Latest / The Book Deal / SPECIAL EP: School Author Talks - Everything You Need to Know (Part 2)

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SPECIAL EP: School Author Talks - Everything You Need to Know (Part 2) · The Book Deal

• 0:09
  Speaker: The Book Deal Podcast Where you will discover the inspiring stories behind your favorite books.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: We interview seasoned and debut authors, as well as publishing industry professionals, to bring you the best tips and advice on how to get that elusive book deal.
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: So no matter what stage of writing you're at, we've got you covered.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: I'm Tina Strachan.
• 0:30
  Speaker: I'm Madeleine Cleary.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: And I'm Natasha Rai.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: And join us as we pull back the curtain of published authors.
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: One deal at a time.
• 0:43
  Speaker 4: The Book Deal podcast acknowledges the traditional owners of the land and waters which it's recorded on, and pays respect to their elders past, present, and emerging.
• 0:56
  Tina Strachan: Welcome back to the Book Deal podcast and part two of our mega Author Talk special I'm Tina Strachan, and today I am bringing you a mega ep focusing on everything you've ever wanted to know about school author visits.
• 1:10
  Tina Strachan: Book Week is coming up in August, so it's a busy time for many authors as they make their way into schools to celebrate.
• 1:17
  Tina Strachan: But school talks or children's talks in general, so even at libraries or festivals or other events, can be very daunting for many, especially those just starting out.
• 1:28
  Tina Strachan: And for others that have experience, it's always great to hear advice from other authors on how to pull off a presentation or workshop for children that keeps them interested and entertained and leaving inspired for their own creativity and reading.
• 1:43
  Tina Strachan: And because every author is different and has their own unique style, I have asked not one, not two, but six different authors and a high school teacher librarian technician to share all their insider knowledge on what makes a successful school author talk.
• 2:00
  Tina Strachan: They will share what types of talks and presentations they offer, how they like to structure them, what works best to hold students' attention, what doesn't work well, any disasters or embarrassing moments and how they navigated them, funniest questions they've ever been asked, advice for how to score the highly sought-after school visits, and other important tips for making these visits run smoothly.
• 2:22
  Tina Strachan: In fact, there was so much valuable advice shared that I had to turn this into two episodes.
• 2:29
  Tina Strachan: So grab your notebook and pen because these are episodes you will want to take notes for.
• 2:34
  Tina Strachan: We are so appreciative to the stellar authors that have joined us for this school talk special and today you will hear part two with Adrian Beck, Kristen Darell, and teacher librarian technician Helen Farche.
• 2:48
  Tina Strachan: So if you missed part one, go back and check out episode 95 with Sarah Armstrong, Zanni Louise, Peter Carnavas, and Carla Salmon.
• 2:55
  Tina Strachan: These are mega episodes jam-packed full of helpful tips and advice to give your children's presentations and workshops a huge boost, and we wish you all the best of luck for your own school visits
• 3:11
  Adrian Beck: Hello, everyone, I'm Adrian Beck, and I write lots of illustrated funny fiction for kids, like Fox Kid, and I also write some thrillers, some thrills and chills for slightly older kids, upper middle grade, and my latest one is Nowhere House.
• 3:26
  Adrian Beck: What I love most about school visits is when a kid comes up to you at the end of the school visit and they've got this little folded over bit of paper, and it's sort of approaching what looks like a book, and they said,"I haven't shown anyone this yet, but I wanna be an author too." And they've written this wild and wacky story, and all this, all these adventurous strange tangents often, often involving, you know, uh, potatoes that have come to life or some sort of strange uh, very kid-like concept, and they decide that they're gonna come and share that with you.
• 4:02
  Adrian Beck: And I reckon that's the best part about school visits, is when the kids come up to you and say,"Hey, I wanna be an author, too." That's, it's...
• 4:09
  Adrian Beck: Nothing that beats that.
• 4:10
  Adrian Beck: That's fantastic.
• 4:12
  Adrian Beck: I offer a bunch of different presentations and workshops.
• 4:15
  Adrian Beck: Uh, presentations for younger kids, it's all about just how a book is made.
• 4:20
  Adrian Beck: So there's, there's words, there's pictures, there's rough versions of pages.
• 4:25
  Adrian Beck: And we do a little bit of spot the difference between the rough versions and the final versions.
• 4:28
  Adrian Beck: And then when you start to get a little bit older, you start to, um, talk a little bit more about the themes of the books, I think.
• 4:36
  Adrian Beck: And we sort of unpack what the big questions are in each of these books.
• 4:41
  Adrian Beck: And we unpack a little bit about why, for example, if I'm writing a mystery, why do we actually like mysteries as readers, and what makes a good mystery, and that sort of thing.
• 4:51
  Adrian Beck: And then I do some workshops as well.
• 4:52
  Adrian Beck: And with the workshops, I try to, uh, approach it in s- in the same way that I approach my own, uh, idea development, and I give them some tips on how I do it.
• 5:03
  Adrian Beck: And then we all do it together on the whiteboard, come up with ideas on the whiteboard.
• 5:08
  Adrian Beck: And then I also make sure there's room for them to come up with ideas, you know, top secret ideas that they can write on their little notepads,'cause not everyone likes to share.
• 5:17
  Adrian Beck: So, um, there'll be, um I've got all the songs from the Bridgerton soundtrack, which is all the pop songs, uh, played to classical music.
• 5:25
  Adrian Beck: And so, um, when we have a chance to do the workshops, uh, for the older kids, and it's time for them to do their writing, I'll play those songs.
• 5:33
  Adrian Beck: And, um, and that always gets a good response from the, uh, f- particularly from the teachers in the room who But the kids are thinking,"Oh, this is classical music.
• 5:43
  Adrian Beck: I should start to get to work." And then they start to think,"Hang on, I know that chorus.
• 5:45
  Adrian Beck: I know that." Um, and that kind of puts them in a good mood.
• 5:48
  Adrian Beck: So I really like the I think the presentations are the most fun, because you're putting on a show to a degree, um, and you wanna end with a big fun ending, and it's, and it's, it's very playful.
• 6:04
  Adrian Beck: Uh, the workshops, though, they're a slightly different beast insomuch as, um, you want the kids to come away with two things.
• 6:10
  Adrian Beck: You want them to be generally inspired about being creative, uh, whether that's writing or illustrating.
• 6:17
  Adrian Beck: But you also I like to make sure that they've left with an idea that they have, uh, that I've helped them develop that they can go away and work on.
• 6:26
  Adrian Beck: And, uh, you know, sometimes, uh, we might come up with stuff, and they won't go away and work on it, and that's totally fine.
• 6:32
  Adrian Beck: But those that are keen, they just haven't been able to focus their energies, I really want them to leave the room with something that maybe they could, uh, develop after I've left.
• 6:42
  Adrian Beck: All of my sessions, whether they're workshops or presentations, uh, I use a PowerPoint, um, file, because I think kids are so visual these days that they need something to anchor their eyes.
• 6:53
  Adrian Beck: And also, it's a good way to make visual jokes too.
• 6:56
  Adrian Beck: So you can, um, s- say something super serious and then click your little clicker and up comes a, a joke that completely, a visual that completely undercuts you.
• 7:05
  Adrian Beck: And so I'll definitely use PowerPoints.
• 7:07
  Adrian Beck: I think they're really important.
• 7:08
  Adrian Beck: I think it's also important to have a banner if you're able to, because kids, their eyes do wander, so you need to, um, you need to try and focus their attention as best you can, especially, um, especially if you're in a big hall and you don't have a microphone and it's the whole school, and, it, it, they can be trying conditions sometimes.
• 7:29
  Adrian Beck: So definitely a projector with some visuals, uh, really is gonna, is gonna really help you.
• 7:35
  Adrian Beck: Um, and I like to structure all of them similarly.
• 7:40
  Adrian Beck: I like to have a nice- Fun ending.
• 7:42
  Adrian Beck: Uh, and that can change depending on what the age group is.
• 7:47
  Adrian Beck: But I also like to start off by not just turning up and saying,"Hi, my name is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." I like to start off with something that's gonna grab their attention.
• 7:57
  Adrian Beck: For example, with the latest book, Nowhere House, I will show a picture of the house from the cover, and I won't talk.
• 8:06
  Adrian Beck: I will just have the words come from the screen saying,"Would you go in?
