Category Archives: tips

This refers to short bits of school visit advice.

Focus Your Gig-Getting Energies in the New Year

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The number one question authors who want to do more school visits ask me is “How can I get more gigs?”

The simple answer is this: participate in activities where you are most likely to meet the people who are in a position to hire you. These people usually include librarians, teachers and teaching specialists, principals, curriculum coordinators, and parent group leaders. Also, booksellers often recommend authors to schools, so they are important contacts to have.

Look for opportunities to meet them where they gather – at workshops and conferences at the school district, county and state-wide levels. The best kind of involvement is doing presentations – either solo, duo or on a panel – where participants get a feel for your personality, presentation style and your books.

Concentrate on becoming known locally.  Even high-profile authors are feeling the funding pinch as many hosts are looking for local authors to save travel costs.

Schedule time to do an online search for professional associations. Find out when they meet and propose doing a workshop session. For example, I live in California, so here are some of the educational and literary associations, with their national counterparts, that I have been involved with (and most states will have similar groups):

Social gatherings are also great places to build relationships. For example, I attend some luncheons organized by teachers and librarians, especially those at which my friends are keynote speakers or who are receiving awards. These would include:

 Take time to find URLs for organizations, keep a database of conference dates and proposal deadlines, and strategize on where you can best focus your gig-finding opportunities in the coming year.

To get you started, here’s a link to reading associations in North America:

ASK ALEXIS: How Should I Shape My Workshop for Students?

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Image courtesy of digitalart/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My email inbox sees a steady stream of authors asking for advice on how to handle specific school visit situations. Since these concerns are the concerns of many, I thought I’d do a little “Dear Abby” here and post the question and my response in case this might help you, too.

 Dear Alexis,

I have a school visit set up for a local 6th grade language arts class. I thought I’d start with the publishing process and then talk a bit about where ideas come from. The teacher asked that I lead them into a Halloween creative writing assignment, so figured I might give them a couple different images to choose from. Just how much can I shove into 30-60 minutes? I was afraid if I talked about details as well, that it might be one subject too many. What do you think?”   — Happy-But-Anxious

 Dear Happy-But-Anxious,

First, congratulations on trying out new material in this one-class-dose at a familiar school. When you do this, it gives you a chance to get feedback from the teacher in a supportive environment and to tweak your presentation before you do it at another venue.  This builds skill and confidence.

 Now – about the workshop. A workshop is different from a school assembly in that it engages students in a hands-on experience to teach a specific strategy that students can apply to their work. In terms of pacing, think in chunks of time.  How many minutes will you devote to each segment of your session? Possible sequences (60-minutes, 45-minutes) might look like this:

 SEQUENCE for 60-minute session (ideal time)

10 minutes:    Introduction to you and your works

15 minutes     Activity Part 1: Model the strategy with the students

15 minutes:    Activity Part 2: Have students apply strategy independently

10 minutes:    Group Share

5 minutes:      Wrap-up & Next Steps

5 minutes:      Q & A

 

SEQUENCE for 45-minute session

5 minutes:      Introduction to you and your works

10 minutes     Activity Part 1: Model the strategy with the students

10 minutes:    Activity Part 2: Have students apply strategy independently

10 minutes:    Group Share

10 minutes:    Wrap-up and Q & A

 OPENING: The kids will want to know about you and your upcoming book, so it’s a good way to start and build rapport.

 ACTIVITY Part 1: Plan to focus on ONE thing and do it thoroughly. For example, rather than talk about where ideas come from, why not do a couple of different exercises that will have them actually generating ideas. Using photos as prompts is a great technique. You might call this exercise the “Idea Bank” (and in your case, it might be the “Halloween Idea Bank.”) They will make “deposits” into this bank that they can “withdraw” from when they need to.

 It always helps to model what you want the students to do, so, you might begin this segment by observing a photo together and have them generate ideas as a group.

 ACTIVITY Part 2: In the next step, give them another photo and have them generate ideas independently. You can show one photo on a big screen to the whole class, give a photo to small groups, or give out individual photos.

 GROUP SHARE: Invite students to share some ideas they’ve written down. (Make this voluntary.)

 WRAP-UP and NEXT STEPS: Quickly review the technique you demonstrated and extend this by sharing other specific strategies that you have used to generate ideas for your books or magazine articles.

 In addition to generating the Halloween Idea Bank, you might have students produce an opening sentence, a slice of dialogue, or a dramatic closing sentence to prime the pump for future writing. But by teaching them the bigger strategy of how to generate ideas, they will be better equipped to create stories later.

 Q & A: If you have time at the end, invite them to ask you about your work. This helps build a bond, writer-to-writer, and lets students know that their struggles are normal.

