“May you always see the world through the eyes of a child.” —C.J. Heck
I'm often asked what constitutes a good Author School Visit.
From the school's point of view, they want to know what they can do to make it a success.
From an Author's point of view, it runs more towards asking, "What should I expect and how can I make it a success?"
I'm certainly no expert, but I did a lot of Author school visits from 2000 through 2011, until my arthritis forced me to give it up. There’s a lot of walking and climbing stairs with school visits!
I’m happy to talk about my experiences and what worked, and what didn't. For this reason, this article will concentrate on school visits for Authors.
At a later date, I will concentrate on what schools can expect and what they can do to make an Author's school visit a success.
Address as Much as Possible When You First Set Up Your School Visit:
* Be honest and open about what you will do and what you will charge. State your daily rate and the number of presentations you will do for that rate. If you are only able to do two presentations per day, for example, make that clear in your first conversation with the school. The most I could do before my voice gave out was five per day.
* Be clear about what you charge for traveling, room and board, and any other expenses you may incur. It was my experience that if you were doing more than a one-day school visit, most schools set you up for the night in a motel and give you vouchers for meals.
* During the day of your school visit, you will be expected to either eat with teachers in their lounge, or in the cafeteria with students.
* Find out when you will be paid, i.e., the day of the school visit, or in the case of Title One, how long you will have to wait for their approval and your check.
* Find out whether the local media (radio, TV, newspapers) will be contacted about your school visit, whether they will attend, and whether time will be set aside during the day for interviews and taking photos. If at all possible, take advantage of the media and do interviews! They’re fun and any news articles are great for your Press Kit!
* Create an invoice with name, address and phone number of the school, the name of your contact there, all charges, and the total for your school visit. Make sure your invoice also has your personal contact information. Mail it to the school, but on the day of the school visit, make sure you bring along a backup copy, just in case.
* Decide how book sales will be handled, i.e., when and where you will sign books, who will collect the money, if you will be discounting the retail price of your book(s), whether they will allow you to take pre-orders for books prior to your school visit.
This worked best for me. I always sent a pre-order form to the school and let them send it home with children to be returned before my school visit. Then I knew how many books to bring with me, plus extras.
* Tell the school what props you will need for your author visit, i.e., bottled water, coffee, easel, chalkboard and chalk, chair, stool, rocking chair, rug to sit on, microphone, podium, etc.
* Find out where your presentations will be, i.e., auditorium/stage, cafeteria, library, classrooms. Talk to the school about the maximum number of students you would be comfortable speaking to. This is very important! Some Authors aren't comfortable in an auditorium.
* Find out where you should park and what time you should arrive at the school to set up.
* Ask for your school visit schedule as soon as they can give you one, so you can plan, i.e., how long the school has allotted for each presentation, the ages of each group so you can modify your presentation, should you need to, and so you can plan when you will sign books (During lunch break? After the last presentation?).
* Keep accurate copies of everything for the IRS: the total for the entire school visit, i.e., the amount you received for the actual day, or days, of presentations, number of books sold and the dollar amount, any expenses incurred that were not paid to you, or for you, by the school.
* After you get home, be sure and send a "Thank You" note to your contact and to the school. That will get you repeat school visits and referrals!
****If you think of any questions you may have about anything I haven't addressed here, please feel free to leave a comment, or email me. I'm always happy to help in any way I can.
The children will treat you like a star. Be prepared to sign a lot of autographs – on paper, books, even on T-shirts! You will get a lot of hugs, too. Enjoy yourself. I miss it –damn the arthritis!
Hugs,
--C.J.