How to Plan a Memorable Author Visit to Schools

Planning an author visit to schools is an exciting opportunity to inspire students, spark creativity, and share the joy of writing (and sell books!). In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of author visits for children’s book writers and schools, understand different types of author visits, and plan a fruitful visit to the school. You’ll also find actionable tips and ideas to equip you with everything you need to make your event a success.

Chidren’s Book Mastery coaching member, Judith Ewa, on a school visit. She gave each child her activity book to add value and fun!

Here’s an outline of what we’ll cover about author visits to schools:

• Benefits of Author Visits for Children’s Book Writers
• Benefits of Author Visits for Schools
• Types of Author Visits
• Planning a Successful Visit to the School
  • Contacting the School
  • Scheduling and Logistics
• Engaging Students During the Visit
• Should You Charge for an Author Visit?

Benefits of Author Visits for Children’s Book Writers

Children’s book writers get the chance to engage personally with their target readers when they visit schools. Aside from building a rapport with children, you get to read your book and get feedback on your work so you can hone your storytelling skills for their next books. Many authors also appreciate witnessing the spontaneous responses of children up close and uncovering insights they cannot fully achieve with only online critiques or book sales statistics.

Authors usually get an enthusiastic response from teachers and children after a visit, which helps with sales and establishing a dedicated fan base eager to read their next books.

To get better results, customise your presentations to align closely with varying student interests and school expectations!

Benefits of Author Visits for Schools

An author or author-illustrator visit to an elementary school can make literature more accessible and interactive for students. When children have the chance to engage directly with an author and the author’s books, it makes reading a more personal and enjoyable activity. After the event, children and teachers experience several positive reactions such as feeling more inspired, empowered, and connected.

According to the 2023 report by the National Literacy Trust, children experience an increase in reading (58.6%) and writing (43.2%) enjoyment both in their free time and in class after having an author visit. A survey by School Visit Experts participated in by 600 teachers, librarians, administrators, and parents stated that an author-illustrator visit is also particularly beneficial in capturing the attention of indifferent or hesitant readers, children with special needs, and those belonging in ethnic minority groups, often igniting their interest to read different stories.

Having an author visit an elementary school can also engage students with the process of writing, according to 70% of teachers, librarians, and administrators. When kids hear firsthand stories from the creators of their favorite books, it demystifies the process of storytelling and writing. This can spark their interest in joining writing workshops and participating in related class activities focused on writing.

Besides benefiting children, teachers and school staff also gain from these visits. They discover fresh and creative ways to integrate literary works into their educational programs and the library. When an author-illustrator steps into the school environment, it can spark new teaching methods and enrich current curricula to encourage students to read.

Types of Author Visits

Author or illustrator visits can be arranged in different ways, each with its unique perks. The face-to-face interaction during classroom visits can be more engaging for children. It motivates them to focus on the presentation and participate in interactive activities that leave a lasting impression. Another type of author visit that is now gaining traction is a virtual author visit. Done via a video conferencing platform, this remote session allows for easy connections between schools and authors without the complexities of travel arrangements.

Whether an in-person or virtual event, author visits can take many forms. Most authors read their books aloud to a class or group and then discuss their books with the children, but one can do much more than read your book. You could focus your presentation on discussing your writing process and talk about your journey as a writer, or you can impart writing skills in prose or poetry. You can also invite your illustrator along, to add another dimension to the visit. Or, if you are an author illustrator, discuss both of these aspects of creating a book, or discuss the process of working with an illustrator.

Make your presentation more unique by customising it. We’ll show you two authors who have done this:

Children’s book writer Bill Doyle wrote a book series for six- to nine-year-olds featuring monsters who love to play sports. His author visit presentation for his Scream Team Series focuses on helping students create and develop their own monster characters for their own stories.

Book cover of The Bigfoot in the End Zone, one of the four books in the Scream Team series by Bill Doyle and illustrated by Jared Lee

Amy Fellner Dominy, author of Cookiesaurus Rex, includes a True or False segment about dinosaurs, a read aloud of her book, and a writing exercise for children in pre-K to third grade.

Cover of Cookiesaurus Rex by Amy Fellner Dominy and illustrated by AG Ford

An author visit can be a small-scale or large-scale event. Some authors prefer to read and discuss their books to large groups in auditoriums and libraries, while most conduct their sessions in classrooms filled with a few kids.

Planning a Successful Visit to the School

Putting together an author visit is all about planning and teamwork to make it enjoyable for the kids. Start by asking yourself these questions:

• What is the audience age and grade level of my book?
• Do I want to do a small group or large group session?
• Will I read my whole book or a part of it? (This mostly depends on the length of your book, e.g. a middle grade novel would be too long to read fully.)
• What will I cover during the event?
• How long is my visit going to be?
• Will I charge for my visit? If so, how much will I charge?
• Do I want to send flyers before my visit so I can sell (and sign) books prior to the visit?

Contacting the School

Make a list of schools you’re interested in, such as the schools in your neighbourhood. Also check out the local bookstores near the school you’re visiting. Try to team up with them, since they often have connections with nearby schools. Ask them if they can help you set up an author visit with the school you have in mind.

Get the school librarian’s or English teachers’ contact details. They’re often the best contacts to help you prepare for the visit. A friendly email or a quick phone call can work wonders.

