SIMON SAYS – Author Visits, Presentations and Workshops by Children’s Writers – School Tours
December 1, 2009 by Adrian
Filed under Simon Says
In addition to school vists in your own city or geographic area, it is also possible to arrange tours to schools in other parts of the country. This can involve a working week in an area, with either full days at five different schools, ten half-day visits or a combination of this.
Such tours can be a challenge to organize, considering the bookings themselves and all the arrangements which will vary from school to school, plus travel, accommodation, meals and so on. However, in the best case scenario, one teacher may make all the arrangements for you, contacting his or her colleagues at other nearby schools, setting up an itinerary, arranging for transportation between venues and even organizing accommodation in someone’s home. At the other end of the scale, you have to set up everything yourself and if hotels and car rental are involved, in addition to air fare, it will be your decision to determine if the trip will be financially viable.
Although the experience is usually exhausting, it can be very worthwhile, with high volumes of book sales at the schools, an increase in your visibility with the children and parents, and very often the local media will take an interest, further raising your profile as an author.
SIMON SAYS – Author Visits, Presentations and Workshops by Children’s Writers – Promotion
November 11, 2009 by Adrian
Filed under Simon Says
If you plan on doing school and library vists, you do, of course, have to let people know that. A website is a must these days and without one, you might as well not exist professionally. The section of your website by which you intend to to secure school visits needs to be enticing and filled with details if you are hoping to get teachers and librarians interested enough to contact you. Details of my school visits are HERE and I also have pages including comments on my appeances at schools from children and teachers, as mentioned last week.
My website has a LIST of all the schools I have ever visted, as well as some libraries, festivals and young writer’s conferences, since many of these also have websites, where a visit that took place several years ago will be archived, which all increases your visibility on the web.
I have information on the books on my website, including the background and influences behind the stories. This can be a good selling point when you are trying get the teachers interested in a visit. The Emerald Curse, for example, is all about the comic book genre and teachers are often very fond of this topic, considered a good way to reach reluctant boy readers. I also have pages devoted to the historical background of The Sorcerer’s Letterbox and The Heretic’s Tomb, since the medieval period is also often of interest to teachers. The Doomsday Mask background page deals with the end of the Second World War, the city of Atlantis, ancient mysteries, crystal skulls and so on. The more interesting you can make your material, the better your chances of attracting someone’s attention. My website has study guides to all my books, as well as puzzles about each novel and an online scavenger search.
I do post articles about my school vists on my own blog periodically to draw people to my website and also regularly post on Facebook, Twitter and other places online about my school and library programs. I also have flyers about all my services, as well as business cards, on my table at any book signing events I do in the run up to Christmas. You never know who might be listening.
Learn All About Successful School Visits!
Every week, the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club sponsors a special teleclass that covers some aspect of writing and publishing for children.
For just $5.97, you get to attend the LIVE teleclass, where you can ask questions, make comments, and interact with the instructor and the other participants.
This week’s teleclass takes place Thursday, September 17th, at 8:00 p.m. CDT and will be presented by children’s author Simon Rose. He’ll talk about how children’s authors can plan, promote, and present successful school visits.
To find out more about this teleclass, and to register, click here now!
