Society of Authors survey on the impact of author visits

A press release by the Society of Authors reveals the huge benefit of author visits on pupils, libraries, and schools.

Our children's laureate, the fabulous Malorie Blackman, agrees. ‘With over two decades of first hand experience regarding school visits, I have seen and learnt for myself just how much of a difference author and illustrator visits can truly make. Such visits inspire not just reading and writing, but also fire a child’s imagination and lead to previously reluctant readers actively seeking out stories.’ 

And so does a former laureate, Jacqueline Wilson. ‘I’ve been to literally thousands of schools during my long writing career and I can honestly say that each and every visit was a joyous experience - definitely for me and hopefully for most of the children too! I’ve been to struggling schools where few of the children are keen readers, yet at the end of each session the students have been happily buying or borrowing books, totally enthused. I think author visits to schools are a fail-safe way of engaging with young readers and encouraging kids who aren’t keen on reading to give books another go. Nearly all major children’s authors have trekked round schools and talked about their books, making children laugh, squeal, sigh and clap spontaneously, understanding at last that reading can be hugely enjoyable.’

So did survey respondents: ‘There is no doubt that author visits can encourage children to read for pleasure. The impact of one-off visits may not be sustained though. It will also need teachers to carry this work on. I believe that author residencies are the ideal for sustained impact. The work is vital.’ 

99.4% of respondents, who covered secondary and primary schools throughout the UK, believed that author visits were an "invaluable enrichment that encouraged reading for pleasure, wider reading and creative writing."

Worth organising, worth supporting, worth paying for.

Any school wanting advice about organising an event? Ask away! 

The picture above was from an event I did at a school in Edinburgh for Deathwatch, part of the Deathwatch Dash, where I set a world record for the most number of schools visited by one author for a one hour event (each) in one day. *falls over with exhaustion at the mere memory*

Self-defence for authors

This disgraceful and sad situation in which a children's author found herself recently could easily have been avoided. I don't blame her at all for not realising how she could have avoided the situation; she acted out of goodness and trust, and seemed isolated from the support networks of other writers who could have helped her set the ground rules before the event. She has now, I think, felt the strength of that support network and I'm sure she won't let herself be abused like this again!

There is one very simple prophylactic against such abuse: set out your ground rules clearly in advance. There are two ways of doing this and the links here will take you to mine, as examples:

1. Have a website page on which you explain what sort of things you do (and don't do) and what sort of recompense you expect.
2. Have an event terms and conditions document which you can send to any school which contacts you. (Or which can be downloaded from your website.)

I keep hearing sad and angrifying stories of authors finding themselves in similar situations to "Fiona". I fully appreciate that some event organisers don't realise what it's like to be un(der)paid and self-employed but all we need to do is explain it. I find that people understand as soon as I point out that my event fee is not an hourly rate but goes to cover the preparation time and time away from my desk to deliver the event. And if they then say they can't afford my time, that's fine. I accept that. I stay at home and get some writing done. Yes, I need the money, but the money needs to be enough for me to feel happy about doing the work.

For more details of the arguments for being paid, see my post here.

Please, if you know a newish author who is considering doing school events, get them to read this post and follow the links in it. It will save a great deal of upset and uncertainty.

Forewarned is forearmed. I am now never invited to do an event by someone who hasn't read my website page. If the website page deters any invitations for which there would be no fee, that's great because it saves me having to explain that I'm not a slave. I'm a professional. Trying to earn a living. 

On being paid for events - and how I set my fees

Some of you will have seen me write vociferously about fees for author events in schools. I thought it might be helpful to link to the main posts in one place. I regard it as very important that professional people are paid for their work. It is, after all, what "professional" at least partly means.

Of course there are times when a professional person reasonably and rightly offers a free event but the three main points to note about that are this:

1. The event organiser must understand that this means an adult giving up wages. The organiser might also wish to consider whether all the adults involved in the event (including security staff, electricians etc) are giving up wages or whether the author will be the only one unpaid. Most authors have a very low income but that isn't really the point. Well-off authors should still, in my view, take a fee for a normal event, and if they wish to donate it to a charity (or even back to the school) they can - but they should not be invited on that basis.
2. An author should only do an event for no pay because he or she chooses to, not being guilt-tripped into it, especially with phrases such as "Think of the publicity."You can't eat publicity and organisers vastly over-estimate the publicity effect.
3. When professionals do free events it makes it harder for other authors to charge and undermines the value of the work we all do.