• 8:10
  Adrian Beck: Hands up." Right?
• 8:11
  Adrian Beck: And then I let it just sit there for a few seconds, and inevitably the hands go up pretty quick, and we've got the whole group with their hands up.
• 8:19
  Adrian Beck: And they start, um, th- they start to want to tell you why they would be so brave and so, you know, so, uh, such a strange decision to wanna go into a haunted house.
• 8:30
  Adrian Beck: But, um, it sort of kicks off their, um, imagination and gets them inspired from the word go.
• 8:35
  Adrian Beck: So then I'll probably after And that's, that's just for that book.
• 8:39
  Adrian Beck: I'll do other things for other books.
• 8:40
  Adrian Beck: Like for example, Fox Kid, I'll, I'll start with,"What superpowers do you want?" And then I'll go into what Fox Kid's superpowers are.
• 8:47
  Adrian Beck: So you kind of I like to kind of get in there with something that they're not expecting,'cause, uh, I'm sure they And I don't know this for sure, but I'm sure they do hear a lot of speakers that come and say,"Well, I was a young boy, and I always thought writing might be a good thing for me to do." And I think to myself,"I don't know, that might be a bit of a turn-off." So I start with something I like to try and start with something big, and then I'll backtrack, like, maybe a third of the way into it or a quarter of the way into it, and I'll s- and I'll fill in some of the gaps of who I am and why I'm here in their classroom.
• 9:17
  Adrian Beck: But I'll do that in a humorous way as well.
• 9:19
  Adrian Beck: So I'll, um, show some humorous pictures from when I was a kid, um, just because I don't like my I don't I get bored.
• 9:28
  Adrian Beck: I get easily bored when people are taking themselves super seriously.
• 9:31
  Adrian Beck: Uh, and so I figure if I get bored, then surely the next generation's gonna be getting bored too.
• 9:37
  Adrian Beck: So I need to keep it fun and keep it light.
• 9:39
  Adrian Beck: And then that means that when you're talking about some of the more Personal things, uh, they hit a bit harder if everything else is light, you know?
• 9:48
  Adrian Beck: So at one point I do talk a little bit about how, um, I write for outsiders because I, uh, felt like a bit of an outsider when I was a kid.
• 9:57
  Adrian Beck: When I get to that point, I've feel like it's earned,'cause I've done all this other stuff, and they sort of lean forward and they're like,"Oh, okay, he's sharing something vulnerable here." So it's kind of, um, you're using a lot of the techniques that you're using in your storytelling.
• 10:11
  Adrian Beck: You're using them in, uh, school presentation mode.
• 10:15
  Adrian Beck: Um, in- including hooking them in at the start, asking them lots of questions.
• 10:21
  Adrian Beck: And I guess the main difference is you're really trying to get them to participate, and you're really trying to get them to, um, be engaged.
• 10:28
  Adrian Beck: And a lot of the time that means, uh, asking them questions, getting them to give us, give the responses.
• 10:34
  Adrian Beck: And if you're an illustrator, and I, I dabble in illustration too, uh, you have got such a massive advantage.
• 10:40
  Adrian Beck: Even if you're not an illustrator, I would say work in some stick figure action or something, um, because you can, you can get them up, and you just do a little bit of that Mr.
• 10:50
  Adrian Beck: Squiggle challenge stuff.
• 10:51
  Adrian Beck: You know, we're c- we're coming up with a new, uh, villain for this, uh, great story that I've got.
• 10:56
  Adrian Beck: Um, what I want you to do is I want, you know, kid A, I want you to draw a nose.
• 11:00
  Adrian Beck: Kid B, I want you to draw the ears.
• 11:02
  Adrian Beck: Kid C, I want you to draw the type of shoes that they're gonna wear.
• 11:04
  Adrian Beck: And then And I'll say,"And I'll put it all together, and then we'll brainstorm a story." And they've already got skin in the game,'cause they've come up with these bits and pieces, and they wanna see, well, what would that character be like, and what would that story be like when we're developing it together?
• 11:18
  Adrian Beck: So I try and get them involved as much as possible.
• 11:20
  Adrian Beck: Sometimes it, you know, it doesn't always go 100% to plan.
• 11:23
  Adrian Beck: Don't worry about that.
• 11:24
  Adrian Beck: That's normal.
• 11:25
  Adrian Beck: And sometimes you'll get kids, and you'll try and get them, um, engaged, and you'll try and get them interacting and all that, and they'll freeze up.
• 11:32
  Adrian Beck: And that, that happens.
• 11:33
  Adrian Beck: That's, that happens all the time.
• 11:36
  Adrian Beck: And, uh, I mean, but it's worth, uh, it's worth it because most of the time they have a ball.
• 11:43
  Adrian Beck: Um, and so you just, you just push on.
• 11:45
  Adrian Beck: I guess funnily enough, sometimes your presentation that went amazing, you know, last week, you feel like you do exactly the same presentation the next week, and you get a completely different reaction.
• 11:56
  Adrian Beck: And if I hadn't been doing it for a number of years now, I'd probably be quite put off by that.
• 12:03
  Adrian Beck: But when that occa- happens, and fortunately it doesn't happen all that often, but when it does happen, I'm not put off by it.
• 12:08
  Adrian Beck: I just know that, you know, whatever lesson they had beforehand has really got them riled up, or they've just been told to be on their best behavior before the author came in or, or whatever it might be.
• 12:19
  Adrian Beck: So don't get too, um, dismayed if you have a, uh, less than amazing session.
• 12:25
  Adrian Beck: It might just be factors that are completely out of your control.
• 12:29
  Adrian Beck: Now interaction is excellent, but you also have to manage your expectations.
• 12:34
  Adrian Beck: Because when I first, my very first school visit, there were some issues because I thought,"I'm gonna come into this classroom." You know, and, and that's the same with everyone.
• 12:46
  Adrian Beck: No one really gets a apprenticeship in school visits.
• 12:49
  Adrian Beck: They kind of have to get thrown into the deep end.
• 12:52
  Adrian Beck: And my very first school visit I thought,"I am gonna blow these kids away.
• 12:56
  Adrian Beck: They are gonna be so amazed by this." And I had this amazing theater sports inspired idea where I moved all the chairs to the front of the room, and I got them all to pretend they were sitting on a, in a bus.
• 13:07
  Adrian Beck: And they all had a little envelope, and there was all, each of them had something that went wrong, and we were gonna come up with this amazing, epic story about every kid.
• 13:15
  Adrian Beck: And can I tell you, what do you reckon?
• 13:17
  Adrian Beck: It absolutely fell flat.
• 13:19
  Adrian Beck: It was just, oh, it was agony.
• 13:23
  Adrian Beck: It was like, I felt like, you know, I felt like I was a comedian on a, on a stadium tour and no one was laughing.
• 13:30
  Adrian Beck: It was just, it was the worst, um, because I thought I was gonna revolutionize school visits and comedy in general, and turns out that probably wasn't gonna happen at any point.
• 13:43
  Adrian Beck: Um, so I, um, I think a good...
• 13:47
  Adrian Beck: You gotta aim for something realistic.
• 13:49
  Adrian Beck: So if you're getting, uh, if you're getting kids up to do stuff, you know, don't expect them to do a, a whole dance routine or, um, you know, give them something simple to get involved with.
• 13:59
  Adrian Beck: Me trying to get them, everyone on the bus to have a, uh, different story and it, and it, you know, intersects with the next person's story, and then we come up to an amazing, epic conclusion.
• 14:09
  Adrian Beck: Turns out that was perhaps a little ambitious the worst moment in one of my school visits, a lot of, a lot of my friends, author friends when I tell them about it, they, they...
• 14:18
  Adrian Beck: I feel like they don't actually believe it.
• 14:20
  Adrian Beck: But it was, it was, it was truly, uh, one of those moments where I don't think I even believed it in the moment.
• 14:28
  Adrian Beck: But, um, I'd, I'd, I'd seen the great Rai Sprat, and she was doing a lot of songs.
• 14:34
  Adrian Beck: Um, and I thought,"Oh, I used to, I used to be able to, you know, remember three or four chords.
• 14:40
  Adrian Beck: Um, I could probably have a crack at doing a song to finish one of my books." And there was a song that was quite heavily featured in the book, so it all felt orga- organic in my head.
