An Interview with Kim Norman of Author Visits by State

Another hectic week.  Hoping things will calm down soon and I can finish editing my SCBWI Conference notes for posting here.  But, by way of apology, here is something I know you'll find useful.  I recently discovered author-illustrator Kim Norman's blog, Author Visits By State, and was delighted by the practical, straightforward organization as well as the entertaining and useful content of such postings as her 12/6/09 answer to the question, "Why do authors charge fees for school presentations?" So, I just had to get in touch with Kim and learn more.

SWK: When did you start your AUTHORS VISITS BY STATE blog, and what inspired you to do so?

KIM NORMAN: I kept hearing from educators at the schools I visited who said they wished there were some sort of quick resource for perusing a list of authors. If it were based on the author's region, that would be helpful information, too. I looked around and didn't find anyone else doing it exactly that way, (authors who specifically visit schools, listed by region or state), so I decided to compile my own list. I started the list by seeding it with about 40 or 50 authors with whom I am acquainted, and emailed a few others asking their permission to add them. Then it just sort of took off on its own. It seemed to go viral in the writing community for the first few months; I could hardly keep up with all the requests! I'm now approaching 700 links on the site.

SWK: What is the most typical way that authors or illustrators find you?

KIM: I think there are a variety of ways they find me. For the first couple hundred links, I asked folks to link back to the Author Visits blog, which quickly built its Google rankings, since the more links that lead to a site, the higher it ranks. (That's just ONE way that Google ranks sites, of course.) I didn't demand a reciprocal link; but did ask for one if it was possible.

SWK: What is the most typical way that educators and librarians find your blog? And do you publicize your site for educators in any way?

KIM: Hard to say. Sometimes it's from a "tweet;" sometimes from a link they've found on a state reading association site; often from those links I asked listed authors to add to their own sites. 

SWK: Have you received any interesting feedback about the author visit experience from teachers or librarians via your blog?

KIM: Not directly to the blog. After my own school visits, I always send a feedback form along with a thank you note for both the coordinator of the visit and for the students, (which I assume is often shared with the students during morning announcements. Educators seem to appreciate a teaching opportunity about thank you notes.) My feedback form asks the recipient of I can use their comments on promotional items, such as my website and brochures, and most people are fine with that.

SWK: What do you think is the most important thing an author or illustrator can do to develop the school and library appearance aspect of his or her promotional platform? 

KIM: I still believe the strongest promotion is word-of-mouth. So I think it's important for authors to apply to do presentations at educator conferences. Sometimes it can take a couple of years for someone to hire you after they've seen you at a conference, but they do seem to hang onto those brochures for a long time; they also share them with their colleagues. Another idea is for authors to promote each OTHER. I have occasionally swapped brochures with other authors, offering them to visit coordinators after my visit as someone they might want to consider for the following year. My friends do the same for me. 

SWK: I think it is amazing that you provide this listing service free of charge to members of the children's book writing community. Can you share a few thoughts on how this project has impacted you as a writer and as a member of this community? 

KIM: It has been fun receiving emails from authors & illustrators whom I revere, asking me to add them to my site. Also, I've gotten a bit of a reputation (deserved or not!) for knowing a lot about the school visit "biz." For instance, my agent directed one of her colleagues--an agent who has written some books of her own--to email me for advice about pricing her own visits...Regardless of my reputation as an "expert," I continue to evolve as a presenter myself. I'm always striving to add educational value to my presentations. I hope this makes me more attractive as a presenter, since educators can show administrators that I offer information students can apply to their own writing and testing skills. At the same time, I strive to make sure that my presentations are as entertaining as they are educational. A presentation that's chockfull of information is of no value if students sleep through it!

Making School & Library Appearances a Strong Part of Your Promotional Platform, Part I

Thanks to all who have asked for information from my April 11 presentation at SCBWI Western Washington. As I began editing my notes into manageable form, I came to the conclusion that the easiest way to convey this information is by posting it here at the blog in a few parts. So, let's begin with two ways to consider school & library appearances:

1. From a book promotion perspective, school & library appearances should satisfy one primary goal: To drive readers to your current books, past and future books, and to you as an author.

2. However, many authors have another important goal for School & Library Appearances: Income. For some authors, school visit honoraria payments make a significant impact on their balance sheets.

This is an important difference to realize as you make decisions about many elements of your promotional platform, including School & Library appearances. While not mutually exclusive, it may be useful to decide whether you are doing appearances primarily to generate maximum income OR for optimal book promotion and to lay groundwork for future books.  Though the nuances can be different, for both of these objectives, most authors and illustrators with whom I discuss this question have 3 concerns:

1. VOLUME: Scheduling more appearances and/or getting the right type of appearances (more, better "gigs").

2. QUALITY: Making scheduled appearances worthwhile for school or library host, students, and themselves and moving books and/or generating interest in future appearances (e.g., an enjoyable, mutually beneficial experience that does not end when the author leaves the assembly hall).

3. BALANCE: Maintaining a balance between handling self-promotion efforts, maintaining publicity commitments for your publisher, and managing editorial deadlines & new writing projects (having a writing life--and a life!).