There are two main aims to my posts on this subject:

1. To empower authors to value themselves just as any working person should.
2. To try to explain to organisers why we do need to charge and why an event fee is not an hourly rate.

So, here are my views in greater detail.

My recent post on Heartsong about whether it's OK to work for nothing.

My post on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure - and the comments are well worth reading.

My post on Heartsong about how I work out my charges. This post is routinely used by agents and publishers, too, to try to make their authors take their value seriously.

I'll put my soap-box away now. I've said it all.

Crabbit's Tips 8: Authors Doing Events

The latest in my series of Crabbit's Tips for Writers aims to help authors doing events. If you'd like the downloadable, printable version, click here.


It follows my recent blog post aimed at event organisers. (By the way, I've had great feedback on that behind the scenes, from agents who are also sick of seeing their authors poorly treated or unpaid. And, for your info, the agent does not take a commission on the author's fee!)

The Simple Guide to Caring for an Author

It really is simple. Organising a festival or other event is not simple but looking after your author(s) is. Simple it may be, but important it absolutely is. It makes the difference between us being able to perform with energy, passion and positivity, or us collapsing at the end in a quivering, possibly furious, heap.

My simple guide
1. Pay us. Please. We don't have salaries or wages; we've taken a lot of time to prepare, to travel, to wait for the event; we are also experts in our field. Whether this is the first time we've done a talk or the five hundredth, we are an expert about the book or topic you've asked us to talk about. We are also adults; we pay taxes and bills. And most authors are not at all well paid. Occasionally, for reasons of our own, we might do something for nothing: but you must NEVER expect it, and never ever ever cover up your inability to pay with phrases such as: "Our budgets have been cut," "Other authors are doing it for nothing," "It's a good cause," or - the worst - "It will be great for your profile."

2. Make space for us. There should be a room where authors/speakers can go before and after the talk, a place where we can leave our coats, go to the bathroom, and escape from the audience afterwards. (I recently spent two hours between events dodging desperate questions from aspiring writers from my first talk of the day, who simply wouldn't let me sit, eat, drink or breathe. Some were delightful and apologetic; I wanted to help them all; I couldn't - my blood sugar was plummeting and no one noticed.)

3. Feed and water us. No, we don't need champagne and smoked salmon - though obviously I wouldn't spit it out. Just offer us something, anything. Please.

4. Plan the time-table properly. With gaps.

5. Give us a few moments peace before we do our talk. However relaxed we might be or seem, we still need those moments to clear our heads, breathe a few times, and remember what we are going to say. Do not bring a local dignitary to meet us at that point. Or a photographer.

6. INTRODUCE US. It's hard to explain the difference between having someone say a few glowing words that we couldn't say about ourselves, and having to introduce ourselves to a bemused audience. Recently, I was introduced as, among other things, "She's been shortlisted for a few things." Well, actually, I've won a few things but I couldn't say so, could I? It means that the audience ends up never knowing - except that on this occasion, a fellow-author who was speaking after me was generous enough to put the record straight.

7. At the end, wind up the questions and thank us, saying something nice if you can possibly bring yourself to do so. Not long ago, an organiser had told me she didn't have any spare staff to do intros or thanks. As it turned out, she was actually IN my audience, but still didn't find it in herself to say anything at all to me, either privately or publicly. Now, I happen to know that the event had been a good one, because many in the audience contacted me afterwards, and because you can tell from people's faces, but that young woman sat there and said nothing. Nor did she mention either thanks or praise in any of the emails I had to deal with from her afterwards, which were mostly about invoices and expenses.

8. Do not deduct tax from our invoice. If you do that to me (and I specifically state on my invoice that I am registered self-employed) I will a) charge you a £75 admin fee and b) send a swarm of especially nippy wasps to your garden and ask them to stay there until the tax has been refunded.

9. Be prepared. The better prepared you are, the better the event will be. This is not just about the author but about the whole audience. So, think ahead and discuss with the author in advance - but try to avoid reams of disjointed email correspondence. A simple question, "What do you need?" goes a long way. Trust me: the answer will be reasonable. Very few of us are actually prima donnas; we are simply trying to create the conditions that will allow us to deliver a brilliant event for you.

10. Be sensitive. All writers are different. Some are nervous and look nervous; others look calm but are churning inside. Err on the side of caution and just be nice to us. You don't have to fuss, you don't have to jump to attention, you don't have to treat us with kid gloves. Just try to imagine that you are doing what we're doing: about to face a strange audience for an hour, for an event which is really important to our careers. We're on our own, we're vulnerable, we are the ones who will suffer if it all goes horribly wrong.