• 14:49
  Adrian Beck: Um, and so I went up to this, I went to this school and I thought,"Right, this is going really well.
• 14:55
  Adrian Beck: I'm gonna have a crack at finishing off with a song." And I started playing, and um, I don't even...
• 15:02
  Adrian Beck: I think I might've got a few words out.
• 15:03
  Adrian Beck: I can't remember now.
• 15:04
  Adrian Beck: It's a bit of a blur.
• 15:05
  Adrian Beck: But a shoe sorta came straight at me, and sort of, it didn't hit me bang on the forehead, but it sort of, uh, glanced the side of my face, you know.
• 15:14
  Adrian Beck: And, and, and I'm like, I, I thought to myself,"What, what was that?" And I'm looking at the floor, and the shoe's on the floor.
• 15:20
  Adrian Beck: And I'm like,"A shoe just was thrown at me." And then the teacher stood up and, and sort of got in the way like she was a human shield, like I was the president or something.
• 15:29
  Adrian Beck: And, um, and she said,"Okay, thanks very much, Adrian.
• 15:31
  Adrian Beck: That's probably enough for today.
• 15:33
  Adrian Beck: That's terrific.
• 15:33
  Adrian Beck: Well done.
• 15:34
  Adrian Beck: Uh, we've ha- we've learned quite a lot today, and, uh, they ha- what a fabulous time we've all had." And I said,"Oh, okay.
• 15:41
  Adrian Beck: Fair enough.
• 15:41
  Adrian Beck: We'll, we'll wrap it up then.
• 15:42
  Adrian Beck: That's good." And, uh, and I've never tried to sing a song ever again to a s- anywhere, really.
• 15:50
  Adrian Beck: Um, and look, I like to think that that young man was having, just having a bad day.
• 15:57
  Adrian Beck: And, um, you know, it wasn't one of those leather, hard-soled shoes.
• 16:01
  Adrian Beck: It was a nice soft, uh, so you know, it was a nice soft runner.
• 16:04
  Adrian Beck: So I, I'm, I'm thankful for that.
• 16:06
  Adrian Beck: But, um, yeah.
• 16:08
  Adrian Beck: Uh, that was probably a bit of a low point.
• 16:13
  Adrian Beck: Um, but again, and this may be just, um, wild, dumb optimism, I choose to think he was having a bad day.
• 16:21
  Adrian Beck: I choose to think my song was excellent.
• 16:24
  Adrian Beck: And you know, once I would've hit the chorus, uh, everyone would've been singing along, and linking arms, and clapping hands, and dancing all through the school.
• 16:33
  Adrian Beck: So I think it's a missed opportunity from that school, to be honest The obvious question we all get asked, I think, is how much money do you make?
• 16:41
  Adrian Beck: And then we get asked, um, uh, I don't Maybe, maybe, um, maybe this is just a male author things, but we get asked our favorite footy team and, um, l- uh, Ronaldo or Messi, uh, you know.
• 16:53
  Adrian Beck: And, uh, yeah, it's, it's a lot of stuff about football and soccer and and how much money we make.
• 17:02
  Adrian Beck: They're, they're the ones I reckon, I reckon I even got teachers, uh, teachers have asked me how much money you make, uh, at times.
• 17:08
  Adrian Beck: And of course, we're all just, um, r- most of us aren't gonna answer that.
• 17:13
  Adrian Beck: Most of us are going to, um, you know, skirt around the issues there.
• 17:17
  Adrian Beck: And so I just say I make millions of dollars and, uh, leave it at that I think the best thing to do if you're looking to increase the amount of school visits that you're hoping to do would be, firstly, you probably want to approach, uh, a booking agent, because they can absolutely look after that whole side of things.
• 17:36
  Adrian Beck: And schools know to approach booking agents, you know, particularly around Book Week time.
• 17:42
  Adrian Beck: Um, and th- that'll be the easiest way for them to find, uh, an author to speak.
• 17:47
  Adrian Beck: But, I mean, another way you can do it is obviously using social media, uh, and maybe show some clips of you in action to show that you've got a little bit of experience under your belt.
• 17:59
  Adrian Beck: Um, and, you know, it's obvious that the kids aren't rioting at the time.
• 18:03
  Adrian Beck: That helps as well.
• 18:04
  Adrian Beck: Um, any sort of, uh, proof that what you've done in the classroom, um, is inspiring the kids.
• 18:10
  Adrian Beck: So, you know, some, uh, photos of some drawings that they might have done and things like that I think all help show that you're, um You can do it, and you're in the middle of it.
• 18:21
  Adrian Beck: Uh, I've heard of people that do, you know, letter drops to schools, which, um, I wonder if that's maybe a thing of the past now, though.
• 18:32
  Adrian Beck: People don't love getting lots of bits of paper and having to sift through all that.
• 18:37
  Adrian Beck: So, um, perhaps it's, um, a lot of word of mouth and, uh, going to, uh, uh, library conventions and things like that and trying to spread the word that way.
• 18:49
  Adrian Beck: And, uh, I think the One of the best ways of, uh, getting a lot more school visits is just showing that you're part of the community and giving lots of examples of, uh, stuff that you've done and what you teach.
• 19:05
  Adrian Beck: And e- look, even if you haven't been in the classroom, you could literally just do a 30-second, uh, uh, video or even a, a blog or something like that and just explain the sort of things that you would put in, or you could say you do put in your presentations.
• 19:21
  Adrian Beck: Um, and people get a flavor for, uh, what you can offer.
• 19:26
  Adrian Beck: I think that's Uh, and, and I, I really think that- In this, uh, digital age that we live in, a human coming into a classroom and talking about creativity is gold, I reckon.
• 19:38
  Adrian Beck: So if you can show that you're an authentic creator and it's something you're really passionate and care about, and that you can, uh, legitimately inspire the kids, I think people would be, uh, very open to, uh, considering having you coming in, for sure I think you need a bag of tricks, like Felix the Cat, when you go to a school visit.
• 20:00
  Adrian Beck: And I have a, I have every cord I think that's ever been produced.
• 20:05
  Adrian Beck: I have every adapter that's ever been made.
• 20:08
  Adrian Beck: And I have the, I have it in a canvas bag, and I just, I have that, I just have it aside, and I take it to every school visit.
• 20:14
  Adrian Beck: And you might need one or two things from there every, every so often.
• 20:18
  Adrian Beck: Um, and you know, most of the time maybe you don't need any of it, but there's so many things, there's so many elements that can trip you up.
• 20:26
  Adrian Beck: And it's stuff like I, I take a, a pack of, um, whiteboard markers, because sometimes they don't always have whiteboard markers.
• 20:33
  Adrian Beck: Sometimes they don't have the rubbing out thing.
• 20:35
  Adrian Beck: What are they called?
• 20:36
  Adrian Beck: The eraser.
• 20:37
  Adrian Beck: Sometimes they don't have even a whiteboard.
• 20:40
  Adrian Beck: I used to carry around a little, um, A4 whiteboard just in case, and then I lost it at a school and I haven't done it since.
• 20:46
  Adrian Beck: But I think it is a good idea.
• 20:48
  Adrian Beck: Um, and also have your PowerPoint on a USB just in case, because sometimes no matter what, what plugs you've got, what special adapters you've got, somehow the technology just doesn't work.
• 21:03
  Adrian Beck: Um, I'd also, I'd also have a think about, um Just be aware of how to plug in your own HTML cord, HDMI cord into a TV.
• 21:16
  Adrian Beck: Like it's not too tricky to f- find the right, um, input.
• 21:21
  Adrian Beck: And if you bring your own cord, then you can do it.
• 21:23
  Adrian Beck: Because quite often, surprisingly often, you'll go to a, um, classroom and the teachers are wonderful, but they don't really use the technology all that much, and so they don't know how to plug in a- Uh, your specific computer into their devices.
• 21:40
  Adrian Beck: But, uh, uh, 90% of the time, if you know how to plug in an HDMI cord into a TV, then you're gonna, um, you're gonna solve a lot of those technical issues.
• 21:50
  Adrian Beck: And inevitably, when you go to a school, the AV guy, he's sick today, or the AV guy, he's on holidays, you know?
• 21:58
  Adrian Beck: Um, so y- yeah, oftentimes you'll be problem-solving.
• 22:02
  Adrian Beck: So, um, with that in mind, I try to get into the classroom as soon as possible.
