Get Ready! Get Set! Go! — How to Plan a School Visit

students

Get Ready!

When you schedule presentations:

  • Discuss with April how long the presentation should be.
  • Allow for small breaks between sessions.
  • Take into account how long it might take for students to arrive and get settled.
  • Avoid large chunks of "down time." Most authors would rather keep up the momentum, instead of having an hour or more between sessions or an especially long lunch break.

Where should you have the presentation?

  • Libraries are ideal - they have that "book atmosphere" and usually have nice acoustics and lighting.
  • Cafeterias can be more problematic - lousy sound, uncomfortable floors for students to sit on, pots and pans clanging, poor lighting for projector presentations, and scheduling issues. But if that's all you've go, we can work with it.
  • Auditoriums can work, but sometimes it's difficult to make a connection with hundreds of kids.
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Have the students prepare signs, banners, or other displays. This adds an air of excitement to the school and makes the author feel welcome.

Get Set!

  • Understand what equipment the author needs. (April needs an Infocus machine or similar and a screen. She will bring her computer and an adapter to connect it to the Infocus.) Make sure all the necessary equipment is set up and ready to go when the author arrives.
  • Have a couple of bottles of water on hand.

Go!

  • Make sure teachers stay with the students throughout the entire presentation to avoid the author having to deal with discipline issues.
  • If you are going to sell books, allow enough time to order books in advance. Some publishers need four to six weeks lead time. Send home flyers at least a week before the visit. On the day of the author visit, have someone to help handle the sales. And order some extra books for kids who are too shy or aren't organized and will want to buy signed books when the author is gone Most publishers allow unsold books to be returned (even with a signature), so you won't be out the money if you order too many.
  • Have the author's check ready on the day of the visit.

Download a pdf of April Henry's School Visit Checklist




Contact April

To arrange a visit, please e-mail me at april@aprilhenrymysteries.com.