11. If in doubt just ask. Honestly, most of us are lovely. Despite my crabbitness above, I think I'm as lovely as possible, too. I only get crabbit when people get so much wrong and make all my hard work a) harder and b) unappreciated.

Random points:

• Photos -  if you are having a photographer, schedule this so it's not immediately before the event. Or during, as has happened to me on several occasions in school events - by which I mean that the photographer arrived mid-event and I had to stop in the middle of my favourite story about surgery without anaesthetic...
• Recording - do not do this without asking and do not spring it on us at the last minute. Discuss in advance. I will not let a full event be recorded but I don't mind extracts, as long as I see them first.
• Book-selling - never expect the author to do this herself. This has happened to me before, once at a well-known book festival to which I will never go again. (That isn't the only reason.) 

It has to be said that most events are well organised and most organisers that I've come across are dedicated, fantastic, kind and thoughtful. Unfortunately, it's the others that sometimes stick painfully in my mind.

Yesterday, Danuta Kean blogged about this very effectively. A load of us have been discussing the whole issue and we want to set the record straight. If you know anyone organising any kind of author event, do send them our way.

Thank you. You've been a lovely audience.

COUNTDOWN TO PUB DAY: THE BIG WTBP COMP

With one month exactly till publication of Write to be Published, I'm delighted/daunted to kick off the countdown with a The Big WTBP Competition, which will run throughout May and June.

"And the prize, the prize?" I hear you ask, in your usual demanding way. Well, you are all writers so I presume you have at least the beginning of the draft of something. Well, would you like a confidential crabbit critique of it. That's the main prize: a critique of your first chapter, or up to 5000 words. Feedback from the Crabbit Old Bat herself! You might not want that for yourself - you wimp! - but you might have a friend you could win it for. And there are fab luxury hessian crabbit bags to be won, too, plus, of course, the honour of winning a writing competition and the pleasure of creativity.

MORE: you can also now read an extract from the book and see a list of the contents. Click here for the official WTBP Taster - it contains the competition and ordering details, as well as the contents list and short extracts from the beginning and end. That's all you get for now. Do pass the link around and get all your writing friends involved: the opportunity for expert feedback is not to be missed.

Edited to add: You may enter up to three times, as long as each entry is at least slightly different. For example, a different take on or approach to the same piece, or the same story with a different ending. 

IMPORTANT CHANGE: following the comment from Alexis, I have decided to allow entries from under 18s, but only if a responsible adult (parent or guardian) will promise to give permission for me to provide the critique in the event of the young person winning, and will vouch for the genuine ability of the writer to receive constructive criticism...

SOME EVENTS

Bookshops small and large are embracing this book fabulously - phew! Please see links at top of right-hand sidebar.

Meanwhile, let the countdown begin and may your pencils be sharpened for The Big WTBP Competition! And do order your copy of the book - click here for options. Buying a signed copy from me gives you yet another chance to win one of my dwindling pile of crabbit bags... Thank you so much to the people who've already ordered.

Finally, a huge, huge thank you to you for all your support. You have been wonderful. I was going to say I don't deserve you but actually I damn well do!

IN WHICH I GET CRABBIT ABOUT AUTHOR EVENTS

Today I'm blogging indirectly for writers, by offering advice to people who organise author events. The idea to blog about this came from Jane Smith's post at How Publishing Really Works, about why authors should be paid, and the discussion that followed it.

I have spoken at too many festivals, conferences and events to count. I have also been involved in organising a strand of the Edinburgh International Book Festival and have given free advice to two people setting up new book festivals. I have organised a major writers' conference myself and am planning to do the same around publication of Write To Be Published. I know what makes a good event for authors and readers. And I don't too much care about anyone else. As far as I'm concerned, writers and readers are the important people in this, granted that we also need supporting people. Including the event organiser.

So, here are my points, aimed at organisers and with huge respect for what the best of them do, including many school librarians.

MONEY

If you value your writers, you have to pay them. You might get their publishers to contribute to travel expenses, but don't assume that. Most writers do not earn much but, actually, that's beside the point. It's about value and respect. It's about your purpose in organising the event. If the writer is the only adult not being paid, that is intolerable, utterly unacceptable. If you think the writer is going to earn from book sales during the event, think of this:

• Authors earn a very small percentage of the profit on a book sale, not a percentage of the cover price, but of the price after the publisher discount to the retailer, often 60% or more, is applied. They might earn 40p per book, if the supplier doesn't have a high discount, and sometimes less. (Depends on cover price and discount.) If you sell 30 copies of their book, which is optimistic, that's £12 for the author for the whole event, which they won't receive for around six months. So, sod book sales as a compensation for you offering no fee.

If you can only offer a small fee, offer it with an apology and make it up in other ways, by fantabulous book sales and great respect. Don't say things like, "Oh, you never know, you might get some more work out of it." or "It will look great on your CV, you know - increase your profile."  That's for me to decide. Say, "I'm so sorry we can't offer a proper fee and I will fully understand if you can't accept, but I'd love to look at other ways to make it beneficial for you." You cannot, however, expect a low-earning self-employed person to pay for coming to you, and pay is what they'll do if you're not offering FULL expenses, including incidentals.

Sometimes we might do an event for nothing but if you have to ask this, ask yourself why you have to. Are you charging the audience? Why can't you manage to pass some of that to the author, the person with the talent on which this event is based? I have also found that when events are free, more things go wrong - audiences cancel and people don't think they are getting something worth having. Having said that, we do do things for nothing and sometimes that's fine. But there has to be a good reason and it has to be our choice.
 
When the author is paid £150 for an event, which in the UK is the recommended fee - though not usually achievable by festivals, with Edinburgh being an honourable exception - that may seem like very decent earnings for an hour. And it would be if it was an hour's work. But it's not.

Here's what happens to me when I get an invitation which I accept:

• You and I have an email conversation, which over the time leading up to the event may take 1-2 hours of my time, because you very properly want a biography, pictures, details about whether I eat prawns, details about my arrival, details about the contents of my event, a blurb for the programme, a photo, discussion about who is supplying the books and how. Actually, let's say three hours.In fact, the more and better questions you ask, the more time it will take - Catch 22. Or I pay my assistant to do this because I should be writing.
• I spend some time - say another hour - organising to be away. I sort out dog-sitting, food for the house, family, book train tickets. Get stuck on the Trainline website...
• I plan the actual content of the events. Planning can be anything from twenty minutes if it's a school event that I do hundreds of times, to ten hours or more if it's a new event which you've specifically asked for - such as for a conference talk on a particular topic with powerpoint.
• I print out leaflets and order forms and handouts, as appropriate.
• I pack, including several bits of equipment which are different for each event, and travel to the event and back again, which is never going to be less than a day. A day during which I can't write, or not meaningfully.
• I have inevitable costs during the journeys, some of which I don't charge even if you're kindly offering expenses. 

If authors want to do things for nothing - and we often do - that's up to us. But don't expect it any more than I would expect any paid person to give up their earnings for a day. 

THE EVENT

OK, so, I've done countless events and never get nervous. But. I use up the most enormous amount of energy during the event. I'm entertaining and inspiring an unknown audience. Sometimes, I don't know in advance what the audience is going to consist of. Sometimes I do, in theory. Often my audience is teenagers who may not want me to be there because they think books are boring, or adults who think they know it all. I have to work to get them on side, I have to adapt what I planned to what I find, I have to think on my feet. I do this all without notes, so I'm driving my brain hard. People who try to speak to me afterwards may think I'm silent because I'm stuck-up - no, I'm silent because I'm exhausted. What is my point?

My point is, please:

1. Every author is different, with different needs. So, read my Inviting Me To Speak page on my website and just ask me about anything you're not sure of. Ask, for example, what I need in terms of food. Or else provide it anyway. I totally love the school librarians who give me a plate of sandwiches, a kettle and a SILENT ROOM after an event. One even lent me an ipod. I could have married her. (Note to organisers: I now have an ipod, thank you!)
2. Understand that I can't make scintillating conversation to you or your colleagues between events, or in your car between locations. I do not want you to take me to lunch between events instead of paying me, or even as well as paying me. I want you to let me eat my lunch with my eyes and my ears shut. Once - O. M. G. - I was taken unwillingly to lunch and then asked to PAY because their budget didn't stretch to it. Bloody hell. I could barely speak to them. (For clarity, being taken out at the end is lovely - quite different, because although I'll be tired I'll not have to focus again that day. And, again, every author is different. I just find my head spins and I don't talk well when that's happening.)
3. If I am doing two events, please let me go and get some fresh air in between. Otherwise you will not like me.
4. Don't ask me to deliver three events in one day. (Except in exceptional circumstances.) I will be crap. This is NOT like teaching three lessons in a row - I have done that, too. That's a doddle in comparison. No, this is like - no, is - performing on stage on your own for an hour, followed by an hour, followed by another hour. Humans can't do it and remain even vaguely pleasant.
5. Note that I once fell asleep at the wheel of a car travelling at 70 miles an hour on a dual-carriageway because librarians had asked me to do too much. I nearly died and so did a load of other people.
6. Never. Ever. Ever. Never tell me that it's ok not to pay me because I will be able to get some writing done and you won't ask for a cut of the "profits". PROFITS? Don't bloody make me laugh. (This happened to me recently. I said no.)

