Author visits can be so much fun and also really stressful. Pre-planning your visit is a great way to make sure you are all set up for a great day:⠀ ⠀ 1. Pre-visit: Don’t miss the opportunity to ask your host questions! I can’t stress enough that I have met some amazing people doing visits— and some have even become great friends : ) ⠀ Many authors feel like if they ask questions, they may come off like they don’t know anything. By all means do your research ahead of time so you are knowledgeable about the place that you are going to and the ages of the group you will be speaking to. But don’t miss out on using the knowledge of the people who are organizing the event to make your visit the BEST AUTHOR VISIT EVER. How do you do this? By getting feedback, sharing ideas and catering your presentation to truly offer value to the people who will be listening. Before your presentation, network and make friends with people! Can you get an email list of teachers/talk participants to send them an activity to do a head of your visit? Can you offer personalized signed books to participants ahead of time? If you are going to a school: are they learning anything specific in classes or as a school message that you could tie into with your talk? Talk to people! Ask Questions! ⠀ ⠀ #2: Get to know the ages of who you will be talking to! Especially with kiddos, a year or two can switch up the approach of a talk completely! ⠀ ⠀ #3. Check in and ask for feedback ahead of time: this will help your nerves go down tenfold! Share what you plan to do for your talk, ask if they have any suggestions or feedback to make it even more fun! By keeping yourself open, you will learn a lot!⠀ ⠀ #4: Timing: For most groups (kiddos and adults… 25-30 minutes of content and 10-15 minutes of Q and A works super well). Keep things moving and keep people engage: if you see that your participants are getting board, move a long! ⠀ ⠀ #5. Incorporate TONS of visuals into your presentation! ⠀ ⠀ #6: BONUS CHALLENGE: Depending on the group size— can you get participants moving with a kinesthetic activity? ⠀ ⠀ Be sure for follow @TheBookCreatorPodcast or follow me at @RachelDiNunzio and @ThePictureBookAcademy! Looking forward to hearing from you and I CAN’T WAIT to build your book. ⠀
