Once you’ve tried it, you’ll never want to stop!

My absolute favorite part of being an author is having the opportunity to go into schools to talk to kids. My goal in doing the readings is to help nudge a few kids in a positive direction of becoming better people. You would be amazed at the influence that authors have on young minds. You would be amazed at how often I’m walking through Target, and I hear a kid whisper, “That’s the Author!” to their siblings.

It might be intimidating setting up a school visit. Where to start? Who to contact? How to contact them? How do we set up the readings with the classes? Etc.

Well, I’ve done around 30 school visits over the last two years since publishing The Ball That Did Not Like to Bounce. 90% of them have started by connecting with the Media Center Specialist at the school (it could be a librarian in other areas, but that’s what they are called where I’m located). They work with all the teachers on a regular basis, so they already have the ability to connect with them all.

The majority of the time, I send the Media Center Specialist an email with basic information about me, my book, and my message that I share with the kids. The best return, though, is when I’m able to get face to face with them. Getting into conferences or meetings with multiple Media Center Specialists at once has been my best method of securing an author visit. Another point of contact would be the Principal of the school with the same methods of contacting as I mentioned above.

Once they’ve decided to bring me in, the contact at the school has been the one to connect with all of the teachers in order to set up the schedule for the readings. Try to be flexible in your dates and times available as they will be working with several teachers and staff in order to make the reading happen.

Things that the contact at the school will need to know about your reading:

• Length of the sessions
• How many kids at a time
• Age levels that the readings are for
• Can you combine grade levels or is your talk tailored to different grade levels
• What needs do you have – table, projector, water, chair, need them to print something, etc (Many have the ability to have a microphone available, but I suggest to specify that it has to be hands free. It’s next to impossible to hold a mic and flip the pages of a book!)
• Dates and times that you are available.
• What are you going to talk about

Once you’ve done a reading or two through schools, it gets easier and easier as the process is typically the same.

As in my readings at schools, I hope I’ve given you a nudge in a positive direction towards being a better you…..or author…. I’m pretty sure they’re one and the same.