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Author Visit FAQ

What is your author visit program?

Ninja, Ninja, Never Stop…Reading! Program (pre-K-2nd)

In this program, we kick things off with a fun and interactive reading followed by an author talk. Kids are engage with their own stories and knowledge of the writer's process through a haiku challenge. Each kid writes and shares his or her very own poem, designs a personal ninja mask and gets a secret ninja name.  We end with a get-up-and-move Ninja-themed brain break.  Kids become ninjas before your eyes, sneaking and hopping, tiptoeing and chopping.

 

What grade level is it aimed at?

I can customize this classroom program to fit preschool through second grade classrooms.  If you’d like, I can provide my lessons plans with their corresponding Common Core State Standards.  If you have a classroom of older students,

Download my School Visit Basics information as a PDF.

For a program aimed at older students, I have customized a Writer’s Workshop to fit appropriate classoom writing units.

 

How do I book you for a visit?

Just go to my CONTACT page and send me a note. We can start a discussion about the type and scheduling of your event.

 

What does a sample schedule for a 90 minute program look like?
 

10 minutes      Interactive Book Reading & Discussion "Why do we read?"

20 minutes      Author Talk - "Does your Writers' Workshop look like mine?"

10 minutes      Brain Break - "What Does the Ninja Do?"

30 minutes      Haiku Writing Workshop - from idea to publication in an I-do, we-do, you-do format

10 minutes      Q&A/Share out

10 minutes      Book signing & Good-byes

 

How does an author visit impact the education of students in a classroom?

Studies have been and continue to be done on the benefits of having authors visit classrooms. Speaking on the impact study done by the Society of Authors, Helena Pielichaty, author and Chair of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group says, ‘The results of the survey show that giving children the opportunity to meet an author has a huge impact on their reading habits, in many cases inspiring even the most reluctant reader to pick up a book." You can find more about their study at www.SocietyOfAuthors.org.

 

Do you do Skype Visits?

Yes. Please contact me to discuss how we can make a Virtual Author Visit work for you. I will provide a packet of activities to schedule before, during and after the Skype visit.

What is the cost to have you visit my classroom?

Please take a look at Program & Fees. Additionally, I'm happy to customize a program to fit your financial and classroom needs.

PAST VISITS

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Cheyenne Mountain School District 12

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DOWNLOADS

Author Visit Information

 

Author Bio

 

Author Visit In a Nutshell


Programs & Fees

 

Book Order Form Template

 

[----coming soon----]

 

School Visit Checklist

 

Sample Schedule

 

Press Kit

Book Order Instructions

 

Classroom Extensions

 

Lesson Plans

 

Classroom Activities

 

Why do authors charge for classroom visits?

Plain and simple, we are professionals and this is our profession. Other than celebrity authors and the biggest names in books, few authors can make a living from the advances and royalties of writing alone.  We are professionals, and our time, energy and effort is part of an author’s career and helps provide a portion of a writer’s income.

 

Do you have some suggestions on how to help with the costs of an author visit?

There are many creative ways to raise money to bring me and other authors into your classroom. – bake sale,

1.  Apply for grants from local and national organizations. AMBER BROWN - SCBWI

2.  Request funding from your PTO/PTA.

3.  Partner with the author.

 

How can I partner with you, the author, to reduce the cost of your author visit?

There are several ways to make my author visit more affordable.

 

1. Sell copies of Ninja, Ninja, Never Stop! to your students.  This can help with the cost of the author in two ways.

 

First, when ordering directly from the publisher, you receive a significant discount, often 50% off. Additionally, you pay no shipping.  You can then set your own rate when you sell books to the students somewhere between your costs and the suggested retail price. *Note: payments to the publisher for these purchases do not go to the author.

 

For example, if you pre-purchase 20 books at the discount price of $7.50, and then sell them for $10, you’ve generated $50 of revenue to use toward the speaker fee, while providing the books to children at a rate below what they will find at online retailers.

 

For every 5 books purchased in advance, I will reduce my speaker fee by $25. For 20 books, that’s another $100 knocked off the speaker fee.

  

2. Join with other classrooms.  When a school schedules programs for multiple classrooms, the speaker fee goes down. Additionally, the opportunity for preselling books rises.  See the fee schedule.

 

3. Sign up for my Sister School Program.  This program helps give classrooms who could not otherwise afford an author visit to have the same opportunities as classrooms who can.

 

4. Referrals

 

How do I sell your books?

It’s easy. Follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Send order forms that I customize for you home with students 3-4 weeks in advance of the program.

Step 2: Hang a provided poster in your classroom to generate excitement for the event.

Step 3: Collect orders and money from students two weeks before the event.

Step 4: Order your books from Abrams Books. Forward receipt to me. I’ll generate your discounted speaking invoice.

Step 5: The books arrive at your school for me to sign during the event.

 

What is your Sister School Program?

This program pairs a more affluent school with a Title 1 school to help with the costs of an author visit.  This program encourages kids to be part of bringing educational equity to other kids. When students raise money towards books or speaker fees, I match those contributions with a reduction in my speaker fee. Classrooms have access to an online space to share video of their ninja event, the students’ haiku, and create a bit of a pen-pal relationship.  More details are coming, but if you are interested, please contact me to discuss.

School Visits


Ideal for Pre-K through 2nd grade. In the classroom I engage kids with their own stories and knowledge of the writer's process. We incorporate our writing and revising skills with a haiku challenge. Each kid writes and shares his or her very own poem.

 

We make it fun and interactive with a get-up-and-move Ninja-version of Simon Says but with reading and music elements. 

 

Kids become ninjas before your eyes, sneaking and hopping, tiptoeing and chopping. They each design their own ninja mask and get a secret ninja name. 

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