Category Archives: contracts

Refers to an agreement between the author or illustrator and an event host or bookseller.

School Visits – Letters of Agreement

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ContractWhen a school wants to hire you, the process usually begins with an email. With successive emails, you and the host iron out the terms and details of your author visit.

While some authors then send a formal contract to the host to sign, I send a Letter of Agreement. This is essentially a contract in “normal speak” rather than “legalese language.” I also include a sample schedule and an author visit checklist to assist with planning. Here are the links:

Sample Letter of Agreement

Sample Schedule

Sample Author Visit Checklist

Sample Lecture Contract

Sample SCBWI Lecture Contract (SCBWI members only)

For more examples, type “author visit school contract” into a search engine. Also, I encourage you to check with colleagues to see what kind of agreement works best for them as you create (or update) your own.

 

Be in Control of Your Author Visit Schedule

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POST 0096 - Schedule - Clock

Here’s what I find surprising – when I hear seasoned authors start with these words, “I didn’t know until they sent me the schedule . . . “ The sentence is completed in any number of ways: “. . . that the host didn’t schedule lunch” “. . .has me addressing Pre-Ks and I write middle grade” “. . .  cut my 60-minute presentation to 30 minutes.”

The solution to these scheduling surprises, of course, is to work out the kinks ahead of time.

While we all try make accommodations for special situations, you are the expert on determining the best flow for your day. Your goal is to deliver the greatest educational value to kids through your presentations. But scheduling can be challenging for schools. They often have to rearrange recess and juggle classes to adjust for an author visit. So why not help them out?

I work out scheduling details at least two weeks before a visit. I send a Sample Schedule for the school to use as a guide and ask to review it before it is published for the staff.

The schedule includes the time needed for each assembly (Primary, Intermediate, Middle) or workshop, and even the transition time needed to reset my props between sessions or to travel to a workshop location on campus. I’m flexible on time needed for lunch.

A few years ago, I also learned to stand firm on one thing: the order of events in my day at the school. Why? The turning point came when I was in a school of over 1,000 children, all PreK to Grade2. The host scheduled all the Kindergartners for the last period in the afternoon. It’s not a leap to picture the outcome!  I now require that my elementary school assemblies are held in the morning.

Get your schedule in writing ahead of your visit. And don’t be timid about speaking up to make adjustments. In the end, the students are the ones benefitting from a schedule that flows and an author who can perform at the top of their game.

Pricing Lessons

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Dollar sign - goldThe new year is approaching fast. School visit invitations are ramping up – but so is your blood pressure. Do you feel as if you are constantly justifying your school visit fees to yourself and others? Do you second guess whether your services are priced to best reflect the content — and motivation — you deliver?

If you’re struggling with the fees you charge for your school visits, read this blog post by Melissa Dinwiddie, “5 Art Pricing Lessons I Learned the Hard Way.”  Replace the word “art” with “school visit presentation” and you will have some of the best advice ever about pricing.  Be sure to read the comments from readers as they share great advice, too. And when you’re done, leave a comment here to let us know what you think of this.

This guest post appeared “The Abundant Artist” blog by Cory Huff.  My thanks to Elizabeth Dulemba for bringing this to my attention.

 

5 Things I’ve Learned About School Visits: Advice from Laura Purdie Salas

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In this series, expert school visit presenters share what they’ve learned from experiences in the trenches. Thanks to Laura Purdie Salas for the following contribution.  

Salas_leaf_thumbnail1.      The school owns you for the day. Do all your negotiating ahead of time. Make sure the schedule is do-able, that you have your necessary bathroom breaks, etc. Then, once you show up, just go with it. If the school asks whether you want to eat lunch on your own or with teachers, offer to eat with teachers (or students)—whatever they will get the most out of. If the numbers/venue aren’t quite as described, oh well. They have brought you there, and all you can do is give them everything you’ve got for the day(s). The kids deserve that.

2.      Keep your sense of humor. Things will go wrong. Wildly wrong. I’ve had principals change the schedule, fire drills send me into the ladies’ room with a bunch of 4th-grade girls, slides that all appeared green because of a cable mishap, a first grader throw up, a blizzard close down a school, and much more. I learned a great lesson at a Rob Thomas concert when his tech stuff failed. He just laughed, talked with the audience, and tried to give us his best, even in less-than-best circumstances. Laughing beats crying. Save that for the car ride home.

3.      If a third party arranges the visit, make sure you get a contact name, email address and phone number for someone actually at the school. And touch base before your visit. I recently appeared for a visit several hours from home, arranged by the local library through a state grant. The school had no idea I was coming. Let me repeat that. No. Idea. If I had contacted the school directly, even though the library wanted to handle all the details, this could have been avoided. (The principal was flexible, the kids and teachers were surprised, and the day went surprisingly well!)