• 22:09
  Adrian Beck: So I'll, I'll be at schools, um...
• 22:13
  Adrian Beck: I don't like getting it to schools any later than 30 minutes before I'm meant to do my talk And I'll rush through the, um, the sign-in process, and I'd l- I'd like to be in the classroom at least 20 minutes before the kids are in there.
• 22:27
  Adrian Beck: Now, quite often you'll have kids in there from the last session, or kids will arrive early, and you'll be mucking around with technology trying to get it work.
• 22:36
  Adrian Beck: And, and I, I There's no solution for that.
• 22:38
  Adrian Beck: You're just gonna, you're just gonna be watched while you do that.
• 22:41
  Adrian Beck: That's just, there's no way around that.
• 22:43
  Adrian Beck: That's just how schools operate.
• 22:45
  Adrian Beck: Um, and you just have to, uh, just power forward with trying to get things working.
• 22:51
  Adrian Beck: Um, but yeah, give yourself plenty of time.
• 22:53
  Adrian Beck: And the first thing you You, you gotta prioritize what you're setting up, too.
• 22:57
  Adrian Beck: If you are heavily, uh, dependent on the PowerPoint, which is completely natural because, uh, some- I take a lot of Myself, I take a lot of cues from the structure of the PowerPoint.
• 23:09
  Adrian Beck: If that's your priority, get that working first.
• 23:11
  Adrian Beck: Don't worry about putting your banner up.
• 23:12
  Adrian Beck: Don't worry about some, um, some little prop that you might mention in the Q&A at the end.
• 23:17
  Adrian Beck: Don't worry about any of that.
• 23:18
  Adrian Beck: Um, just prioritize what you need to set up first.
• 23:22
  Adrian Beck: And, um, also, the other thing I would do is when if kids are gawking at you and thinking,"What's going on here?" Uh, have a chat to them like they're humans.
• 23:31
  Adrian Beck: I mean, uh, I don't ig- I don't ignore the, the kids that are in the room.
• 23:35
  Adrian Beck: I have a chat to them saying,"Oh, yeah.
• 23:36
  Adrian Beck: I'm just gonna set this up.
• 23:37
  Adrian Beck: I can't wait to have a chat with you guys." Um, and try and, you know, try and get them on side and, uh, and they'll be much more open to the session if'Cause again, they feel like they've got something invested,'cause they've seen you set it all up, and they feel like they know you.
• 23:52
  Adrian Beck: They've got the, uh, behind the scenes, you know?
• 23:54
  Adrian Beck: And that c- that can actually work in your favor at times as well.
• 23:59
  Adrian Beck: Last of all, um, uh, make sure you've got a clock in sight.
• 24:04
  Adrian Beck: Uh, and if you don't have a clock, uh, do what I do,'cause most A lot of school halls don't have clocks.
• 24:11
  Adrian Beck: Um, and this is a bugbear of mine because I find myself in a lot of school halls wondering what the time is.
• 24:18
  Adrian Beck: Um, and that's fine because, uh, normally you, they don't need them.
• 24:21
  Adrian Beck: You're the only, uh, person that really needs a clock in a school hall.
• 24:24
  Adrian Beck: And so I have an app on my, um, on my phone which, uh, displays the time massively.
• 24:31
  Adrian Beck: And so I'll put it on, uh, I'll put it on the little table nearby.
• 24:34
  Adrian Beck: And so at a glance I, I can see exactly how much time I've got left.
• 24:39
  Adrian Beck: And, um Always, I always leave about five minutes for questions at the end because kids have millions of questions, and if they don't get to ans- ask their questions, uh, I f- I feel like they sometimes can get a little frustrated.
• 24:56
  Adrian Beck: So make sure you leave a little bit of time at the end for their questions.
• 24:59
  Adrian Beck: And usually, as hilarious, I'm sure, as hilarious as the rest of your talk would be, um, they will also come up with some hilarious, uh, questions and strange suggestions towards the end of the talk too, which really makes it feel like, again, it's interactive, and again, that you've shared a unique experience with this group as opposed to just trotting out the same, uh, routine for everyone you've seen.
• 25:23
  Adrian Beck: Last of all, with school visits, it's fun.
• 25:26
  Adrian Beck: You know?
• 25:27
  Adrian Beck: We think we have to get in there and, you know, heal the world.
• 25:32
  Adrian Beck: Really we're in there showing that, uh, being creative is fun, role modeling, role modeling creativity, um, to kids, and showing that it's, uh, an important part of the culture and the world that we live in.
• 25:46
  Adrian Beck: And get in there and have fun, and just show how passionate you are about, uh, about the job, about the act of creating.
• 25:55
  Adrian Beck: And, you know, we're not there to nec- I mean, we, we'd like to teach them, we'd like to teach them as much as they're open to receiving, but ultimately we're there to excite them about the act of creating, and the act of reading, and the act of storytelling.
• 26:13
  Adrian Beck: And, um, you can do that by playing the fool, or you can do that by just showing how passionate a- you are about your craft.
• 26:22
  Adrian Beck: Either way works- Mm-hmm as long as you leave the room, and hopefully you've left the room with, you know, a few kids, hopefully most kids, eager to start picking up a book
• 26:37
  Helen Farch: My name is Helen Farch.
• 26:38
  Helen Farch: I'm a library technician who manages the school library at Forest Hill College in Melbourne in Victoria.
• 26:45
  Helen Farch: So we're a government coeducational school, a secondary school.
• 26:50
  Helen Farch: As part of my role I do organize, author visits for our school.
• 26:54
  Helen Farch: So I've organized a number of those over the last few years.
• 26:58
  Helen Farch: I have quite a bit of experience with organizing author visits, choosing authors for the visit.
• 27:05
  Helen Farch: I also go to lots of book events, so I, have the opportunity to meet lots of authors and speak to them and get a good feel for the authors out there and the ones that I think, would really work well with interacting with our students.
• 27:22
  Helen Farch: So when I have an author visit our school, it, it can be one of two ways.
• 27:26
  Helen Farch: So it could just be an author coming in and doing a presentation, just a general presentation about themselves, about their books, about their writing journey,'cause the kids are always fascinated by an author's writing journey.
• 27:42
  Helen Farch: The other type of author visit we have is where it's more of a workshop, with s- some selected students.
• 27:50
  Helen Farch: So it might not be with a whole...
• 27:52
  Helen Farch: In our experience, in my experience with my school, we, it's not necessarily with a whole year level cohort.
• 27:58
  Helen Farch: It will be with some selected students, possibly a writing, workshop or an illustrating workshop.
• 28:05
  Helen Farch: So two different types of author visits, but really I guess what makes them successful is the same thing.
• 28:12
  Helen Farch: And it really is, it's interacting with the students, um, trying to get that to and fro- through with them.
• 28:21
  Helen Farch: Um, I always try to set the scene for an author coming in to visit with that interactive thing.
• 28:30
  Helen Farch: Like often what I'll do is an introduction to the author, but it might be with a bit of a quiz.
• 28:36
  Helen Farch: Like, do you think author such and such is a dog person or a cat person?
• 28:42
  Helen Farch: And the kids will vote and have their say, and then the author will answer the correct thing.
• 28:47
  Helen Farch: Or it might be three fun facts about author such and such.
• 28:50
  Helen Farch: So try to set it up as that sort of more fun, relaxed, interactive type, interaction with the kids.
• 28:59
  Helen Farch: Look, it helps to be funny, but that sounds awful because not everyone might consider themselves being funny.
• 29:07
  Helen Farch: So I don't want authors to think,"Oh, I'm not funny.
• 29:10
  Helen Farch: I shouldn't do school visits," because it's really just being yourself and being natural with the students and having interaction.
• 29:18
  Helen Farch: I really do think it works best when there is that interaction between you and the students.
• 29:23
  Helen Farch: That's, I think it's just, it's really just being authentic and being yourself is, whether it's just a normal presentation or if it's a workshop, that's probably the best advice I can give, is just be yourself.
• 29:40
  Helen Farch: And just try to get the kids involved.
• 29:43
  Helen Farch: And that's even if you're not doing a workshop where it might be a writing workshop where you might have worksheets or something for them to do, so obviously then there's actually like, something physical that you're getting them to do.
