Lynn Kelley, Author

“Tween the Weekends is a monthly feature hosted on Emblazon. This is an opportunity for writers and readers to promote tween literature, that age bracket squashed between middle grade and young adult. You can review a great tween book, post about writing for kids, connect with others who love the genre, support and encourage one another, relate news, share links, or just about anything else tween related.” I hope you’ll join us. 

Now that the school year has begun, it’s a good time to discuss topics for school visits.

Every speaker has a mouth; 
An arrangement rather neat.  
Sometimes it’s filled with wisdom.
  Sometimes it’s filled with feet.

—   Robert Orben

If you’ve never done an author visit at a school, library, or bookstore, it can seem a bit scary.

Ma Cob gets scared when speaking in public.

Being prepared helps boost your confidence.

Remember the old cartoon Felix the Cat? Whenever he got in a fix, he’d reach right into his bag of tricks!

A bag of tricks is good for authors to have on hand for public speaking, no matter what age you’re addressing. Basically, props are part of your bag of tricks, whether large or small. You can use them as an ice breaker or throughout your presentation.

For ideas on props, here’s my post with suggestions.

When you schedule a visit, be sure to ask how much time you’ll have and what ages you’re dealing with. If you’re going to talk about writing in addition to reading excerpts of your book and sharing a little about your personal journey, ask if there’s a certain topic they want you to cover, such as plot, figurative language, the importance of reading, etc. That will help you prepare ahead of time. Usually I’m free to discuss whatever I want, though.

So, what should you talk about?

• Introduce yourself. Explain what genres you write and what ages you write for. If you use the word “genre,” ask the kids if they know what it means. 

• Share a little about your writing journey.

• If you did a lot of research, explain how you researched your book.

• Engage your audience by asking questions. Before I read my short story “Cyclops Clyde,” I ask if anyone has had their computer do weird things. There’s always a show of hands. Then I explain how my computer does so many strange things, I think it’s haunted, so one day I wrote about a monster that lives in it. After I read the story (with tons of drama and animation), I tell them they can write their own computer monster story.

• 

  Cyclops Clyde, the one-eyed monster that haunts my computer!

If you have enough time, you can have fun engaging your audience with questions such as, “What are you afraid of?” or ask them about anything that ties in with your theme or book.

Be sure you have lots of extras in your bag of tricks to use as backup material in case you’re there longer than planned.  

Basically, I explain no matter what their career choice is, reading and writing well will help them accomplish their goals.

Kids have a misconception that authors are rich. Be prepared for the question, “How much money do you make?” Unfortunately, I have to break the news to them that it’s difficult to make a living as a writer but that the market is better for nonfiction than fiction. (I always ask if they know the difference.) It’s important for people to know that authors write because they love to write, not because they plan to get rich. 

If you’re interested in tips on reading aloud at school visits, check out my post here.

More great tips on doing an author visit can be found on Heather Kelly’s post about children’s writer Jackie Davies and the wonderful presentation she does using props, reading short, entertaining excerpts, and interacting with kids.

Do you enjoy speaking in public? Or are you like me and likely to have a panic attack? Do you think it would be easier to speak to an audience of kids or adults? If you have any tips to add, please do!

Be sure to read the other Tween the Weekends posts about tweens at Emblazon and sign up to join us next month if you’re interested.