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Call in Your Questions to Brain Burps!

What burning questions do you have about school visits?

You might be a newly published author or illustrator, someone who’s multiply published, or someone who’s returning after a break from the biz. You might even be an editor or agent who would love for their authors to make contact with kids in schools. Here’s some good news for you.

Katie Davis is going to interview me on the topic of school visits on her popular kidlit podcast, Brain Burps About Books. I would LOVE for you to call her voicemail hotline at 888-522-1929 before February 7 with any questions you might have about school visits. Your questions might be about

creating a program
getting gigs
crowd control
writing contracts
selling books

– whatever is on your mind!

It would also be great if you have any funny or strange school visit stories to share. I’ll answer questions on the show, and Katie will bring in stories to round out the episode.

Though fairly new (since August 2010), Katie tells me that the show grows daily – she’s had over 7000 downloads in over 50 countries and Brain Burps About Books is #1 in the iTunes store in Children’s Publishing!

Please help spread the word about children’s literature by telling people about the show, and about calling in for my episode before Feb. 7 at 888-522-1929.

School Visit Tips for 2011: Part 3

This is our third group of tips for school visits to get you off to a good start this season.

When choosing dates for a visit that will occur during snow season, I always ask the school to choose two dates: our preferred date and a snow date. This way, I’m sure to have at least one “convenient” day (for them and me) reserved on my calendar in case we need to postpone the visit. — Janet Wong

I used to actually turn down school talks because I couldn’t handle the crowd control aspect. I was a teacher early on in my career, but motivating students had been my strong suit, not discipline. Then I realized that it wasn’t my job to control 200 students [as guest author], and I made that clear. I explained that I’d try the clapping routine (clap, clap–clap, clap, clap), but if that didn’t work, I was going to turn around and wait for the adults in the room to restore order. It worked like a charm. As soon as it was quiet again, I’d turn back to the students. Sometimes, I’d spend that time straightening my props. The students gave me very little trouble after the first time I turned away, and I could relax and have fun motivating the students, which was what I was best at. — Betsy Franco

A number of times I’d run into schools who felt it was too “commercial” to offer my books to the kids. However, teachers often bought them from the stack I had stashed away in my second roll-around case. — Mary D. Wade

Would you ever go to someone’s house as a guest and not bring a hostess gift? No. You wouldn’t. So I ALWAYS bring hostess gifts – a signed book, or a piece of art. Organizing these things are HARD. — Katie Davis

Whenever I’m fortunate enough to speak at a conference or event that goes well, I ask the organizer if I may suggest author friends for the next one. — Marc Tyler Nobleman

Ask to stay at a hotel (so you can rest) instead of someone’s home, because you’ll always be ON STAGE in someone’s home. — Wendie Old

After all these years I still stay in people’s homes. In fact, I have met some great dogs this way. — Deborah Hopkinson

If you have school visit tip, be sure to add it in our comment section!

School Visit Tips for 2011: Part 1

Here are some helpful tips for you from expert presenters as we swing into High Author Visit Season. Because there are so many great bits of advice, I’ve broken them up into three posts, so watch for them.

To break the ice with a roomful of kindergartners, ask them to reach into their pockets… and please turn off their cellphones. Their reaction — after a second or two — is priceless. — Chris Barton

Check, check and double check with the event coordinator regarding equipment needs, schedule, length of program, etc. It’s amazing how many times I’ve shown up at a school and found a “surprise” after we had already discussed details. I always send a “Just want to confirm . . .” email a few days before the visit. — Barbara O’Connor

I make a point of introducing myself to all the adults in the room, both teachers and parents, and shaking their hands with a smile. Often teachers feel too shy to introduce themselves, but I find that if I do so, we create a bond or link that makes them more interested in the presentation. Taking the initiative also helps me feel friendlier and more empathetic towards the teachers and parents — you tend not to resent people whose hands you’ve shaken and with whom you’ve exchanged a friendly smile and word. It’s easy and it’s effective. — Rachna Gilmore

Regarding Skype visits: 1) To keep the transmission from skipping, freezing or disconnecting, make sure your computer is plugged into your router, rather than going completely wireless. (And make sure the school at the other end does the same!) 2. TURN OFF YOUR PHONE! 3. TURN OFF YOUR CAT OR DOG! (Or lock them out of your office during your presentation.) — Lee Wardlaw

For about the first year or more of school visiting, I always brought stamped, self-addressed envelopes with me and gave them, along with a short questionnaire, to every adult in each assembly I did. Yes, every adult: teacher, principal, school librarian, secretary and parents. I asked for suggestions on how to make my presentations more relevant. I asked them to tell me how to improve my physical appearance for presenting or the choreography of my presentation. (One teacher told me to cut my bangs, as they couldn’t quite see my eyes–how would I have known this?) I learned to keep the questions to one short page…and not overwhelm them with too many questions or they wouldn’t return them…they have too much on their desks! After 400+ school visits (throughout the USA and in international schools and military base schools in Europe) later, these evaluations helped shape my presentations to this day. — April Halprin Wayland

I come with an extension cord, duct tape to keep the cords down, my own tea bags, water, almonds and extra granola bars in case there is no lunch. When driving, I bring a back-up projector. — Deborah Hopkinson

Try to leave [the audience] with something tangible to actually take back to the classroom or home. It would be a work of art we each do, or the start of a new story. Anything that they can show off to others. — Mike Rex

If you have school visit tip, be sure to add it in our comment section!