• 29:56
  Helen Farch: So even if it's just more a general presentation, just maybe having some back and forth questions and things like that, that, always gets the kids involved and more engaged with what's going on.
• 30:08
  Helen Farch: It's great to have a visual aid, and yeah, whether that's photos or a video, a book trailer for your book, something like that.
• 30:19
  Helen Farch: They like the book trailers.
• 30:20
  Helen Farch: They like seeing all the little videos, if you have those.
• 30:23
  Helen Farch: Also just photos.
• 30:26
  Helen Farch: Like, we had one author come in and they showed, a photo of what the first page of their book looked like when they first sent it to the publisher and how it looked at the end, and how, after it'd been through the editing process and everything.
• 30:42
  Helen Farch: And the kids were just like,"Wow," like,"Wow." You know?
• 30:46
  Helen Farch: 'Cause a lot of them still think, oh, you just write something and it's done.
• 30:49
  Helen Farch: So that visual clue, or that cue of, being able to show them, like that, that really gets them involved as well.
• 30:58
  Helen Farch: Kids are fascinated by the journey.
• 30:59
  Helen Farch: They love to hear about things that you think everybody knows.
• 31:05
  Helen Farch: The ki- often the kids will have no idea, and they find it absolutely fascinating.
• 31:10
  Helen Farch: What I've really seen that's worked best with our students in terms of holding their attention is really to have that just natural interaction with them.
• 31:20
  Helen Farch: Um, and I know I said previously be funny.
• 31:24
  Helen Farch: You don't have to be funny, you just have to be authentic with them.
• 31:28
  Helen Farch: That's the thing that really holds their attention.
• 31:30
  Helen Farch: Don't try to put on a show, just be authentic with them and have a chat.
• 31:35
  Helen Farch: I haven't had any nightmare stories, but the one that I thought didn't go as well as I had hoped was when it was more the author talking at the students and not really doing that interaction.
• 31:55
  Helen Farch: And, you know, the kids start to drift off their attention So it's, having that interaction.
• 32:01
  Helen Farch: If you're just doing a bit of a TED Talk and talking to them, it might be really interesting for an adult, but the students would need, just need that bit more interaction to keep them engaged.
• 32:17
  Helen Farch: In terms of advice for authors who are, who are trying to get into doing school visits, I can really understand how it can be quite tricky.
• 32:29
  Helen Farch: Particularly if maybe you don't have a speaker's agency that you're signed with.
• 32:33
  Helen Farch: I think for myself, I guess I tend to book authors that I know.
• 32:41
  Helen Farch: So they're authors that I have met at book events and chatted to, and so I've already got a bit of a feel for them as a person.
• 32:51
  Helen Farch: And look, and I would say, and I hate saying it because it's not where everyone, a space where everyone feels comfortable, but seeing them on social media, having an idea of like if they've been on so- you know, they have a social media presence, and you hear them speaking and talking about their books or just talking about themselves in general, it gives myself as a school librarian a feel for again what, if I haven't met them in person, of what they're like and how they might present and interact.
• 33:27
  Helen Farch: But I feel really uncomfortable in a sense also recommending that because I know it's not a space that every author is comfortable being in.
• 33:39
  Helen Farch: And that's fine because I'm not gonna sit here and say,"Oh, you have to be on social media or you're never gonna get school visits,"'cause that's not true.
• 33:48
  Helen Farch: But if you are comfortable in that space, I can see the, it's the benefit because people do, um, they g- yeah, they get, they feel like they know you.
• 33:58
  Helen Farch: They've got an idea of what you're like, as a presenter because you're presenting yourself.
• 34:05
  Helen Farch: Also, I guess I also from hearing authors speak on podcasts, again, that's hard because not everyone gets a chance to be on a podcast.
• 34:14
  Helen Farch: So I don't want to be discouraging.
• 34:18
  Helen Farch: But it is hard if you do maybe approach a school directly and you're not someone that they, that the school librarian actually knows.
• 34:32
  Helen Farch: So it's really hard if we get that message and we know nothing about you.
• 34:38
  Helen Farch: So it's tricky.
• 34:39
  Helen Farch: I feel like I'm being very discouraging, but, um, I'd say I guess if you're out there as an author and you are interacting with people at, at book events and things like that, um, and you get to meet someone who says they work in a school library, have a chat to them.
• 34:58
  Helen Farch: A lot of the time it's also word of mouth from other school librarians.
• 35:03
  Helen Farch: If I may be looking for someone who can talk to a certain age group or on a certain subject, you know, I'll put out to my network saying,"Any recommendations?" So, if you do visit a school and you think it's gone well that doesn't hurt to ask the school librarian at that school to, mention you as a possibility for certain things.
• 35:25
  Helen Farch: I'd say at the very least, definitely have your website up to date, and have information on your website.
• 35:33
  Helen Farch: Look about yourself.
• 35:34
  Helen Farch: Again, it doesn't have to be a lot, but just a little bit.
• 35:37
  Helen Farch: Um, say where you're based as well, because sometimes it can be hard to work out, oh, is this a Victorian author?
• 35:45
  Helen Farch: Because if you're from Perth, then that's obviously not gonna help me.
• 35:50
  Helen Farch: And have a section maybe on, on school visits about the things that you're comfortable with, um, presenting, particularly if you wanna run a workshop about the sort of workshop.
• 36:03
  Helen Farch: If you want people to consider you for a writing workshop, list the sort of things that you've done before or you like speaking about plotting or something if there's something you specialize in, then that would be really handy to have there.
• 36:18
  Helen Farch: And even you could look at the Victorian or the Australian curriculum and look at what they cover in English, and you could then say,"You know, I can help cover these parts of the curriculum." Because then if you are messaging a school directly, you can direct them to your website, and then we can go there and we say,"Oh, okay, well, we actually have, our year sevens are doing poetry next semester or next term." And oh, I can see, what you can present to a school meets with that.
• 36:53
  Helen Farch: So that would be, I think, a really valuable,'cause a lot of times that information isn't available.
• 37:01
  Helen Farch: And so particularly if you don't wanna do social media, again, perfectly valid, at least have your website really up to date.
• 37:09
  Helen Farch: And even if you have done some school visits with the schools that you've been to possibly, if they're happy with you to use them as a reference.
• 37:18
  Helen Farch: Because again, then it could be we reach out to our network and just say,"Hey, what was, you know, such and such like, or were they good with this age level and stuff?" The other thing is, particularly if you're- Just getting into school visits, I'd say don't pigeonhole yourself to a certain age group.
• 37:39
  Helen Farch: So I've had authors visit our school who might traditionally be, um, associated with presenting to primary schools.
• 37:50
  Helen Farch: Again, they've come to my school, they've been great.
• 37:54
  Helen Farch: I've had authors who, write for adults.
• 37:58
  Helen Farch: They haven't written middle grade or young adult books at all, but I've had them come visit because, and run writing workshops because the skills are the skills.
• 38:09
  Helen Farch: And I know that the people I've asked in are great presenters and are great, educators as well, and have a lot of experience.
• 38:18
  Helen Farch: So don't say,"Oh, well, you know, I write junior fiction.
• 38:23
  Helen Farch: I can only pitch myself at prep one, two," that sort of age level maybe.
• 38:30
  Helen Farch: Don't pigeonhole yourself because your skills transfer to all age groups.
• 38:36
  Helen Farch: So I'd say, don't limit yourself in that respect.
• 38:39
  Helen Farch: If you do, have a school visit booked the things that make the visit run a lot smoother, they're things that are pretty obvious.
• 38:49
  Helen Farch: But yeah.
• 38:51
  Helen Farch: Like get in touch with the school librarian a few days beforehand.
• 38:56
  Helen Farch: Just check things like do they have a TV or a projector, if you need that.
• 39:02
  Helen Farch: Make sure you have the right kind of connectors or they can provide, if it's HDMI.
• 39:08
  Helen Farch: If you've got a Mac and you need a, an adapter.
• 39:11
  Helen Farch: Some schools you can stream to the TVs, others you can't.
• 39:15
  Helen Farch: Um, arrive early because it can get very stressful if you're thinking,"We start in 10 minutes and they're still not here." So it happens, Trams get delayed and there's accidents or whatever.
• 39:29
  Helen Farch: There's traffic.
• 39:30
  Helen Farch: But try to arrive early.
• 39:32
  Helen Farch: Then you've got chance to actually just have a chat with the school librarian as well.