These concerns are inter-related. By optimizing quality, for example, you can increase volume. By setting some parameters to create balance in your promotion-writing-living life, you are able to narrow marketing targets and more efficiently increase volume. And, an established, quality appearance program tends to organically generate interest and additional requests, diminishing the need to work on the issue of volume and helping the writer maintain balance.

Friday's post will cover concern #1: VOLUME.

Meanwhile, just finished reading the arc of Holly Black's WHITE CAT, due out next month. This is an amazing story about a teenage boy, Cassel Sharpe, his clan of conning "curse workers," and the complex relationships between memory, truth and dreams. Working his way through the twisting magical-mystery plot and settings ranging from an elite prep school to a pack-rat's chaotic house to Atlantic City, Cassel is a fascinating unreliable narrator--a liar who loves to lie yet at the same time may not realize the truth of his own identity. Keep your eye out for this one in bookstores May 4th!

On hectic weeks, Batman, and attending conferences as a writer

Since returning from the SCBWI Western WA conference this past Sunday, things have been pretty hectic. Good hectic, mind you, but still rather overwhelming. It seems like everything is on the front burner right now--freelance work, author appearance gigs, interest in my own writing and, oh yes, things at home. Here are a few personal tips: When you have a big family, you must make summer airline and hotel reservations early! Your fifteen-year-old will not be happy if you fail to sign him up for driver's ed. Two track-and-fielders plus one lacrosse player equals about 3 hours/day of carpool driving. And, oh, never neglect...

...Batman!

That, said, in lieu of completing my conference wrap-up (instead I'll direct you to some writer-bloggers who've done a great job of this: Holly Cupala, Dawn Simon, Jolie Stekly and Molly Hall), I am going to give you a professional tip about conference-going. It's going to seem a little counter-intuitive but, having left many a conference quite dejected and now much more often returning home with a sense of excitement and opportunity, I really think I'm right about this one.

Here's the tip: Don't go with a big plan...some kind of self-imposed deadline...A PUBLISHING GOAL. Instead, before you get to the registration desk, take a serious look at your work. Do you have something ready to submit? Or is this not the book, not the time? Let that be okay! If you do have what you feel is a hot manuscript, understand that your dream editor may not be sitting at the faculty table and, even if he/she is, you may not have the opportunity to connect (or you may just be shy). Also fine! In sum, don't attend conferences with some kind of label hanging over you like "aspiring published writer," instead...

Attend as a writer...a person who loves words and books and sitting like a mole in a dark room tapping on computer keys (okay, yes, my family sometimes does refer to me as "the mole"). Skip over a couple of those mortifying "First Pages" sessions. Don't attend every agent and editor's "What I Want to Read" presentation. Hit a few, but make sure to leave some time for listening to writers talk about their craft. Even if you can't draw a stick figure, spend a session with an illustrator and learn about that creative process. Ask questions. Buy some books by your idols and stand in line to have them signed. Look around the room at the wonderful people who populate your writing community and be grateful for their company on this difficult journey. Let the conference wash over you like rain, making you feel refreshed and renewed (and letting all the dirt of discouragement just dribble away).

This attitude has yielded me more joy, more friendships and, frankly, more success than the eager-beaver approach ever did. I think I began attending conferences in this way about the same time that I stopped caring if my book would ever be published (save that for after you write those glorious words "the end") and started writing my stories just the way I wanted to--so passionately that, as I type, my breath comes faster and my bones kind of ache. I like to think the novels are better, too.

Bad Blogger!

I missed posting yesterday so I admit, I was a bad blogger BUT I was a pretty good writer and marketer.  After an amazing weekend at the always fantastic SCBWI Western Washington Annual Conference, I got home excited and inspired in a million ways--to work on my new manuscript, to submit to agents, and to share with the many authors with whom I work some new ideas about promoting their books.  So, unfortunately, the blog wound up in last on the "To Do" list.

So, a day late, here are some thoughts on the conference.  The first observation I must make is that EVERY KEYNOTE was amazing.  This is quite an achievement and a tribute to the conference planners.  From Laini Taylor's delightful examination of her writing life to Jay Asher's heartwarming, encouraging story of his twelve-year journey to publication, and from Mitali Perkins' impassioned advocacy for having a mission statement to keep your writing life on track to Peter Brown's hilarious yet thoughtful approach to his writing and illustrating career, I felt happy and grateful to have been there to hear each one one of these addresses.

Really enjoyed hearing the passionate, professional Barbara Fisch and Sarah Shealy of Blue Slip Media.  In separate presentations, agents Edward Necarsulmer IV and Paul Rodeen shared their love for literature and their busines savvy.  Wonderful authors, including Lisa Graff, Deborah Hopkinson and Sundee Frazier provided great observations about the craft of writing.  Frankly, the toughest thing about the conference was that I couldn't attend all of the sessions--I missed Sara Crowe, Suzanne Selfors, Jordan Brown...  Too many opportunities, too little time!

On that note, I've received several emails from folks who attended (or missed) my presentation on School & Library Appearances.  As previously mentioned, I'm happy to share my notes.  Just fixing up the grammar a bit and will have them available next week.

Again, a wonderful weekend and a testament to the value of the SCBWI for writers and illustrators at all stages.