tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post4852190174625875740..comments2024-03-15T09:26:02.796-05:00Comments on PROJECT MAYHEM: Back to SchoolProject Mayhemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05154342399869089664noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-10845968084553768372012-05-25T16:51:25.625-05:002012-05-25T16:51:25.625-05:00Mike, this is great. As a past librarian who sched...Mike, this is great. As a past librarian who scheduled and saw many author visits, a children's author who visits schools, and a creativity coach who partners with authors to help them create school author visit presentations, this is a topic that means a lot to me. <br /><br />I'd love to have you and your insightful commenters here share your expertise, questions, and thoughts on a free online event about school author visits this coming Wednesday! It's simple to participate, and all you need is your computer.<br /><br />This invitation will tell you more about it. http://deblundshindig.eventbrite.com/<br /><br />Please contact me with any questions. I hope you can join us...Deb Lundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09711335889376269993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-53289529962182915192011-04-14T21:59:52.948-05:002011-04-14T21:59:52.948-05:00Great post! This is one of the things I'm mos...Great post! This is one of the things I'm most excited about - talking with kids about books, reading, and the writing process. <br /><br />Last year I visited a class of 6th grade students and talked about the path from writing to publishing. The students were so excited about having a "real author" in the classroom, even though they knew my book wouldn't be on the shelves for ages. <br /><br />They were super interested in the behind-the-scenes look about querying agents, being on submission, and (of course) advances and royalties. And afterward we had a little writing practicum where I handed out scenic photographs and they wrote stories based on the setting. Then we all had a reading of our work. It was fabulous!Marissa Burthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13079821721448782710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-48852403258261302382011-04-11T15:01:41.888-05:002011-04-11T15:01:41.888-05:00Patricia: Yes, those are good ideas. Selling advan...Patricia: Yes, those are good ideas. Selling advance copies prior to the visit is a good thing, and I know some authors have that as a requirement prior to a visit.<br /><br />Dee: Schedule visits, please. Especially with your book, I can see many ways to make your visit interactive. And as far as the introversion, we have to take ourselves out of our comfort zone, right? Hey, you could use that as a teachable moment when you visit, and discuss it.<br /><br />bfav: I know authors who make a pretty penny through school visits too, and some speakers (non-authors) who do as well. It's a good way to connect with kids, and authors really need to do that. We need to let the gatekeepers (like you said) see that we are worthy of their money and then the kids can ask for parents to buy our books (no commercial needed during the holiday season).<br /><br />Caroline: That sounds like a cool assignment. I'll hop over to your blog and check it out. And you're right, this is EXACTLY what I wish more authors would do: make the visit interactive. Today's student needs to be actively engaged, so MG books have so much possibility in that regard.Mike Winchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11771482167997501541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-45523975343891190292011-04-11T10:58:06.066-05:002011-04-11T10:58:06.066-05:00Great post!
In my years as a student and as a tea...Great post!<br /><br />In my years as a student and as a teacher, we only had one author visit. I can't imagine the way something like this would have impacted my seventh-grade life. <br /><br />Having taught middle school English and social studies, I developed an assignment called Where in the World Are We Reading that I used in both classrooms. With my English students, each term they had to "journey" to a different part of the world and keep a "travel log" of all they learned. With my social studies classes, I altered the assignment to focus on settings (the time and place a story takes place) so students could read any historical fiction, biography, non-fiction, or contemporary fiction set outside of the US.<br /><br />Now that I write historical fiction and am looking toward school visits of my own, I can draw on these inter-disciplinary lessons for ideas.<br /><br />For anyone interested in downloading Where in the World Are We Reading and the accompanying Travel Log, stop by my website: www.carolinestarrrose.comCaroline Starr Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04597510685273079757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-52335715358248849232011-04-11T10:44:03.458-05:002011-04-11T10:44:03.458-05:00I couldn't agree more about the importance of ...I couldn't agree more about the importance of school visits. It is one of the best ways to connect with your audience. Blogging and social media is great but it rarely touches your book buyers: kids, parents, and librarians. <br /><br />I recently went to a writing conference and one of the classes was all about school visits. The author was self-published but making a great living because he does several school visits each month which he swears is uber fabulous marketing.bfavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14164661338051897220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-26436149673154078122011-04-11T08:59:25.494-05:002011-04-11T08:59:25.494-05:00Good post, Michael! Your stories about real kids&#...Good post, Michael! Your stories about real kids'reactions have inspired me to try to schedule some more visits. I've really enjoyed the ones I've done, though it's tiring for the introverted writer-type. Something I've found that's really fun is to have anudience participation in creating a character. I pick six or seven kids from the audience, then ask each one a question-What are you most scared of? What are you good doingat? What are you bad at doing? What's your favorite hobby or sport? Etc. Another kid writes down all the answers and then I talk about how it could be a character profile.Dee Garretsonhttp://deegarretson.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-54797754602337107192011-04-11T07:26:14.562-05:002011-04-11T07:26:14.562-05:00Interact and fool around (connect and get to know ...Interact and fool around (connect and get to know the kids just a bit), then read a section of your book, and stop at an inopportune moment. Let them guess either verbally or through a short writing session what happens next. They then have to go get your book to find out. Better yet, sell preordered copies beforehand through the school so you can hand them their already paid for copy and sign it right there. And they can read it the rest of the day. At least, that's what the authors that have visited my son's school do. We have several signed picture books from author visits that were bought ahead of time through a school flyer in anticipation of the writer's visit.Patty Hatchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10037503136348728315noreply@blogger.com