• 39:38
  Helen Farch: And if you do have worksheets or things that you want to be available on the day, send them through a few days if you need the school to print them out or something like that.
• 39:51
  Helen Farch: Just give the school a few days to organize those things.
• 39:55
  Helen Farch: One thing that I've come up against that can be an issue is particularly if you're not with a speaking agency, public liability insurance.
• 40:06
  Helen Farch: You'll need public liability insurance.
• 40:09
  Helen Farch: Our school, and I know a number of schools have, a website called SAM for Schools.
• 40:14
  Helen Farch: I'm sure there's other ones.
• 40:16
  Helen Farch: But if we have an author visiting, we need them to be able to register on that website.
• 40:22
  Helen Farch: And to be able to do that you need public liability insurance.
• 40:25
  Helen Farch: I've actually come across, situations where I want a particular author to visit.
• 40:31
  Helen Farch: They don't have their own public liability insurance.
• 40:34
  Helen Farch: Um, but the fact that they were with a speaker's agency meant that I could get around it.
• 40:40
  Helen Farch: I just had to book through the speaker's agency as opposed to directly with that author.
• 40:46
  Helen Farch: Which adds expense from my side of things.
• 40:49
  Helen Farch: But really wanted that author, so we did it.
• 40:52
  Helen Farch: That's maybe something to have ahead of time, is to make sure you have public liability insurance or you know how to get it, quickly, if a school comes and asks for that.
• 41:06
  Helen Farch: I know some schools, probably more independent schools, often they have all sorts of induction paperwork and things like that you've gotta do beforehand, so just be aware of that.
• 41:17
  Helen Farch: Again, it's not to put you off doing it, it's just, sometimes it can take a bit of that behind the scenes organizing.
• 41:25
  Helen Farch: Particularly if there's all these sort of induction paperwork and things like that you need to fill out, then obviously that takes time.
• 41:30
  Helen Farch: So it's contacting the teacher librarian, school librarian enough times.
• 41:37
  Helen Farch: They would normally tell you, but, if it's something that you're not sure about, just make sure you're in contact with them beforehand and make sure all those sort of things are, sorted before you actually attend on the day.
• 41:50
  Helen Farch: We have been lucky in that we've had a lot of really amazing, dynamic author visits at my school.
• 41:59
  Helen Farch: The reason they've been so good, I'm probably repeating myself, but- They've been authentically them.
• 42:07
  Helen Farch: So sometimes that can mean you get an author in who does hundreds of school visits and conferences and is so experienced with speaking in public like this.
• 42:21
  Helen Farch: And they're funny, and they're got all the great stories, and they know what engages the kids'cause they've done it hundreds and hundreds of times.
• 42:34
  Helen Farch: When we have the author's visit, there are teachers in the library as well that are there for crowd control, if you like to use that phrase.
• 42:42
  Helen Farch: But, the really experienced ones, they are pretty good at doing that themselves and don't take any, crap, basically.
• 42:50
  Helen Farch: Sorry, language.
• 42:51
  Helen Farch: But they, you know, If some of the kids can start ask some relatively impertinent questions, they know how to shut them down.
• 42:59
  Helen Farch: So I've had the great author visits because I've had the really experienced authors On the other hand, I've had an outstanding author visit from an author who has only ever written one book at this stage.
• 43:17
  Helen Farch: I mean, I believe that she's planning to write more, but she's written one book.
• 43:24
  Helen Farch: It was not a book that any of our children, students had read.
• 43:29
  Helen Farch: She'd written a memoir, um, about her experiences with childhood cancer.
• 43:35
  Helen Farch: So a pretty gritty topic, and it was a pretty gritty book.
• 43:38
  Helen Farch: And she came.
• 43:39
  Helen Farch: The students, because of the nature of her book, which I had read, and this is s- someone I'd actually connected with over Instagram, and we had, messaged back and forth.
• 43:51
  Helen Farch: She's not from Melbourne.
• 43:52
  Helen Farch: She was happening to be in Melbourne.
• 43:54
  Helen Farch: She said,"I'd love...
• 43:55
  Helen Farch: Can we organize it?" So we did So she presented to older students, our year 11 students, just because of the nature of her book.
• 44:05
  Helen Farch: Now we're not talking an easy cohort of students here.
• 44:09
  Helen Farch: We're talking a pretty difficult cohort at the time.
• 44:15
  Helen Farch: Not your most academic.
• 44:18
  Helen Farch: Definitely not your readers.
• 44:21
  Helen Farch: She had them eating out of the palm of her hand because she was herself, she was authentic, she told it like it was, didn't sugarcoat things.
• 44:34
  Helen Farch: And they were absolutely enthralled.
• 44:38
  Helen Farch: So much so that I had this, these group of boys, and you would never think that they were like,"Can we have our photo taken with you?" Think of the opposite of a student, of a group of students who would be interested in an author, that was these students.
• 44:55
  Helen Farch: And she did it not because she was experienced at school visits, and not because she'd written a whole heap of books and done this all the time, but just because she was authentic.
• 45:05
  Helen Farch: And you know, you, I think I'm repeating myself, but that is the s- that's the recipe to success.
• 45:13
  Helen Farch: You could be a really quiet person, and that's authentic of you, and you're that with the students, they will connect with that.
• 45:25
  Helen Farch: And because most of the time, you know what?
• 45:27
  Helen Farch: They just wanna hear a good story, and you're an author, and you can tell good stories.
• 45:38
  Kristin Darell: Hello, my name is Kristin Darell, and I am a children's author.
• 45:41
  Kristin Darell: I write junior fiction and middle-grade books, uh, which are warm-hearted.
• 45:46
  Kristin Darell: They're contemporary fiction.
• 45:47
  Kristin Darell: My first series was Football Fever, which came out four years ago.
• 45:51
  Kristin Darell: Uh, my second series, Turanga Presents, was out in 2023, and my most recent series, It's a Twin Thing, book one was out at the start of 2026, and book two, The Big Switch, out in August 2026.
• 46:06
  Kristin Darell: And that makes 10 books in four years.
• 46:08
  Kristin Darell: So I am very tired but very excited to h- be sharing so many, uh, special stories with kids that really draw on everything that I love in the world, which is, um, a fabulous thing to talk about and write about The things I love most about school visits are encouraging children to realize that every one of them has a story to tell, and that every story that they have is unique, which really means it can never, ever be wrong.
• 46:38
  Kristin Darell: And I ask that question of kids at every school visit I do, which is,"Who thinks a story can be wrong?" And I point out I'm not talking about spelling or punctuation or capital letters or grammar, I'm talking about the story.
• 46:51
  Kristin Darell: Who thinks their story can be wrong?
• 46:53
  Kristin Darell: And inevitably, quite a number of kids will put their hand up.
• 46:57
  Kristin Darell: But the truth is that if you are telling a story that is authentically yours, that is coming from you, only you can tell it.
• 47:04
  Kristin Darell: So there is absolutely no way that story can be wrong.
• 47:07
  Kristin Darell: And so when I say that to kids, especially when I'm doing, say, a writing workshop, I get the most incredible, crazy ideas that our adult brains, I think, sometimes limit us by.
• 47:20
  Kristin Darell: So we go,"Well, you can't have that and that.
• 47:22
  Kristin Darell: That's just not logical." Uh, and as children's authors, I think we do break those walls a lot and we do put crazy things together.
• 47:31
  Kristin Darell: That's why we do what we do.
• 47:33
  Kristin Darell: But I know myself, sometimes I get hesitant to do that.
• 47:37
  Kristin Darell: So when you give a child permission and say,"It doesn't matter, it can be wrong," um, they will let their imaginations run in a way that is so inspiring, even to me as an author, to read what they do.
• 47:49
  Kristin Darell: And I have kids test me sometimes.
• 47:51
  Kristin Darell: I do little, uh, exercises with them where we talk about building a story by asking your character questions.
• 47:58
  Kristin Darell: And one of the things I get them to talk about is what is your character's weakness or w- or, and what is their want?
• 48:05
  Kristin Darell: And I show them how we put those things together.
• 48:07
  Kristin Darell: And some kids will test me by putting something really random with something else really random, and they're like,"That'll never work.
• 48:15
  Kristin Darell: This isn't gonna work." But then I show them how it does.
