'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. 

CHOICES, CHOICES by Penny Dolan - with additional information from Philip Caveney.

  

So, the first of September arrives. A time of positive planning for the months ahead but, oh, so many hard decisions!  Should one opt for last minute places at the autumn conferences, like the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) at York? 

Or keep a writerly nose strictly fixed on the screen and WIP - and just finish the damn story thing? 

After all, the Frankfurt Book Fair is looming and editors may be on the lookout, assuming you also fixed that matter of becoming an overnight celebrity. 

  Or should one rush for tickets to October’s book events, like the 40th Ilkley Literature Festival and more? 

If so, will you be hoping for deep literary understanding and inspiration? Or will you be watching for ways to improve one’s own possibly jaded performances? Such ice in the author’s heart! 

Or should one hold back on committing to October events in case the few schools still able and willing to fund author visits decide to contact you? Should you choose to eat or pay your bills, perhaps?

Then there’s that long-neglected website, needing the botox of attention. Or perhaps it is the moment to re-activate the half-forgotten blog? The one you began in the hope of rousing the nation – nay, the world! - into buying your books? Choices, choices, choices!

September is a month for wistfulness too. How swiftly the summer days - having arrived – seem to be over.

And with that, yet another chance for visiting the Edinburgh Festival in all its many forms. 

Was I, as Facebook suggested, the only person not attending?

 So there's a quick extra item today . Here, for those of you whose summer was mostly at a desk, not on some remote Scottish island or idling near Padstow - are one of our newest blogger’s responses to the Edinburgh Fringe 2013.

Philip Caveney on the Highs and Lows of the Fringe.

This was my third visit in a row to The Fringe and it’s always one of the year’s highlights. In 2011, I was there in my capacity as a writer, but this year, I went along as a punter along with my partner, Susan and my daughter, Grace. Thanks to the kindness of my friends, Sally and Gus, we were able to stay in a rather swish apartment on the Quarter Mile, a stone’s throw from some of the hottest events of the festival. If you’ve never visited the Festival, you really must make the effort to go. There’s a real buzz there, and those of you who enjoy celeb-spotting will have a field day. On this trip alone, we saw (and in some cases spoke to) Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, Rebecca Hall (actually staying in our apartment complex!) Nina Conte, Sandi Toksvig, Simon Amstell, Mark Little, Sean Hughes… and many more.

Our first visit this year was to see Stewart Lee at the Assembly Rooms, George Street, with his new show, Carpet Remnant World. We all love Lee’s work and we’d failed to get tickets for him the year before, so this was a must-see. (We were quite surprised to meet him actually handing out fliers as we went in!) I’m happy to report that he was as cerebral, analytical and vitriolic as ever, so we awarded him 5 stars.

(And no, this photo isn't Stewart Lee with Philip Caveney! One's a Plague Doctor. Ed.)

Next up was the National Theatre of Scotland’s musical, An Appointment With The Wicker Man(again at The Assembly, George Street). We’re all fans of the original film and though knowledge of it isn’t essential, it certainly helps! The show was, quite simply, hilarious, full of sly in-jokes and totally inappropriate dance routines. Another 5 star show!

As a Ray Bradbury fan of long standing, I was intrigued to pick up a flier for The Lonely One (Underbelly, Cowgate) an adaptation of a chapter from his novel Dandelion Wine. The company did a lovely job of interpreting the tale through spoken word and shadows and light, managing to perfectly capture the spirit of 1920’s Americana. On the downside, the cheek-by-jowl venue meant that we could hear another actor bellowing his lines in the adjoining theatre through some of The Lonely One’s quieter sections. 4 stars, nevertheless.

Another performer at the Assembly Rooms was Scottish poet Liz Lochead, who also turned out to be an engaging and charming performer. 4 stars.

As Heaton Moor residents, we had to see Punk Rock, by local author Simon Stephens at Space 1, and I’m glad we did, because this hard-hitting play set in a Stockport school was brilliantly performed by the young cast and fully deserved a wider audience. 4 stars.

The following morning saw us enjoying Shakespeare For Breakfast at Venue C34. Well, that’s to say, we enjoyed the Shakespeare, a lively reinterpretation of Romeo & Juliet incorporating a host of contemporary references. The breakfast was rather  underwhelming, comprising as it did, one solitary stale, cold croissant (the coffee machine was on the blink) 4 stars, though I did consider deduction one star for the croissant!

Of course, the run of 4 and 5 star shows couldn’t last, but Amy Lamé’s, Unhappy Birthday was so awful, it barely warranted a single star. Lured along by the fact that the show was about Morrissey (or more accurately his absence from Amy’s birthday party) we had high hopes that were soon flattened . . .

It wouldn’t be the Edinburgh fringe without Richard Herring (we’ve seen his show on our previous two visits) so off we went to the Udderbelly, Bristo Square to see his latest effort, Talking C**k. (Their asterisks, not mine!) While it might not have reached the heights of Christ On A Bike, it was nonetheless funny and thought-provoking and I was amazed to spot Richard in the local Starbucks, only a couple of hours before the show. I hammered on the window and bellowed my praise in his general direction, which was probably quite disconcerting for him. 4 stars.

What a busy few days! Thank you for this account and critique, Philip.

 Hmmm. Clearly, I will need the next eleven months to build up my personal stamina if I have any hopes of seeing all there will be to be seen at Edinburgh 2014. Especially the Children's Book Festival!

 

Oh. Bother. Isn't that another thing I need to make choices about? It never gets easier, does it?

So, do you have any Autumn author goals or promises?

www.pennydolan.com 

A Boy Called M.O.U.S.E. Bloomsbury.