Tales from the Rushmore Kid

Tina Nichols Coury - School Visit Promo

I have discovered that I love doing school visits. The kids and teachers really excite and inspire me. Recently I used my book trailer skills and created a school visit promo to advertise my visiting author services to schools:

The Poetry Goes On - Barbara Jean Hicks

It isn't Friday, when I normally post, but it is the last day of April, 2014--National Poetry Month. I don't want to miss out on one last chance to celebrate poetry before getting back on track with my series on book promotion in May.

Last Thursday marked National Poem In Your Pocket Day. I celebrated by hosting a poem sharing event at my local Barnes & Noble. It was a small gathering, a half dozen of us--fewer than I'd hoped for. But I realized as I left the store after the event that the few people who came were part of my "tribe."

AN AMAZING SNOWMAN - Barbara Jean Hicks

I'm taking another break today from tips on book promotion--to promote my newest book!  My second FROZEN related picture book, AN AMAZING SNOWMAN, was released last week while I was on a book and school visit tour to Southern California. Here's a video a friend filmed at a book signing/FROZEN party at the Redlands Barnes & Noble. And though I'm using this post as a new book announcement, there's a tip embedded here--not one on my original list: Have someone videotape you in action!

AN AMAZING SNOWMAN: READING

Book Promotion: Seize the Moment - Barbara Jean Hicks

Book Promotion Tip #5: Seize the moment! Follow up immediately when booksellers and school/PTA contacts in your address book respond to your new book announcement. Are they interested in book signings or school visits? Better yet, when would they like you to come for book signings and school visits?

For my current book, A SISTER MORE LIKE ME (Disney Press 2013), I was able to coordinate enough school visits, library visits and bookstore signings for two trips to Southern California from my home in Washington State, and negotiated enough in speaker's fees to cover travel expenses plus some of the costs for promotional materials I'd already paid for.

Mountain Plains Library Conference

I was very fortunate to not only attend as a vendor but to present at the Mountain Plains Library Conference in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I had an opportunity to sign my books, do a presentation and basically feel like a star. I love librarians, and the chance to mingle and perform for 462 of them was a thrill. Hats off to South Dakota Library Association President Jan Brue Enright for putting on such a fabulous conference.

I met old friends Suzanne Morgan Williams and Terri Farely there, vendors promoting school visits for the mountain plains authors of the SCBWI. I also made many new friends. I hope to be back in the region to do school and library visits next year.

Ventura Reading Association - U.C. Channel Islands

For me, one of the best parts of being a published author is the opportunity to perform.  Being a natural born ham, I love it!  This is a picture of me at the Ventura Reading Association Children's Author Festival in April, where I was the spot light author. I dressed the kids like the Rushmore Presidents and had them hold the dolls of that particular president as I asked trivia presidential questions.  I had a blast, and I look forward to many more performances in schools in the years to come.

SCBWI Winter Conference - Interview with David Diaz

The SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City is always a blast. It gives me the opportunity to listen to and network with authors, illustrators and friends. This year at the Saturday night cocktail party, I pinned down my good bud, the fabulous Caldecott winner David Diaz, and interviewed him for the blog.

School Visits: An Author's Perk! (Barbara Jean Hicks)

from the files of
Educator & Children's Book Author
Barbara Jean Hicks

One of the great joys of writing for children is being with children!

I love visiting schools to talk to kids about writing and art, and it was a very special treat for me one day last Spring to go back to Central Elementary School in Ferndale, Washington--the school I attended as a child--as a featured workshop leader for their Young Artist's Fair. I spent all day working with several second grade classrooms, reading from MONSTERS DON'T EAT BROCCOLI and teaching an art lesson on color and pattern.

The great experience doesn't end with the visit. Often, teachers have their students write thank you notes that arrive a week or so later and make me understand anew why I do what a do. It's all about the kids!

The Case for Complexity - Barbara Jean Hicks

from the teaching files of educator
and children's author Barbara Jean Hicks

I've written before in this column encouraging authors doing school visits to pay special attention to their state's educational standards as they prepare their programs. An author's ability to tie her presentations to state standards makes her more valuable (and more saleable as a speaker) than an author whose primary focus is entertainment.

Not that we don't want to entertain! Every teacher knows that fun learning is the best learning, so a didactic presentation won't have the same impact as an entertaining one. The trick is to know what students at your target age level are expected to know and help teachers by supporting those concepts in your program in a fun and interesting way.

Understanding standards, as well as general trends in education, is also helpful for authors deciding what to do for their next project. What should you be writing to find a market for your work? How can your personal interests be presented in a way that meets educator's demands? How can your next project help teachers meet their classroom goals and help students learn what they need to know?

Here's some inside information about recent shifts in education policy in the U.S. that may help authors interested in meeting the needs of students and teachers with their next project: