School Presentations
I have been doing popular and successful presentations at schools for over 15 years. The students will have a chance to follow me as I introduce them to some quick tips and shortcuts on jump starting their artistic and creative imaginations and getting their ideas down on paper. Some of the topics covered include:
❏ Where I get my ideas for illustrations and drawings.
❏ Drawing basics that will teach your students how to think like an artist.
❏ Storytelling with pictures; how pictures and art tell a story. How an artist works to achieve this through “on-the-spot” demonstrations.
❏ How a picture book is illustrated and how it gets to the bookstore or library.
Each session will wrap up with a question and answer period. You might want to prompt your students several days before my appearance about the questions they would like to ask me about illustrating books and being an artist.
Workshops and Other Presentations
Upon request presentations can be customized to your needs. I also do adult and teen seminars and workshops for writers and artists on character development, storytelling and scriptwriting with an emphasis on graphic novels and animation scenarios.
About the Presentations
My presentations are designed for all grades from 1st grade on up. Each presentation lasts about 40 minutes with a 10 minute question and answer session at the end. Up to 4 presentations can be scheduled in a day with a maximum of 30-40 students in each session; two morning sessions and two afternoon sessions. No large assemblies please. Libraries are usually the ideal environment for my presentations. Equipment needed if available includes overhead projector, computer with access to projector, pencil and paper for the students. I prefer librarians and teachers to be present.
Fees - My fee for one day (4 sessions) is $1000. Schools that are 50-100 miles from my home $1000 per day. Over 2 hours travel or over 100 miles distant or greater by car or air is $1200 per day plus overnight accommodations. Please send clear and precise directions well in advance of my visits. Half days are at $500 as well as intensive drawing workshops with small groups in a three hour block session maximum.
Lodging – schools requiring me to have overnight stay will book one night’s lodging per school visit day. Please make a reservation ASAP once the school visit is confirmed and have the hotel bill your school direct. Please arrange for a hotel as close to your school as possible – Comfort Inn type of accommodations in a safe part of your community.
Airfare – for extended visits to schools in an area over 350 miles distant (up to 3 days in a given metropolitan area or town), schools will reimburse me the cost of an economy roundtrip airfare to nearest airport.
Ground Transportation – cost of a rental car will be reimbursed by the school OR the cost from the airport to the hotel to the school via shuttle or other suitable ground transport. Please send clear and precise directions well in advance of my visit.
Book Signings and Sales If you wish to host a book sale, I would be happy to sign books at any free time during my visit (usually after the sessions). Reserve a time for signings apart from the sessions. Books to be personalized should be noted with “post-its” or similar notations for spelling of names and dedications. After a date is confirmed it is recommended that the date of my visit be posted prominently on a school calendar or library notice board.
Ideas on How to Prepare for my Visit
❏ Have at least one or more of my books on display in the library and in areas that students and parents will frequent. Tell parents that I will be visiting with their children. Consider displaying the book during parent-teacher conferences or at PTA/PTO meetings. Consider posting an announcement concerning my visit on bulletin boards, school newspaper or through PA announcements.
❏ Send a note to the parents, explaining my visit to your school offering parents the opportunity to order books at a discount through the publishers. Invite interested parents to attend my presentations.
❏ Advance Book Purchasing for Sleeping Bear Titles: Contact Janna Williams at Sleeping Bear Press, 800-487-2323, extension 8745. For Pelican Publishing contact John Sheyd, 504-368-1175. Shipping takes a minimum of seven business days. When the books arrive, you will want to match the orders to the books and place post-it notes for any personalized notations in the books. The person at your school who coordinates the book sales will be in charge of orders from the publisher, inventory, money transactions, payment of bills, returns to the publisher and post orders.
❏ Download copies of the Teacher’s Guides for each Sleeping Bear Press book title available on the internet for free through sleepingbearpress.com. These contain word games, puzzles, quizzes and other activities related to the books.
❏ An “Illustrator Luncheon” on the day of the presentations
❏ An after school reception or autograph session with teachers, other librarians from the district, local media, etc.
The presentations will generate more interest for the books from teachers, parents and children. Some children may ask to bring in money the next day for a book. Think about how you want to handle last minute post orders. I will have time to sign orders and purchases that come in the same day as my visit. I can also personalize and sign book plates. Some librarians and teachers have even mailed me books to sign; if so, please include an envelope with enough return postage.