• 48:18
  Kristin Darell: And often those two random things come up are the most exciting story of all.
• 48:25
  Kristin Darell: So that's what I love.
• 48:26
  Kristin Darell: I just love seeing kids suddenly go,"Ah, maybe I can write a story." Uh, and that the best place to start about that story is, uh, with yourself.
• 48:37
  Kristin Darell: So all of my books, particularly my twin books,'cause I'm an identical twin- draw on some part of me.
• 48:44
  Kristin Darell: And what I try to encourage the kids to do when, in my author presentations, and my talks to kids are very interactive, so I'm getting a lot of feedback from them.
• 48:55
  Kristin Darell: Even in a room of 100 or 200 kids, I still, I like to walk around with the microphone, get in amongst the aisles, like walk in amongst the kids, and really get them thinking about their own stories and how much they have to share, and how unique that is.
• 49:11
  Kristin Darell: Um, I never sort of expected any of my initial stories to have a lot of me in them, but I was a sports kid.
• 49:18
  Kristin Darell: Like, I loved sport.
• 49:19
  Kristin Darell: I was not a soccer player.
• 49:20
  Kristin Darell: I probably shouldn't say this out loud and give it away, but I was terrible at soccer, uh, or football.
• 49:27
  Kristin Darell: But, um, I love sport, I love team sport, so I drew on that passion when I wrote those books.
• 49:33
  Kristin Darell: I'm a passionate animal lover.
• 49:36
  Kristin Darell: I have lots of pets, um, dogs, lizards, snake.
• 49:39
  Kristin Darell: Um, I have always done stuff with the zoo.
• 49:42
  Kristin Darell: My daughter is part of the Youth at the Zoo program.
• 49:45
  Kristin Darell: So writing the Taronga series drew on my passion, and then twins, obviously, it's about me.
• 49:50
  Kristin Darell: So by you showing kids those examples in my talks, which is sort of what I lean into with my visual presentations, I show them how I build, take a little piece of me and build that into something more.
• 50:04
  Kristin Darell: And I can do that whether it's a big group talk or whether it's a small workshop, um, in a school, whether I'm talking to K to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 It's the same concept.
• 50:17
  Kristin Darell: All I do to adjust it for the different age levels is the way I present it.
• 50:23
  Kristin Darell: So the message is the same, and I think that's what's made me more confident with my author presentations, is that my messaging is largely the same.
• 50:34
  Kristin Darell: But I will also talk directly to the schools about what their cohort is particularly excited about.
• 50:41
  Kristin Darell: Is it football or is it sport or are they a very conservation-aware, animal-loving school?
• 50:47
  Kristin Darell: Or, you know, is it something...
• 50:50
  Kristin Darell: Or are they a really general wide cohort?
• 50:52
  Kristin Darell: And because of...
• 50:53
  Kristin Darell: And then I'll focus in on whichever sort of group of books or stories are going to really tap into what those kids love.
• 51:02
  Kristin Darell: And if it's a big broad thing, then it's a bit of everything.
• 51:04
  Kristin Darell: It...
• 51:04
  Kristin Darell: And I'm lucky,'cause I have animals, I have sport, and I have a series, the twin series, that is very much these kids in their school.
• 51:12
  Kristin Darell: Imagine like the Friends TV show but for kids stuck in a school.
• 51:16
  Kristin Darell: It's a cohort of big kid- a group, big group of kids who do crazy stuff, and they're all amazing, girls and boys, and I just happen to be focusing on the twins.
• 51:26
  Kristin Darell: When you go into schools, you are presented often with a big variety of options, and sometimes schools will get you in to talk to the entire cohort from K to six.
• 51:39
  Kristin Darell: And in some schools that's maybe 100 or 200 kids, but in other schools you can end up with a giant massive hall filled with three or 400 kids, which is amazing and exciting and the energy in that room is really, really phenomenal.
• 51:54
  Kristin Darell: But I am a probably a hybrid type presenter where I'm not overly performative.
• 52:01
  Kristin Darell: I don't run around and have big music blaring and, and I love the presenters that do that stuff, but that wouldn't be authentically me.
• 52:11
  Kristin Darell: And- Um, I can't do that.
• 52:13
  Kristin Darell: And the kids would see straight through it, and that's the, the key.
• 52:16
  Kristin Darell: Kids see straight through you, so you need to do what you feel really comfortable.
• 52:21
  Kristin Darell: Turns out I am quite funny apparently.
• 52:23
  Kristin Darell: Um, I don't think I'm that funny, but the kids find me funny, so I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not.
• 52:29
  Kristin Darell: But I'm, I'm leaning into it, and that's fine.
• 52:32
  Kristin Darell: So when you are talking to the different size groups, though, how you present to them changes.
• 52:38
  Kristin Darell: So even if it's a common thread in your presentation, how you deal with it changes.
• 52:43
  Kristin Darell: I always like to have a microphone in a big group so I can be mobile, walk around, and so that every kid can hear me.
• 52:51
  Kristin Darell: And Sally Rippin, the children- Australian Children's Laureate from 2024 and 2025, told me something once which was a really great advice.
• 53:00
  Kristin Darell: She always uses a microphone, even when she's in small rooms, and she does that so that she's not just yelling at the kids all the time.
• 53:09
  Kristin Darell: Because you can use your voice fluctuation to draw them in.
• 53:14
  Kristin Darell: If you talk quieter and,"Guess what?" You know,"Can you believe it?
• 53:18
  Kristin Darell: It's amazing." And then you get that big variety, um, and you can't do that in a big room if you don't have the microphone.
• 53:27
  Kristin Darell: So I was always a bit anti-microphone.
• 53:29
  Kristin Darell: I can project.
• 53:30
  Kristin Darell: I don't need a microphone.
• 53:32
  Kristin Darell: But ever since she told me that, I've changed the way I do my author talks, and it has made a massive difference.
• 53:38
  Kristin Darell: You see the kids lean in to hear what you're gonna say next, and it allows you to be more like an actor, where you're drawing them in.
• 53:46
  Kristin Darell: Because that's what we are.
• 53:48
  Kristin Darell: We are engaging kids.
• 53:50
  Kristin Darell: We are telling them a story.
• 53:52
  Kristin Darell: So whether you are in a really big group, which I love to do, I also love to break it sometimes.
• 53:58
  Kristin Darell: So I'll often recommend if the school can, that we do K to 2 in one block, and then either 3, 4, and then 5, 6, so three blocks.
• 54:10
  Kristin Darell: But if I can If we're only doing two, then I'll do K to 2 and 3 to 6.
• 54:14
  Kristin Darell: Because you can talk differently to those different cohorts.
• 54:18
  Kristin Darell: And I like to get right down on the ground with the K to 2s.
• 54:22
  Kristin Darell: I like to be right in there with them, talking about characters and stories and,"What do you like?" and,"What's your favorite?" You know, and really give them the time to breathe.
• 54:32
  Kristin Darell: So while I'll do a similar presentation for the younger kids, I like to- Always talk less and get them to talk more.
• 54:40
  Kristin Darell: So let's really give'Cause every kid in K to 2, what, they put their hands up.
• 54:44
  Kristin Darell: They put their hand up before they've, you've even finished asking them a question.
• 54:47
  Kristin Darell: They don't often even know what the They don't have an answer yet, they just wanna be picked.
• 54:51
  Kristin Darell: So I pick as many as I can, and if that means we spend five minutes just getting answers to one question, that's fine by me, um, because the questions are relevant, and then I let them lead the pace of the talk.
• 55:05
  Kristin Darell: So with the young kids, I have less in my presentation so that I can allow them more interactivity.
• 55:12
  Kristin Darell: When a really big group, that can be trickier, when you've got the little ones in there as well.
• 55:17
  Kristin Darell: But I do make a point in the big groups of kind of strategically asking questions from a- throughout the room.
• 55:25
  Kristin Darell: 'Cause I'll often have the littlies at the front, and then, you know, they get older as they move back in the room.
• 55:30
  Kristin Darell: So I always make sure that I'll pick a couple from the front, one from the back on one side, one from the other side, so that everyone gets a really good chance to talk.
• 55:40
  Kristin Darell: Um, I love doing workshops.
• 55:42
  Kristin Darell: I absolutely love being in rooms with small numbers of kids so we can really get one on one, find out what makes that kid tick.