Finding Funding for School Visits

In the past couple of years, many schools’ traditional sources of funding (parent organizations, booster clubs, etc.) have been called upon to support basic needs — copier machines, supplies, and sometimes even staffing. Finding funds for author visits, field trips, and assemblies can be challenging. Yet even when resources seem all tapped-out, there are pockets of money to be had simply by asking. Take a look at this video tip and pass it along to potential hosts. (Click here for the link I mention in the video.)

Keeping Track of School Visit Inquiries

It's easy to find all materials related to each school visit in this one-stop binder. Everything slides easily into page protectors.

Whenever anyone contacts me for an appearance, I capture as much information as possible up front, whether they book me or not. I keep records on computer and ancillary materials (booking form, contract, program, maps, etc.) in a 3-ring binder set up with tabs for each month. (I’m sure that tech savvy folks could find a way to do this all electronically, but I still like the “backup” of a real notebook!)

First, I file their email inquiry on my computer in a folder called, “Appearances.” Within Appearances, I have a folder for each year. So, let’s say Jane Little from the Sunshine Elementary School in Taos, New Mexico contacted me by email, this is how I would file her note:

Appearances

2010

NM – Taos – Sunshine Elem – Jane Little

Go to "Resources" for a pdf of this sample booking form.

Next, if we carry on a correspondence, I paste all of her emails into this file so that I have our running correspondence in one spot. If we talk about a specific date, I then record pertinent information on my paper booking form and place it in a page protector in my 3-ring notebook behind the month of the requested appearance.

In front of each month, I have a calendar page. On it, I pencil in all of my appearances. This gives me a clean, one-stop look at what’s ahead for me.

When it’s time for the visit, I take all the pages for that school along with me from my notebook. (This has saved scads of space and manila file folders in my real-life filing cabinets!)

Some schools may take two or three years before they bring me in, but I stay in touch with them in the meantime. When I transfer data onto a spreadsheet, I can easily see which schools might be ready for a “revisit” a few years after my initial visit.

Stamps & Stationery

Fudge reviews my thank you notes before I pop them in the mail.

I do my best to send a handwritten thank you note to my school visit, bookstore, library or festival host after an appearance. Why? The hosts have expended time and other resources to have me appear. My gratitude has always been appreciated, forging a closer connection between us. And there’s nothing more personal (and surprising) in today’s electronic world than to receive real, live snail mail.

My friend April Halprin Wayland shared this tip with me for streamlining the process. April addresses and stamps an envelope before she heads out to her appearance. After the appearance, she writes a note and pops it right into a mailbox. She says she writes the thank-you notes in her car before she leaves the site while the day is still fresh in her memory. She says, “I don’t want homework!”

While I do address envelopes in advance like April, I tend to write the notes when I get back home in case I decide to enclose a photo memory of our day together.

Do any of you do this? Do you use your own stationery or use commercially produced notes (I go wild for paper and designs!)

TIP: Revisit Schools Every 5 Years!

Even though I had visited this school before, books sales were amazing, thanks to an enthusiastic librarian and principal!

Four principals surprised me this year by inviting me back to do assemblies for all their kids. “But I’ve already visited your school,” I said, thinking they might be having a memory lapse. “Yes,” they said, “but we have a whole new crop of kids here now.”

And that’s when the lightbulb went off over my head. Of course! Kids graduate. The new kids hadn’t heard me yet, and I had had a new book published in the meantime.

So here’s my TIP: be sure to keep addresses for all your school visit contacts. Every five years, send a postcard or letter reminding the school of what a great time you had when you visited, and name the year. Tell them what’s new with you, and that you’d love to come back to meet their newest learners.

When Do Schools Look for Authors?

Most schools’ parent groups (PTA, PTO, PTSO, etc.) change officers in late spring. Many work on assembly schedules in the summer. But also consider this: when I was cruising around Google AdWords recently, I discovered that greatest number of hits on the keywords “school visit,” “author visit,” “school author visits” and “author visits to schools,” were in the following months: September, October, November, March and April.

Welcome to School Visit Experts!

I love doing school visits!

After years of writing a column for the SCBWI Bulletin called, “The Truth About School Visits,” I decided it was time to start this blog. We all know that children’s authors & illustrators are called on by schools and libraries to inspire and motivate kids to read, write and draw. But for creative types who are used to working on their own, doing public presentations and school assemblies can be daunting! This site is meant to connect you with school visit experts (yes, not just me but others, too, who visit tons of schools) who can offer good advice about programs as well as the business side of doing assemblies and workshops.