WORDS OVERHEARD ON BOOK WEEKS by Penny Dolan

This week is Book Week so there must be plenty of authors travelling to schools near and far, ready to share their love of books and writing with all sorts of children in all sorts of schools. 

After days working alone at home, I loved doing school visits. I welcomed being inside buildings bright with childrens art works and filled with friendly, cheerful voices. I enjoyed the buzz of the children's energy, their pleasure in the sessions and all their suggestions. I admired the dedication of so many inspirational teachers and teaching assistants and Head Teachers who clearly led with both heart and mind, despite the constant pressures of Ofsted and budget management. I appreciated the fact that the school - or a particular teacher or librarian - had chosen me as their "Book Week Visitor", knowing that my visit would have involved them in extra work. 

So much about school visits was great and my thanks go out to them all. So many happy memories!

                                     

However, in truth, some moments weren't quite as rosy or pleasant and I must say that I needed to tighten my imaginary "Author" iron corset whenever I heard any of the following:

1.  "Yes, the school gates are locked now. The caretaker goes off for his breakfast between 8.30 and 9.30 and takes the key with him. You won't be able to get into that car park. You'll have to park up the road. Did you bring much stuff with you?"

2."Agh! Give me strength! It's only Wednesday and I've already had enough of this . . . .  Book Week."

 3. "As you can see, it's Dressing Up Day today and we always make a big thing of it in our school. The children get so excited and they love seeing all their teachers in fancy dress too. Just wait till you see  Miss Y dressed as Cruella de Vil. And as for Mr  Z? He's just hilarious. We were in stitches in the staff room. And will you help with the judging? What did you say your name was?"

 4. "Just to say that the school photographer is here today too so children will be going in and out of your sessions quite a lot. "

5. "Books? We've had the Mega-Stock Book Fair in all week and the children can go during breaks and bring the parents in after school. We could put a small table up  in the corridor and you could sell your books there? Though I'm not sure what we'll do about the money."

6. "Him? He was great, wasn't he, last year? I loved how he played his his guitar and made up songs and told jokes and made all the children and teachers laugh. Sigh. We couldn't afford him this year."

7. "Now, children, this lady . . . erm? Ah, Penny Dolan. She's an author and she's come here to teach you all about how to use wow words and make your writing better, so button those lips. Its time to listen very very carefully."

8.  "We've been so busy finishing . . . insert famous book title . . . that we haven't had time to read your book. We did show them the cover, didn't we? Well, I know some of us did."

9. "Sorry you've had to wait. I did ask Mr H to come and set up the IT, but he's busy with something down the other end of the school. I'm sure he'll be here soon. Anyway, here come all the children."

10. "Are you sure you're meant to be here today? I'll go and check . . ."

None of the above are really so very terrible. The words were spoken in the busy moment, often to explain one situation among many going on in the school that day. The speakers were usually trying to be helpful. Yet, on a tiring day, after a bad night's sleep and a long journey through traffic, not totally encouraging. Never mind. Tighten the iron corset. Onwards. Smile. It's showtime!

Of course, these moments were in the past, before the pandemic and zoom visits and so on. Things have probably changed for Visiting Authors now and, besides, there are useful, helpful agencies like Authors Aloud who make you feel someone is in your corner. 

Happy Book Week and Happy St  David's Day too!

                                    

  Penny Dolan

'Book Week Coming Up' - Saviour Pirotta

It's that time of the year when teachers and and literacy co-oridinators up and down the country begin to organise their book weeks, a lot of which take place in October and early November.  For many writers, school visits provide an income stream which, along with PLR and ALCS, is becoming increasingly important in this age of heavy discounting and shrinking royalties.  I've been visiting schools for nearly thirty years now, so I thought I'd pass on some tips on how to get the most out of the experience.

We all know why the school has booked us.  They want to promote literacy and the love of books. They want the kids to get excited about reading and writing by meeting a real-life author.  But what do WE want from school visits? I find it pays to sit myself down once in a while and work out a school visit strategy for the next few months.  In fact I do this at the beginning of every term; it helps me decide which schools I accept to visit.

Do I just need the cash to keep me going till the next round of royalty payments, in which case I tend to say yes to the first schools that phone. That way I can get my p.a. diary filled and my work schedule planned as quickly as possible.  Is there a new book or series I want to promote or sell?  If the latter is the correct answer, I allocate some time to rehearsing my performance. I set about getting postcards printed, my website updated to reflect the promotion and harassing my publishers for extra free copies of the book in question. It's amazing how quickly a book starts to look tatty once it's been passed round a couple of staffrooms.

I find giving out postcards a brilliant way of promoting my website, and by extension my books.  I try to have an exciting image on the front and my website address on the back, in an easy-to-read font.  Children do not dip in out of the net like us grown up fogeys do; they inhabit it.  The first thing they do when they hear your name is 'google' you, so if you don't have a snazzy website for them to explore you're on a one-way hike to loserville as far as they're concerned.  Don't bother putting on any more info than your website address on the card.  Stick all that on the site itself, where children can check it out at their leisure.  If the site is attractive enough, visitors will keep coming back, giving you the perfect opportunity to engage with them and promote your books.  Which is a heck of a lot to get out of a little postcard!  I give mine out at the end of the day, usually sticking to one or two per class.  Resist the temptation to put details of your fb and twitter pages on the card unless you write books for KS3.  Children under 13 are not supposed to have any of these social media accounts.

Don't make the mistake of putting free stories on your site.  I did this for a while and it was alarming how many schools went from 'we bought some of your books' to 'we downloaded your stories from the net.'  Nowadays I tell the kids that if they log on to my site when they get home, they would find a free story.  But it only stays up for a day, and only appears after a visit, not before.

Some authors only visit schools if they're allowed to sell their books at the end of the day.  I don't do this, mainly because I don't drive and can only lug a few copies of my books around.  Recently, though, I signed up with Authors Aloud who organise the sale of my books with local bookshops. I do insist, however, that the children are familiar with my work before the visit.  More often than not they already have some of my books in the school library, although they are not always aware of it.  I just tell them to go have a good look round. Or I might suggest they borrow them from the local library. If you visit a lot of schools in the same area the local schools library service might even agree to buy a certain amount of your books which they send out in special 'author' boxes.

It sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but I consider author visits a vital part of our metiere and well worth the time invested in them.  And they're jolly good fun too!! It's like going back to school without the danger of being told off!    

Visit my site at www.spirotta.com
I do school visits through Authors Aloud. Visit their website here.