Salas_bookspeak_thumbnail4.      Send posters and free books once the contract is signed. I had some mini-posters printed with a bunch of my book covers and an announcement that “Laura Purdie Salas is coming to school on ________!” On the back of the posters are tips to help the adults prepare for my visit. I send 3-4 posters plus 2-3 of my trade hardcover books in advance. The cost to me is well worth the extra excitement the materials generate.

5.      Kids want to connect with you. That’s the most important part of your visit. Yes, design your presentation to support teachers, to correlate to standards, to share content. But then, focus on talking and sharing with kids and listening to them. Make eye contact. Be vulnerable. Be real. That’s how you reach those kids and give them a visit that they will always remember.

Salas_vert_200_2013 Laura Purdie Salas is the author of more than 100 books for kids and teens, including BOOKSPEAK! POEMS ABOUT BOOKS, STAMPEDE! POEMS TO CELEBRATE THE WILD SIDE OF SCHOOL, and A LEAF CAN BE…. She loves to introduce kids to poetry and help them find poems they can relate to, no matter what their age, mood, and personality. She has also written numerous nonfiction books. See more about Laura and her work at www.laurasalas.com.

A Better Offer?

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So here’s the deal. You get a call from some group to speak at their event. You say yes. There might be 30 people there, the host says. We’re so excited you can come. You pen it on your calendar and forget about it. The date is a long way off.

And then you get another call, maybe a month or less before the Booked Event. Speaking at the New Event is such a great opportunity! But wait. It’s on the same day as the Booked Event. Rats. The New Event will give you a bigger audience, or more money, or better exposure. What should you do?

The simple answer? Honor your first commitment.  

Most organizations will begin promoting their event months ahead of time on websites and in print materials. People will have signed up for the event with the promise that you will be there. If you pull out, it can have a significant impact on that organization financially as well as reputation-wise. People may not trust future line-ups if they feel that speakers may pull out at the last minute. And your own reputation will take a hit, too. 

Okay –  so what’s the more complicated answer? Talk with your host. 

If the New Event is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (and not just a better offer), you might talk with your First Host to see if rescheduling would pose a problem. Or you might suggest a replacement speaker (one that you are in contact with). But the bottom line? The decision should be the host’s.

Here’s something I’ve learned through the years. When someone calls me and I say, “Sorry, but I’m already booked for that date,” it does not diminish my reputation. It sends the message, “Call me earlier next time.” And it tells the late-caller that I honor my commitments. This inspires trust. 

Last year, a fabulous organization asked me to speak at a fundraising luncheon. I would be the only children’s book author in a line-up of three authors. Over 250 book-buying women with children and grandchildren would be there. I had to decline. I already had a smaller commitment for that date. “But do keep me in mind for next year,” I said. They did. I’ll be speaking for them in 2014. And that’s just one story of many. 

Of course, there are other events in life that may conflict with your Booked Event – illness, the birth of a baby (your own, that is) – but bailing on your commitment  for a better offer is really not honorable.

Perfect Parking

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Not only did my host, Joyce Garcia of Rorimer Elementary, save a parking spot for me, she greeted me with an umbrella!

I circled the school three times before I found a spot. Time crunched, I schlepped a backpack, props, and equipment in the rain across a busy street and around massive puddles to the site of my school visit.

Parking. This may seem like a tiny detail in the scheme of things – but to start your day off frustration-free, this is one item you’ll want to have in your contract or letter of agreement.

My letter of agreement simply says: “If you can save a parking space for me, that would be terrific. (Most schools put out a cone with my name on it.)” Though it sounds like a suggestion, I do follow up about a week before my visit and remind them of this request. I think that the image of a bedraggled presenter has been enough to inspire action, and as a result, I always have a spot waiting for me. 

Even in great weather, it helps to be able to park close to the school.

 

10 Must-Haves in Your School Visit Contract

Whether you have a formal school visit contract, a letter of agreement or terms worked out through email, when booking an appearance, here are some main items you should address, in writing, with your host:

  1. Date(s) of event
  2. Honorarium: Specify how much you will be paid and when the payment is due.
  3. Expenses: When traveling afar, expenses that the host reimburses are typically travel (mile, airfare, train), food and lodging.
  4. Number of Sessions: This might include any combination of assemblies, workshops, classroom visits and autographing.  I highly recommend that you require approval of the schedule in advance of the visit.
  5. Grades and Size of Audiences
  6. Equipment & Physical Set-up: Specify what equipment the host needs to provide, what you will provide and how you need to have the room set-up for your program.
  7. Selling Books: If you require a book sale, identify who is responsible for ordering books, collecting money and returning unsold stock.
  8. Cancellation clause: This clause is for any cancellation of your visit by the school that is not due to that is not due to an act of God.
  9. Inability to perform: This is basically a “reschedule” clause in case something happens to you (illness, death in the family, etc.) where you cannot appear on the scheduled date.
  10. Recordings: You might want to require signed permission from you which also specifies that you retain all rights to any recording in any format made during your visit.

Other resources:

Get It In Writing 

Sample Lecture Contract