PRICE GUIDE: A number of different factors determine the cost of author and illustrator events, from their location and availability, to their level of experience or if the event is part of a pre-planned book tour, but as a guide, schools can expect to pay approximately £150.00-£300.00 for half a day or £300.00-£500.00 for a full day (see the Society of Authors guidance on rates and fees for more information).
Fees can differ widely depending on whether the author/illustrator can offer a whole-school assembly, workshops, a library opening, or festival talk. Please note: you would usually be expected to have copies of their books for sale before or after the event and provide an opportunity for signing. We would also recommend you check whether travel and expenses are included in this price or if it would be an additional cost. Some fees will be subject to VAT.
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR EVENT:
PREPARE. Some author and illustrator event schedules are filled several months in advance and some are already booked up for the next few World Book Day events. Give yourself plenty of time and plan ahead.
AVOID CLASHES. Don’t book your event on sports day or when half of the students are on school trips. Author and illustrator events can create a real buzz in your school and it’s one of the best ways to boost reading and writing for pleasure but only if students are there to see it. Some authors and illustrators also require minimum audience numbers (especially if they’re travelling a long way) so it’s in everyone’s interest to have as many children there as possible. You could even host a joint event with another local school to split the cost and inspire twice the number of students!
GET INVOLVED. Author and illustrator events should not be mistaken for an hour of childcare. You’d be amazed at the number of schools who invite an author to visit them, introduce them to 300 excitable pupils and then leave them alone in the hall to catch up on marking.
– Authors and illustrators are not required to have a DBS as they should be accompanied by a member of staff at all times. Therefore, for safeguarding purposes alone, they should not be left alone with pupils.
– Author and illustrator events are hugely inspirational and positively impact students and teachers alike. What better example to set for pupils than a captivated teacher, listening tentatively, asking questions and joining in with everyone else. Engaged teachers = engaged students.
– It’s always exciting to have a new visitor in the school but this means the noise levels during an event can increase rapidly. For ‘crowd control’ purposes, we’d recommend having members of staff on hand to ensure the event runs smoothly.
ADVERTISE. You’ve booked the author or illustrator you wanted – brilliant! Now make sure all of the teachers, students and parents know about it! Here are some quick, easy and cheap ways to do this…
– Mention the event in a parent newsletter (including details of how much the book will cost if students would like to buy one on the day).
– Add the event to your website calendar if you have one.
– Send letters to parents a week in advance. Include a photo of the author and the book cover so students know who and what to expect.
– Put posters up around the school, office and on the school gate to remind students and parents. You’ll feel the buzz building before your special visitor even arrives!
– Introduce the author or illustrator in assembly a few days before the event. Tell students a bit about them, read the opening of their book, encourage students to borrow it from the library or bring money in if they’d like to purchase their own copy. Telling students a bit about their visitor before they arrive will increase excitement tenfold.
– If you use ParentMail or something similar, send a text message or email reminder to parents the day before the event.
SOME EXTRA TIPS:
– Why not ask students to introduce the author or illustrator to the rest of the class or at the start of the assembly? This works especially well if the students are fans of the author or illustrator and can recommend their books.
– Peak students’ interest by reading the opening chapter or first few pages in class. You could even encourage students to write some questions for the author or illustrator in preparation for their assembly or workshop.
– Check the author or illustrator’s requirements before they arrive. Many will want access to a computer and projector so they can display a PowerPoint presentation, some may ask for a flip chart and pens, some may ask for a microphone, or just a table to put their props on.
– To get help selling books on the day (or on the run-up to the event), contact your local independent bookshop or Waterstones who can liaise with the publishers on your behalf, order books in, take any leftover books away, deal with payments and maybe even sell the books on the day, too.
– Make sure you know what you’re getting. Authors and illustrators spend hours preparing for an event and many bring props, photos and early drafts to show, create PowerPoint presentations, memorise talking points, and even attend training with their publisher to give you the best event possible. With this in mind, we’d highly discourage changing the plan on the day and asking authors / illustrators to do four class talks, followed by signings in each classroom and then a reading in the library if they were booked to do one assembly only (yes, we’ve seen this exact example happen with our own eyes!). If you’d like to suggest an alternative plan or if you’d like them to squeeze in an extra talk with another year group, we’d recommend contacting them in advance to discuss it. Do keep in mind that they may have other events to go to after yours, their talk may not be suitable for other ages, or they may restrict themselves to one talk a day so they still have time to do their main job – write and illustrate!
– Children’s publishing is a small industry and authors and illustrators talk to each other regularly. They share news of brilliant events and wonderful schools they’ve visited, but they also share stories from less successful events. Some stories we’ve heard include an author being shown into a class of year 1 and 2 students when their book was only suitable for years 5 and 6, an author preparing a talk for 200 students in assembly but being shown into a class of 30 students and asked to do a poetry workshop instead, and an illustrator spending a few hours travelling to a school only to be told that they ‘forgot they were coming’ and could they come back a week later. Of course teachers have a million and one things to think about on any given day, but if you can get prepared, make sure everyone knows the plan for the day and have a dedicated staff member to accompany your visitor, you’ll soon see that authors and illustrators begin recommending your school to other authors and illustrators, and it won’t be long before you see a boost in reading and writing for pleasure, and in turn, an improvement in literacy skills amongst all of your students.
We hope you enjoy your author and illustrator events! Do feel free to tweet us (@authorfy) if you arrange any events using this page – we’d love to hear from you!
