top Dallas gentleman's club. During summer break, six months later, she began dancing at a small club in Dallas. During the next four years, she worked at a number of major clubs in Dallas and Las Vegas and graduated from university with a double degree in photography and English. She then took the plunge at 26 in placing an ad offering escort services. The rest is herstory.
At a time when global trafficking and organised crime are making prostitution more dangerous than ever, Brooks says the internet has made it easier to go into business on your own - free from exploitation by agencies, brothel owners or pimps.
The main tip for staying safe is: do your homework. She used the internet to screen her clients and turned down appointments when she had doubts.
The worst abuse she suffered was clients who refused to pay her fees, which she said were "standard prices in the US, between $US250 and $US500 an hour".
The work became safer once she had a steady stable of regular clients.
She found them easier to deal with than her boyfriend.
Amanda has written two books in
The Internet Escort's Handbook Series:
Book1: The Foundation
Basic Mental, Emotional and Physical Considerations in Escort Work
Book 2: Advertising and Marketing
Successfully Creating and Selling Your Image Online
The Daily Telegraph Apr 25, 2008