 Finally, by blending the “you” part (you as a writer and your book) and the “them” part (giving them a strategy they can apply to their writing) you’ll produce a satisfying session.

 Good luck!

 If you have a question, send an email to alexis@SchoolVisitExperts.com and put “Ask Alexis” in the subject line.

Answering Fan Mail

There’s no doubt that getting both snail mail and email mail is a thrill (to quote Sally Fields, “You like me! You really, really like me!”), but the time it takes to respond can take a huge chunk of time out of a writing schedule. Some of the letters are clearly class assignments and have a monotonous sameness. Yet many are truly original, with the students’ clear voices and passion shining through. Here’s how some authors handle the fan mail issue.

Pete Hautman:   “I respond to all emails, but I’ve given up responding to snail mail, unless it is a truly exceptional letter. For one thing, the cost of mailing a postcard exceeds the probable royalty I received on the book sale. Also, the letters my publishers forward to me are usually three or four months old, so the kids have already forgotten they wrote it, or more likely they’ve already written me off as an unresponsive jerk.” Pete gives specific advice to correspondents at his website.  

Roland Smith:  “Up until a couple of years ago I answered every email I received, but that got to be way too time consuming. Now everyone gets an auto-reply with some basic information about me and the books and refers them to my website.” Roland also posts current information through his blog, Facebook, and Twitter. “The point is that anyone who is interested can easily get their questions answered, or post a comment about me or my books, with a couple of keystrokes.. The only [snail mail] letters I answer are those that include a SASE. I felt guilty about setting this up [but] I have 3 or 4 more hours a day to write, which is what I think my readers really want.”

Alan Katz::  “Frankly, I DO answer every email. In my book, OOPS!, I challenged kids to figure out ‘which poem I wrote in the bathroom’…and when they write with a guess, I always send a ‘you’re right’ or ‘you’re wrong’. . .often with a new poem. Then, of course, they write back to say they can’t believe I answered them. It usually stops there. 

Alex Flinn:  “I would never not take e-mail, and this is because I occasionally get something wonderful. I think this is because I write, or have written, issue books. . . I do remember that, as a teen, I wrote a letter to, of all people, Erma Bombeck and got a nice-looking letter, probably from her assistant, but signed by her, and I actually still have it.” 

Dan Gutman:  “[Teachers and kids may not realize that] I have no secretary or assistant. There’s nobody at the publishing company who responds to reader mail for me. I do everything myself. I reply to every single reader email I get, and I spend hours every day doing it. But responding to paper mail is even more time consuming. So to save my sanity, I send those people a signed postcard with a printed message thanking them and saying ‘Due to the volume of mail I receive, it’s impossible for me to reply to letters individually. . .’ ”

Lisa Yee:  “There’s a clear difference between getting letters that are school assignments and letters from true fans. I spend more time on the ones from kids who write from the heart, and not for a grade.”

If you find yourself overwhelmed with the project of responding to fan letters and emails, here are some ways to streamline your time:

 • Write one class letter addressing each child’s questions. If more than one child asks the same question, say, “José, George and Devon asked: “What is your favorite book of the ones you have written?” and then post one answer. Group all questions into one letter. The teacher can run copies of your response so that each question is acknowledged and each child can have a copy.

• When you receive a packet of letters from a school or class, send a signed thank-you postcard to the class in response.

• Have a pre-slugged response to email inquires, which might include referring them to a Q&A section on your website.

• Add this note to your website regarding snail mail: “If you would like a reply, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope.”

What are your solutions to the fan mail issue?

Packing

Really – is there anyone out there who loves packing? I have suitcase envy. I keep searching for the perfect carry-on that can contain my clothes, school visit props, handouts, hostess gift, and computer (and, sometimes, data projector) and still be light enough to lift into the overhead compartment. I haven’t been successful yet.

As you’ll see in the photos below, none of my exquisite luggage matches.

From left to right: Carry-On, Backpack, Suitcase

I go for the lightest items possible. I do know some authors travel only with one carry-on and a toothbrush (I’m so jealous!). Usually these are folks who carry only a flash drive with their PowerPoint show on it and trust the school to have the right equipment. (I’m not that brave yet.) One female friend dresses only in black. (An East Coast thing.) A male friend wears the same sports jacket and trousers for traveling & assemblies and takes along one or two shirts for variety. (If only!)

But here’s how I’ve managed to condense my gear, so far.

Carry-on: This contains All That I Need to Do My Assemblies — in other words, the one suitcase I need to keep close tabs on: 4 of my books to display, props, data projector, hostess gift, handouts and my PowerPoint on a Flash drive for backup. I can live without P.J.s. but not my show!

Data projector & powerstrip go in my carry-on. Netbook usually goes inside my backpack.

