sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Looking Ahead: CBCA Bookweek 2021

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2020 has been a quiet year for me, in terms of visiting schools, because Covid 19 led to most of my bookings being cancelled, and also to me being super busy at my day job.

However, I am determined that things will be different in 2021. I plan to get out and about and visit YOU (if you’ll have me) – in person or virtually. So, if you are keen to have me visit, drop me a line. And, if you get in quick, you might even get me for Bookweek – which, in 2021, will be August 21-27.

Speaking of Bookweek, the CBCA has announced next year’s theme. It’s a good one – drum roll please – ba da bad bad bad bad da ding:

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds

So many possibilities in those six words.

If you’d like a little me in YOUR world during Bookweek, or any other time, hit me up. I can talk to any age group, on my latest book, Worse Things, or any of my other titles. I can run writing workshops, perform poetry, talk to parents, run teacher PD, tap dance (okay, maybe I’m making that up, but I will give almost anything a try).

Over to you! I look forward to seeing you soon.

Making Plans for the New School Year

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Now that the Christmas/New Year break is over, and people start to return to work, I’m starting to get emails and phone calls enquiring about my author visits and writing workshops. Hooray! The only thing I love to do as much as write is talk.

I love the variety of sessions I get asked to run, the amazing schools I visit, the even more amazing students and teachers I get to meet and – importantly – I love the feeling when my visit makes a difference to a child (or a while school full of children) –making reading, writing or both just a bit more special. I also love helping teachers to find new ways to teach writing and to instil a love of reading.

The sessions I did in 2017 included:

  • Dozens of meet-the-author sessions in schools and at libraries
  • Poetry writing workshops in primary schools
  • Narrative writing workshops in primary and secondary schools
  • A whole day workshop using Do Not Forget Australia as an inspiration to write poetry- every year 5 student present had at least two poems drafted by the end of the day.
  • Writing workshops for school children and the public in Sharjah in the UAE
  • A visit to a school where year 6 students had spent a term reading my verse novels as an author study
  • Leading a Bookweek rap at Bookweek assemblies
  • Professional development workshops in teaching narrative and poetry writing
  • And more!

In 2018 I look forward to visiting even more schools and libraries, spreading the love of reading and writing. If you’re a teacher, librarian or festival organiser and you’d like me to visit you,  drop me a line.

A New Diary

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Yesterday I bought myself a new, funky diary for the new year which is rapidly approaching.

My next goal is to fill it up with lots of school visits and festivals and lunches and writing workshops and poetry performances. Basically,  I want to spend lots of time in 2017 talking. As you can see from this photo:

I don't dress like this every day - but sometimes dressing up helps me feel authorly.

I don’t dress like this every day – but sometimes dressing up helps me feel authorly.

 

And this one:

Sally Murphy

Without an editor, I might still be throwing my hands in the air!

And even this one:

gesture2

I love getting out and about talking about my books, answering questions, and speaking to audiences big and small, young and not-so young.  So if you’d like me to visit your school, library, writers group, festival, luncheon or anything else you can think of in 2017 (or beyond), now’s the time to get in touch.

 

Ten Tips for a Successful Author Visit (For Authors and Illustrators)

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Yesterday I shared ten tips for successful author visits aimed at teachers and librarians (you can see that post here). Today, I want to share another ten, but this time aimed at presenters. Visiting schools and libraries can be lots of fun, and also form an important part of your income stream. I’ve done lots and lots of these visits, and the following tips are some of the things I’ve learnt along the way.

1. Advertise your availability. If you want to do school and library visits, you need to let schools and libraries know you are available. List on your website (you do have a website, don’t you?). You can alsThe Grove2015o create a flyer and distribute it by mail, or at conferences you attend.  Word of mouth is also a wonderful tool.

2. Be upfront. It is easier to discuss payment and conditions at the time of the booking, than it is on the day you turn up, or after the event. State your rates, how many sessions you will do in a day, audience size, age groups you can cater for and so on. Talking about money can be uncomfortable, but it is necessary, which leads me to number 3:

3. Charge for your visit.  With few exceptions, you should ask for ASA Rates for your time. An author/illustrator visit is an educational experience for children and helps teachers and librarians to motivate kids to read/write/draw. The rates may sound high when you’re starting out, but trust me you will earn them – it is a lot of hard work(fun, but also exhausting).

4. Be aware of the difference between promoting your book and promoting literacy. If your visit is in school time, it should be more than just a sales pitch. You are being paid for your time, so make sure you are giving value for students and for teachers. What are children going to learn from you – it might be something specific to your book, or about books and reading more generally.

5. Prepare your presentations. Work out what you have to say and how you are going to say it.  A ‘meet the author’ session, for example, might include a reading of your book (or part of it), a talk about the research or creative process, and time for questions. If you’re an illustrator, you might show how you drew the main character. A writing workshop might teach a specific writing skill. Think about your own skills, the book, and the target age groups.

Dalyellup Bookweek 20156. Have props or visuals. Kids like having things to look at. Some presenters use Powerpoint presentations, which can be wonderful when used well. A good one will be high on pictures and low on text. other props could be puppets, costumes, historical artifacts, you name it.