Not all authors would have the same needs. Many have different ones. Just ask. it's not difficult. We don't want expensive things.

Sometimes, school librarians in particular go to great lengths to provide lovely home-made cakes and things. This is incredibly sweet of them and much appreciated but it's actually not necessary. My point is just that I don't have demands for luxury or anything, just a bit of gentleness and the understanding that what I do is important to you and exhausting for me. I love it, but it's exhausting..

BOOK SELLING

This is not only a Very Good Thing: it is also how authors survive. Yes, I know you're going to pay me to talk to you but if I can't write any books there will be no books for me to talk about. And if I don't sell books, I won't be allowed to write any. Seriously, publishers drop authors who don't sell enough books. Especially nowadays. Trust me. I know.

So, please sell books. That does not mean put them on a small table in the corner of a little-used cupboard where fire extinguishers used to be stored. It means display lots of them in all their glory, tell customers that they will be there, provide lots of time for people to buy them, TELL people to go and look at them and consider buying them and generally puff the idea of owning glorious books.

MISCELLANEOUS

• Always give the author an introduction. Say nice things about us even if you haven't read our books. I have had people forgetting my name, people saying I need no introduction and then not giving me one, and I've had fabulous introductions. I once arrived on the stage of a large theatre to cheers and whoops from the huge school audience - they probably hadn't read any of mny books but the librarians had got them excited. That's fabulous. It creates an energy about the event from the start.
• Study the author website. It makes such a difference when you know a bit about us.
• Let an author have a few minutes peace before the event starts to collect her thoughts. Get the head teacher out of the way - now is not the time for a marketing drive.
• Provide a good space for speaking. I don't like people looking up my nostrils. I also don't like lunch trolleys being wheeled through when I'm telling a story.
• DO NOT MARK BOOKS DURING THE EVENT.
• Do not spring unexpected tasks on me. "Oh, I thought you'd like to come and say a few words to the remedial class on your way to lunch" is not a good idea. With all respect to the remedial class but they deserve more than a few words. 
• Oh, and if you've got local press coming, which is a lovely idea, do NOT let them interrupt my talk to take photos. I once lost 10 minutes of my talk because local photographers couldn't wait till the end. Totally lost momentum.
• Edited to add: do NOT steal  deduct tax from my invoice. An invoice is an invoice. I pay my own tax and the tax people do not need me to pay them twice. Universities and councils are the culprits here: I'm waiting for the refund of wrongly deducted tax from a certain University where I spoke in MARCH. Am livid.

Got it?

So, now you think I'm a stroppy cow? I'm not. Not at all. I am never a prima donna at events - I'm professional and committed to the audience. I do all my stroppiness at this stage, when we're deciding, you and I, whether we want to do this event and make it great. Once we've decided, you will find me very enthusiastic and determined to do everything to produce the absolute best event for the audience.

But it's not just my event: it's yours, too. And part of its success comes down to your preparation, enthusiasm and understanding. So, let's do it. Let's make great events together. It's one of my favourite bits about being an author, which is why I say yes so often.

EDITED TO ADD: to give you an example of perfect event organisation, next week I'm going to the High School of Dundee on Monday and Chesterfield library on Friday night, to chat to a group of teenagers and adults in a fab-sounding reading group. I am 100% confident that these will be exemplary. Just a few minutes ago, my assistant passed me an email from the Chesterfield organiser saying that they'd have sandwiches for me before the event and that they'd take me out for a bar meal afterwards, as the guest house has no catering facilities in the evening. That's very caring and wonderful of them. They've thought it through AND they've told me in advance. Both Dundee and Chesterfield are fully paid events and I am sure that many hoops were jumped through to sort out the considerable costs to school and library. I love you, organisers of both events and I am looking forward to giving your audiences the best experience I can.

PS - I knew there was something I'd forgotten to tell you. (A draft of this post accidentally disappeared and I tried to remember what I'd lost.) Yes, I thought I'd tell you about the time when I rejected an invitation after reading the first two words:

"Dear Sandra"

I just kind of felt a bit unwanted, you know? :-(