One of the best
ways to promote an MG novel is through a school visit. This gives you direct access to your
target audience. Let’s face it,
unlike their older siblings, most 9-12 years olds don’t spend all day on the
internet blogging. Personally I
think this is a blessing. Thank
god they still want to build a tree fort. However, it does create adversity for
writers who are trying to reach out directly to younger kids. A school visit solves that
problem. I believe that the author
presentation itself should be viewed as a work of art, just like your novel.
Authors make a big
mistake when they don’t approach a school visit creatively. We must bring imagination to this
aspect of the publishing journey.
How can we make our author presentations unforgettable? More importantly, how can we make them
fun and engaging for a bunch of fourth graders?
I was part of a
week long event last winter in Santa Barbara that included myself, three other
authors and thousands of kids from half a dozen schools. One of the authors wrote a wonderful
book about wolves. However, her
author presentation was a bit dry and too cerebral. The kids listened but they weren’t enthralled. One of the others writers involved in
the event suggested that she should teach the kids how to howl like a wolf
during the presentation and actually hold a howling contest at the end. She took the suggestion and the kids
had a blast. So did she. To her credit, she demonstrated great
flexibility. Not all best selling
authors would be willing to accept feedback but she understood the ultimate
truth that we never stop learning.
Back in May I
participated in a book signing at a book fair that was comprised of ten
authors, half of whom were self-published. The self-published authors told me that they were having
huge success getting into schools.
All of them were being extremely proactive, which is the key. It doesn’t matter who is publishing
your book, you need to reach out to schools and let them know what you’re
doing!
One of the many reasons I love school visits is I get to connect with real, live kids. Now that I'm no longer a teacher, I don't have that daily contact. There's very much a delayed response between writing, publishing, and then finally meeting your readers.
ReplyDeleteAs for memorable, I agree. When you have a captive audience, an audience required to be with you, it's essential you give them a reason to want to be there.
It is good to know that self-published authors are also having success with this.
ReplyDeleteTheydefinitely are!
ReplyDeleteHurray for school visits, James! I've visited schools all over the world and have loved every visit!
ReplyDeleteJames, it is so great to hear that authors from all paths are getting in to schools! I am gearing up for school visits this fall. I did a few practice visits this past June.And yes, as Caroline noted, there is nothing better than getting in front of your main audience and engaging with kids! It makes that long road of publishing worthwhile. The great thing is that if you do well schools will invite you back (especially if you have a new book coming out) and so you can keep extending your travels and reader audience - and librarians do talk amongst themselves as well and spread the word about you. Also, if a school has budget issues a great way to offer a discount is to have them pair up with another local school to do a visit together.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, James! Sounds like you had an exceptional time which means the kids did, too! True, you have to put your entertainer hat on. But why not enjoy it? And oh yes, librarians talk! Yet simply being friendly is the easiest way in the door :-)
ReplyDelete