Props for two books go inside this small backpacck inside the carry-on. (Cat is not included.)

These props are tucked inside the hat, which goes into the little backpack inside the carry-on.

These props go inside the paper bag, inside the carry-on.

Backpack: I stuff my purse, netbook computer, Kindle, snacks and data sheets for host, hotel & flights in here.

Suitcase: My assembly outfit is a “costume.” Translate to mean something “artsy” from Chico’s or Coldwater Creek that is impervious to wrinkles. If I’m doing more than one school visit on a trip, I’ll take an additional top. I throw in sweats, P.J.s, requisite undergarments, cosmetic case and a flashlight in case of emergencies.

Do you have any packing tips to share? Can you tell I need advice?!

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.

Google - Snowflaes & Tree

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

Google - Hound Dogs

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

School Visit Tips for 2011: Part 2

Here are a few more helpful school visit tips for you from expert presenters. After this, watch for one more post on this topic! 

Google - Actor on StageGet there early to give yourself time to relax.  Because you are ON STAGE, performing, the minute you get out of your car.  Giving yourself 15 to 20 minutes to simply sit there in your car “Vegging out” helps you to relax, refresh, and recover from the drive.  I sometimes even close my eyes and doze for a few minutes.  If you are afraid you’ll sleep the morning away in your car, set the alarm on your iPhone (or equivalent), or take along a kitchen timer. — Wendie Old 

I always say [to the audience] that I’ll bet they don’t believe that I used to be very shy, afraid to speak up, and never in front of a crowd.  That you can always learn to be less shy, and everyone has felt shy about expressing themselves at some point.  This establishes a really nice rapport, I’ve found, and is really an important gift you are giving to a lot of them.  — Joanne Rocklin

Create coloring pages, activity sheets, and other “hands on” projects that can bProject - ZEBRA - Caroline Arnold09-sme downloaded from your website and used in the classroom to build up knowledge and interest in your books before or after your visit. Include this information in a packet sent to the librarian before your visit. I love going to schools and see walls of cut paper zebras created from the template on the web page for my book A Zebra’s World.  No two zebra’s are ever alike!  — Caroline Arnold

 Find out ahead of time if there are any parking issues at the school, and also find out which door visitors are to enter by.  If you are leaving the house extremely early, make sure you have an emergency phone number for your contact – i.e. home phone number or personal cell number.  – Marsha Skrypuch

Flexibility is key. Although your program is the central event in your mind, many other situations are happening all day long in the school which you are visiting.  I have had a fire drill in the middle of my presentations, an electrical failure throughout the school, a principal in a gorilla suit climbing a 3 story ladder fulfilling his promise to stay on the roof for the day if the students had read 5000 books, a child throwing up all over the front row of children, and once, just as the children streamed through the door, the lamp on my power point projector blew.  I learned early on to laugh, take what happens and make it work. And who knows… there might be a book in it someday.  — Kay Winters

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.

Google - Child & Cell Phone

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!

TIP: Use Question Cards for Your Youngest Audience

For Question Cards, you can use plain index cards or your promotional postcards.

For Question Cards, you can use plain index cards or your promotional postcards.

Have you ever had this happen?  You’re in a room with first graders.  You say to the kids, “Do you have any questions?”  You call on an enthusiastic hand-raiser who says, “I like your shoes.”  The next kid says, “I like your books.”  The teacher interrupts with, “Now children, that’s a statement.  You need to ask a question.” So, the next kid asks, “What’s your favorite color?” and every question after that begins with “What’s your favorite . . .”  The warm fuzziness of the author moment is gone, and you have become the object of a dry language arts lesson.

 Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve had some great Q & A sessions with younger kids, especially when they’ve read my books and have seen me in assembly. But things can go off-track fast if you’re not on alert.

 Here’s an emergency strategy for doing a Q & A with your younger audiences.

 On note cards (or postcards), write questions in advance of your visit – questions that you’d like to answer.  Some questions can be serious (“Where do you get your ideas?”), others can be fun (“What pets did you have as a kid?” “What’s the silliest joke you ever heard?”)  If you have a hard time coming up with kid-friendly questions, have a brainstorming session with your writers group and make up a batch of 30 together. (Hint: If you print a sheet of questions off on sticky labels, you won’t have to write them each time you do this activity!)

Put the questions in a hat or container.  Have kids, in turn, draw a Question Card from the hat. Let each kid stand beside you and share the spotlight as you read the question aloud and give your answer.

You might also consider letting individual kids (or the class) keep the cards that are drawn out, autographing the cards at the end of the session.  And if you have each question on your promotional postcard, the Question Cards turn into perfect souvenirs. You can be sure that when the cards go out the door, there’ll be lots for the class to talk about!

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!

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.