Mary, Just like the girls don’t wait to be asked at the dance any more, you don’t have to wait to be asked to lease your land.
However, there does appear to be schools of thought:
a. one is that if you approach them then you must be desperate and as such you won’t fare as well.
b. the other is, you ask as many people/companies to consider your mineral rights as possible. This develops a bidding war.
I subscribe to option b. I would also use websites like this to get ideas of offers in the area (term length, royalty, sign bonus etc.). Also, talk with neighbors to see what they have heard and learned. Also learning about what has happened in other areas that have boomed can give a hint of “what could come” when you’ll learn of leasing starting at $50 and at some point (even years) reaching $5,000 per acre. The other way to get a better lease is to form a land group there is power in numbers (number of landowners and of course size of acreage).
But as far as protocol approaching others; I’d say do all the research to find out all companies active in the area and then get a contact number and call them. Simply tell them you have xx acres of mineral rights in xx location and you know there is leasing taking place and you are presenting your minerals to ALL interested parties.
Good luck.
Wilson