Once you’ve made contact, discuss your ideas to let them see if you are the right author who aligns with what they have in mind. Talk to them about the visit details, how much you charge, and offer them discounts for your book. Learn how they’ve done author visits before and be ready to adapt when necessary. For example, if they only do 30-minute sessions but you’ve prepared a 45-minute presentation, weed out some portions in your presentation but be sure to keep the essentials.

Involve the teachers in the planning stage to make sure the visit fits with educational goals and curriculum standards. Teachers can get students excited when they do read-alouds of your book in advance and have classroom activities that match the themes. This prep work not only gets students pumped but also makes sure they’re ready to have meaningful chats with the author. It also gives you more time for your presentation and activities during the visit.

Write your children’s book lesson plan and share it with them.

Book an Author

You can join Book An Author to help you land more school visits. Have a look at their website!

Children’s Book Mastery coaching member and children’s book author, Dorenda Doyle, on Book an Author.

Scheduling and Logistics

Schedule your entire day for the event in advance. You may have to wake up at a different time from when you normally get out of bed to make time for packing the things you need, your travel, and for setting up your equipment in class before the session.

In this sample schedule, the first assembly lasts for 45 minutes. Allot 10 minutes to set up for the next 60-minute assembly. A 15-minute period follows for packing up the props.

Do your research and sort out all the logistics, like presentation details and any tech needs, in advance to save you from any last-minute hiccups. For example, will your presentation include hands-on activities? List all the equipment you need to bring and rehearse how you will use these tools for your presentation. Do you need the school to provide you a screen projector with a stand and a table to put up your materials? What materials do the kids need to prepare for the activities? Will they need coloured paper aside from white? A pair of scissors and a box of crayons? Will you present at the school library, classroom, or auditorium? What would you need for these different venues? Do you need a cordless microphone so you can move around more or will a corded one suffice?

Tip: You’ll be talking a lot during the event, so don’t forget your bottled water!

A great idea is to send out pre-order forms for your books in advance before your visit. Providing easy access to your work can make the students excited for to meet you and boost your book sales.

Your book order form must have:

• a title; short blurb
• order chart and summary
• due date
• total amount due

A sample author visit book order form by Annette Whipple

Engaging Students During the Visit

Visits can become enjoyable through participatory exercises. There are many ideas to choose from. They can act out characters in your book or you can answer questions related to your book. You can tell them about your writing process to motivate them to embrace creativity themselves.

If you’re an author illustrator, give students an overview of the children’s book illustration process. Afterwards, let them draw images for their own stories. You can also give the kids a practice run at book designing and let the kids redesign your book cover for fun. Teach them more about plot or character development.

When kids actively engage in co-creating narratives, it enhances their investment in the story. For example, Bruce Hale, author of many picture books including Peppermint Post and Super Santa: The Science of Christmas, adds a short lesson about cartooning basics for students in kindergarten and up in his author visits.

Children’s book author Pat Wheeler on an author visit to a school for her book Winnie Acts Up

Pat’s interactive presentation, officially titledWhat Does a Story Look Like BEFORE It Is a Book? takes students behind the scenes of her book-making process, showing how her story developed as sketches and illustrations were added. Each 30- to 60-minute visit wraps up with a lively book reading and a fun discussion about theater vocabulary.

Should You Charge for an Author Visit?

There is no right or wrong answer to whether you should charge for an author visit to schools or not. Some camps say that they conduct free author visits, while more authors believe they should charge for their time, effort, expertise, and expenses. While most authors charge for visits, many would still agree to having one or two free author visits per year, and even more for those who are just starting out and still honing their author visit presentation.

In the absence of a fee, you can still benefit from the visit by negotiating with the school to buy a certain amount of your books for their school library, send fliers and order forms of your book to parents, and post something about your book on their social media pages.

Talk to the school staff about your compensation expectations before finalising the visit. They normally have a budget for these events. If the school you have chosen has a limited budget, suggest that they may also reach out to parent-teacher associations and local businesses to chip in and help cover the costs.

How much should you charge? A typical virtual author-illustrator visit costs $100 for 50-60 minutes. For in-person visits, the range of fees fall between $250 to $1,000 per day. Jeanette Bradley and Michelle Cusolito did a survey in 2018 and found that the most common fee was $1,000 per day. In the U.K., the minimum fee recommended by the Society of Authors is GBP 350. Weigh various aspects including speaking fees plus accommodation and travel expenses to help you decide how much to charge.

Summary

With the right approach, school visits can be a rewarding experience as a children’s book author or illustrator. By embracing the opportunity to share your stories and your life as a writer, you get to promote your work and also plant seeds of creativity and passion in young minds. It’s a win-win for everyone involved—one that celebrates the joy of reading and the transformative power of storytelling.

A successful event relies on thoughtful preparation, starting with a detailed schedule that ensures every moment is meaningful. Be sure to tailor the event to the needs of the school, incorporate engaging activities, and align your presentation with the curriculum.

Make an effort to contact schools early, prepare adaptable presentations, and include plenty of opportunities for interaction. Whether it’s through in-person events or virtual sessions, the key is to leave a meaningful impression that encourages students to read, write, and dream bigger.

Bookmark this article and return to it to make your next author visit a success!

Share your thoughts about this article in the comments!

• What types of activities do you think students enjoy most during an author-illustrator visit?
• As a children’s book writer, what unique activity or topic would you include in your school visit?
• In your opinion, how can authors and illustrators make virtual visits as engaging as in-person visits?