7. Know what you are going to say. This is kind of like 4 above, but this time I’m talking about knowing your presentation. Don’t read from a script or written speech, and certainly don’t read a Powerpoint. If you are nervous, practice. A lot. In front of a mirror, in front of friends, in front of your cat.  Use your rehearsals to work out timing, remembering timing can be affected on the day by your nerves, by interruptions and by questions.

8. Be flexible. Be prepared for curve balls. What will you do if the Powerpoint doesn’t work? What will you do if you leave your book at home? What will you do if Johnny in the front row farts or – worse still – throws up?  I was once booked to run a writing workshop for 20 kids. On the day 80 kids came into the room – and not one of them had anything to write with. Be prepared for misbehaviour. It won’t happen every time, but remember you are dealing with schoolchildren and, as such, kids will misbehave. They might call out, or talk when you are talking, or throw things at you. How are you going to respond?  It is good to remember that the teachers should be there in the room and you can ask them for help in this area, but it is great if you can avoid interrupting the class to do this. I try not to expect perfect behaviour, and only stop my presentation if the behaviour is affecting other children’s ability to see or hear me.

9. Use prizes/rewards. Small giveaways such as bookmarks are very popular. Of course, if you are a softy like me, you might find it hard to give away only one or two, particularly for younger children. I tend to have a few things on hand in case someone comes up with a particularly brilliant question or answer,  or if I need a volunteer top help out with something.

10. Follow up after the visit. Ask the person who booked you for a few words of written feedback via email. Take the time to thank them for having you. Also take the time for yourself to think about what did and didn’t work well – and why.

Have I missed anything? If you have any tips for school visits, I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment.

 

 

 

Ten Tips for a Successful Author Visit (For Teachers and Librarians)

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Bookweek is coming up and I’m starting to prepare to visit schools and libraries around the state. This made me think about visits I’ve done in the past (I’ve done hundreds) and what did and didn’t go well. So, I thought I might write a couple of posts offering some quick tips for teachers/ and librarians (today) and authors and illustrators (tomorrow) to make visits run smoothly.

I don't dress like this every day - but sometimes dressing up helps me feel authorly.

So, here goes: ten ways to prepare for and run a successful author visit:

1. Book your author/illustrator well in advance. Bookweek, in particular, is a very busy time of the year, and organised schools/libraries will have booked at the start of the year, or even before. I already have a booking for Bookweek 2017, yet had a request for a 2016 visit just last week (needless to say I had to say no).

2. Research your presenter. Know what they write and who it is aimed at. Don’t book a YA Author for your kindergarten audience. Also see if you can find feedback on their previous visits. You want to know that your presenter is competent.

3. Be prepared to pay. Most Australian authors/illustrators will charge ASA Rates, which you can find here. They are not cheap, but the cost covers both the presentation time and the preparation time, as well as the years of experience your presenter has.

4. Discuss the visit with the presenter. Is there a specific topic you’d like covered? I’ve had over 40 books published, so can tailor my presentations to all kinds of age groups and topics, but this will be more successful if I know in advance. Also find out if the presenter has any requirements – audiovisual equipment, an easel or whiteboard, chocolate (this is always a good thing).

5. Arrange your audience well in advance. If you are a local library, advertise to local schools well ahead of time. It takes a lot of planning at the school end to organise an excursion. If you are a school librarian, again, make sure that class teachers know about the incursion well in advance of it happening.

6. Promote promote promote. Once you’ve worked out who your audience will be, promote the visit to them. Make a display about the author, including their books. Talk up the visit – show the children you are excited, and encourage them to be excited too. Townsville

7. Check if you have the author’s books in your library. I have visited lots of schools where my books aren’t in the library, or where the one I have come to talk about is the only one not in the collection. When kids hear about a book, they want to borrow it.

8. Encourage (insist if you can) class teachers to be present for the author visit. Lots of school visits are scheduled so that the students see the visiting author during library time, while the class teacher is on other duties.  The risk is that there is no follow up discussion or benefit from the visit. The best visits I have are those where the teachers have talked with the students beforehand about the purpose of the visit, and often result in kids going back to class to write or read or otherwise build on what they’ve heard from me.

9. Set up a suitable space for the visit before the author arrives. If you only have the author for an hour, avoid using a large chunk of that time to get chairs in place, or a projector set up. It’s always great to have a glass of water for the author and tea/coffee/lunch available if they are there for the day.

10. After the visit, chat with your fellow staff, the author and the students about how it went. Get feedback so you know what did/didn’t work. And, start planning  for next Bookweek.

If you are a teacher or librarian and think I’ve missed anything important here, I’d love to hear it. Leave a comment. Tomorrow, I’ll have ten tips for authors.

Manning 2015

 

 

A Visit to my Local School

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Had a lovely morning this morning visiting my local primary school and talking about Fly-In Fly-Out Dad, and all things book. The students were keen and polite and asked lots of good questions and the teachers were lovely. A special thanks to Susan and Corenne from the Dalyellup and Capel Libraries who arranged the visit.

Here I am getting dressed up as we talked about the safety gear that workers wear on mine sites. I love playing dress ups!

Dalyellup Bookweek 2015

And here I am after the session with Corenne, who I knew when we were both kids.

Dalyellup Bookweek 2015 b