[CALIBK12] Authors and Illustrators Who Visit Schools

[ladewig]

I had saved a brochure received by mail about this group. Perhaps some of
you are familiar with them (I am not). Since this has been a recurring topic
I thought I'd share it. Most of the authors are from out-of-state.

 

Authors and Illustrators Who Visit Schools:

http://www.authorsillustrators.com/

 

If you have worked with this source before, please let us know if you were
pleased with their referral and the author or illustrator visit. According
to the brochure, ". . . the source for qualified, bona fide professional
authors and illustrators who present school programs." "Every author or
illustrator described within is a successful professional with books in
print."

 

Does anyone have a list of recommendations as to what to look for in an
author/illustrator who visits schools? How does one define "a successful
professional" or doesn't that matter? Obviously the students need to come
away from the program excited about reading and writing or illustrating, but
beyond that and the necessity of being "entertaining" what other criteria
are important? Here are some I would consider - please add your own:

 

Number of titles in print? (Each title in print underscores that the person
is continuing to pursue their "craft," possibly with new ideas or
characters, and is continually writing. Or does the author earn the bulk of
their income hawking their books at school assemblies?)

 

Currency of work? (Is the author still hawking their one and only or perhaps
two titles - the same ones they've been hawking for years? If they come back
in five years, will it still be the same two books?)

 

Quality of the story and/or art work? (any professional reviews to their
credit?)

 

Do the author's books or artwork sell in other venues (bookstores, etc.), or
only at assemblies and/or via displays at places where they have paid to
rent a booth/space? 

 

If the author originally paid to have the book(s) published
("self-published") did any of the titles eventually get picked up by a
regular publishing house (where the author gets paid for their manuscript,
rather than having to pay to have it published?) If the author has a number
of self-published titles (or only self-published) are there good reasons? 

 

While it's certainly true that there are good reasons why an author might
choose to have their books self-published, it can also be a "red flag" that
the book is not of the quality that a publishing house would risk publishing
it. Of course lots of fine authors initially had their books rejected, but
they eventually got (at least some of) them published. (Jane Austen's
brother had to pay to get her first books published, but 200 years later,
they are still in print, still sell well, and are still well-read and
loved!) It may be that they had to go back and rewrite (Jane wrote and
rewrote!). Or maybe they needed the assistance of a good editor to help
guide them. If the book is self-published, does the author mention anyone
who assisted in editing or feedback? 

 

Take a look at the books. Read them. Are there glaring grammatical (or
factual) errors? Are there awkward sentence constructions? Is there a
storyline/plot, or does the book just wander? Read some of it aloud
(especially if it is in rhyme - Is it pleasing to the ear or is it
sing-song? Are the rhymes clever or forced?) On the positive side: Do the
characters come to life? Do you become at all involved with them
emotionally? Do the illustrations support the text? Or overwhelm it? (I just
received a self-published book with a tropical setting, and a good chunk of
the text was printed in the green tree leaves, making it difficult to
read!). 

 

Years ago I worked at a school (not my current district) where an "author"
came and pitched his books. They were very colorful and the characters were
cute wizards and dragons, etc. One of the teachers just raved about the
books and the kids loved the assembly. It was a fairly wealthy area and the
kids bought lots of books at $10 a pop (this was in the late 80s). I'm
pretty sure the author gave the assembly for free, but there was a big push
to preorder the books. I think all the money had to be in that day - no
after sales and no returns. The PTA bought a copy of each of the three books
for the library. At the time all the book cataloging and processing was done
for us at the district library, so I sent the books down with a batch of
books I'd gotten from the regular book fair. When the books came back, the
district librarian had left a note in one of the three books asking where it
had come from and noting that the writing was just awful! I hadn't been in
the assembly, and hadn't read the books. I started reading one out loud and
I could see what she meant -  the entire text was a maddening sing-song
rhyme. Well, the books were still very popular and frequently circulated
(although the binding was so cheap they began to fall apart almost
immediately), but in retrospect, probably much more for the art than the
story. I've never forgotten that incident. I'm not saying that the assembly
wasn't worth while or that the kids got cheated; no, they enjoyed the books
and the author's presentation. I'm just a bit dubious about the VALUE of the
time spent away from the classroom and the VALUE of the "literature" they
purchased.

 

Joanne Ladewig  (A.K.A. "Library Lady")

Library Media Tech

Lawrence Elementary, GGUSD

Garden Grove, California

shatz at verizon.net

 

Comments are my own and may not represent the views of GGUSD

 

 

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