I want to be THAT author who goes into the school and inspires young writers, but I had no idea how to do it, so I set about researching it. By researching, I mean I used a search engine to investigate the term “how to do an author school visit”. (Don’t laugh… it took several attempts to find the perfect phrase!)
For those of you who share the same interest, I have posted what I found here. I was pretty bemused by the lack of information available out there, so if you know of any other resources, please respond in the comments. I’ll check them out and post them if they fit what I’m looking for. Many thanks!
The links below are alphabetized by author’s last name then/or the site name:
Elizabeth Bluemle – A Publisher’s Weekly article about what makes an author signing great.
Sharon Draper – This link takes you to a .pdf file that automatically downloads if you have Adobe.
BookMoot – Not only does this site have a Do and Don’t list of things I never would have considered, the right-hand margin has a list of YA / Children’s Lit Blogs. Love it!
Kim Norman – Kim Norman is avid about authors going into schools, and has put a lot of effort into creating a site that helps them do so. If you sign up for the mailing list for regular tips and tricks, she will send a free guide titled Planning Your Author School Visit. Lots of good stuff here.
Alexis O’Neill – A blog about how to visit schools. Topics include School Visit Letters of Agreement, Taking the Pain Out of Assembly Introductions, and other good stuff an author would only learn through experience.
Quotes:
“Authors and illustrators are the ultimate literacy initiative,” said Toni Buzzeo, author, and library media specialist at Longfellow Elementary School in Portland, Maine. “When a kid has met an author of a book, he owns that book more than anything else he’s ever read. It streamlines the approach to encouraging kids to read. You don’t even have to encourage them,” Buzzeo said, laughing.
– See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr374.shtml#sthash.YOl2F7Xm.dpuf