• 55:51
  Kristin Darell: Um, especially the reluctant ones that don't necessarily want to write a story.
• 55:57
  Kristin Darell: I love getting in there and showing them that it's not complicated.
• 56:00
  Kristin Darell: There is a formula.
• 56:01
  Kristin Darell: You can use it, and it doesn't matter what you insert, you're gonna come out with something fantastic.
• 56:07
  Kristin Darell: But lean into what you're passionate about.
• 56:09
  Kristin Darell: Lean into what you love.
• 56:11
  Kristin Darell: So often with the writing workshops- I will give them structure, I'll teach structure, I'll teach planning, but the content I will let them lean into whatever they want.
• 56:22
  Kristin Darell: I mean, I did a workshop once that was a football-themed one where we built characters, and then we turned that into a story, and discovered that one of the kids had created a, a sausage dog that loves hot dogs, but wanted to play football with the humans, and happened to be a very, very good, um, s- a football player as a goal kicker, which, you know, is crazy for a s- little sausage dog.
• 56:44
  Kristin Darell: Uh, and then, um, at the end of the story, um, they were, you know, this dog had to, um, kick the winning goal, and the team had taken a chance on the dog, but then a hot dog van drove by the football field.
• 56:57
  Kristin Darell: And then the kids have gone,"Dot, dot, dot, to be continued." I'm like,"No, y- you have to finish that story.
• 57:02
  Kristin Darell: I wanna know what happens." So it can go anywhere, and it doesn't matter because in the end the goal is that we want them to have a story.
• 57:12
  Kristin Darell: So when I'm in a...
• 57:13
  Kristin Darell: The other thing I would say about workshops is I like to provide a workbook.
• 57:18
  Kristin Darell: Now, um, some schools don't have the capacity necessarily to print loads of workbooks, and that's okay.
• 57:24
  Kristin Darell: Um, in those cases I will put it up, I put it up on the screen the questions for the kids to copy down anyway to work through, so they create, like, their own workbook.
• 57:35
  Kristin Darell: But if th- if they can, and the workbooks are very simple.
• 57:38
  Kristin Darell: They're not fancy, complicated ones.
• 57:40
  Kristin Darell: I just create them in a Word doc, and I give them to the schools ahead of time as a PDF to print out for the kids, um, because I think it helps to guide the kids through, and it makes it feel achievable for every kid.
• 57:54
  Kristin Darell: Sitting there with a blank page in front of you can feel quite overwhelming.
• 57:57
  Kristin Darell: I mean, it feels overwhelming as an adult author sometimes to sit there with a blank page.
• 58:02
  Kristin Darell: What I want kids to feel is comfortable, and that they can do something.
• 58:07
  Kristin Darell: Now, some kids will write, brr, heaps and heaps and heaps.
• 58:11
  Kristin Darell: Other kids might only write a few words.
• 58:14
  Kristin Darell: But whichever one it is, um, s- every kid will end up with words on the page.
• 58:19
  Kristin Darell: So, um, I- Do little videos in my presentations sometimes as well, particularly around my Taronga ones.
• 58:28
  Kristin Darell: I interviewed a koala keeper, and that interview led to Pooh at the Zoo, the first book in that series.
• 58:34
  Kristin Darell: So I show them snippets.
• 58:35
  Kristin Darell: I get them to tell me what did they hear, what was interesting in what she just said, and then I show them how that became the book.
• 58:42
  Kristin Darell: So that's also another trick and tip.
• 58:45
  Kristin Darell: With the twin books, I show them photos of my twin, my sister and myself when we were young, and I show them how that led to that part of the book.
• 58:54
  Kristin Darell: This passion that we had as, going into the bush has led me to put, um, you know, the kids living near some national parks with cubby houses, and they hang out in the bush with their friends, you know?
• 59:07
  Kristin Darell: So i- by showing how relatable it is, putting lots of personal pictures, but also other exciting fun things for the kids, telling them stories about yourself that they can then relate to I think really, really works.
• 59:22
  Kristin Darell: I use PowerPoint But sometimes, um, it's good to have a PDF version of your presentation because sometimes the school computers when they need you to put it into their own computer, uh, it wigs the PowerPoint out.
• 59:37
  Kristin Darell: Um, I, I...
• 59:39
  Kristin Darell: With a PowerPoint it's good to have good solid fonts.
• 59:42
  Kristin Darell: Um, I like to use things that come on as I go, as I talk, but sometimes that can be dangerous because if it doesn't work, um, you miss bits.
• 59:52
  Kristin Darell: So having an option, if it's feeling a bit clunky, I'll just have set slides that just come up, they come up and I talk through each part of the slide.
• 1:00:01
  Kristin Darell: Um, so having backups on that is a really good idea.
• 1:00:05
  Kristin Darell: And I have a permanently set up little pouch with a turtle,'cause I love turtles, um, that has like a long, um, HDMI cable because the schools often will have them, but I like to have my own just in case there's an issue.
• 1:00:20
  Kristin Darell: I have two different clickers and I'm still trying to find the perfect clicker, um, which is like to pr- like change my slides.
• 1:00:27
  Kristin Darell: Um, I think someone needs to develop a better one.
• 1:00:30
  Kristin Darell: I have loads of adapters, um, that allow you to plug different things in, um, different things bec- And then I'll have my computer, I'll have my s- presentations on a USB, and I'll often email them via WeTransfer to the school ahead of time in case they prefer to download them directly onto the school computers.
• 1:00:53
  Kristin Darell: Um, I also have an app on my computer that one of the schools got me to get called Vivi.
• 1:00:58
  Kristin Darell: A lot of the schools are using Vivi in their classrooms, and if you've got Vivi on your laptop, you can ac- they can give you a classroom code and it'll automatically stream your presentation to the school interactive board.
• 1:01:13
  Kristin Darell: So it really just depends, and that's great when you're in libraries or classrooms, which a lot of my presentations are.
• 1:01:19
  Kristin Darell: Um, in a hall, inevitably you're gonna be plugged into a school computer, but be mindful that that could be at the back of the hall in the corner in a little room, and you're at the front of the hall, which is why clickers can work.
• 1:01:32
  Kristin Darell: Can s- you can struggle f- with the clicker, so sometimes you actually just need to ask one of the teachers to change your slides if the clickers don't work.
• 1:01:40
  Kristin Darell: So just be aware that it's okay if all of those things happen, um, and just be flexible with your own presentation style to make that work as well.
• 1:01:51
  Kristin Darell: Look, school visits, the reality is they can be unpredictable, and you've just got to accept that some are gonna go better than others, which is why being authentically yourself is so important.
• 1:02:04
  Kristin Darell: Uh, I have had disasters in schools where it felt like a disaster to me, but inevitably the kids still had a great time.
• 1:02:13
  Kristin Darell: It just wasn't necessarily Didn't kinda go the way I'd hoped it would go, and I think that's because I was well prepared ahead of time.
• 1:02:21
  Kristin Darell: But in the early days, I, I really was tripping and stumbling my way through and just hoping that what I was trying would work.
• 1:02:29
  Kristin Darell: I mean, that first time you use a new presentation, inevitably something's gonna go wrong.
• 1:02:34
  Kristin Darell: The timing isn't quite right.
• 1:02:36
  Kristin Darell: Doesn't matter how many times you practice it, you forget what you're gonna say next.
• 1:02:41
  Kristin Darell: Um, and that's where slides can be really helpful.
• 1:02:43
  Kristin Darell: So what happens if you don't have your slides suddenly?
• 1:02:45
  Kristin Darell: I rely quite heavily on the slides to remind me of what I'm gonna say next.
• 1:02:51
  Kristin Darell: So I learnt very quickly.
• 1:02:52
  Kristin Darell: I had one event where it just, the tech just didn't work, and I wasn't well prepared for that.
• 1:02:58
  Kristin Darell: Now luckily, I'd actually printed out my slide deck on A4 bits of paper, and so I had that with me.
• 1:03:05
  Kristin Darell: But I thought,"Well, hang on.
• 1:03:06
  Kristin Darell: What am I gonna do?
• 1:03:07
  Kristin Darell: I don't have lots and lots of props.
• 1:03:10
  Kristin Darell: I don't have a lot of visuals now.
• 1:03:12
  Kristin Darell: How am I gonna keep these kids entertained?" And I realized that the kids don't necessarily need the visuals.
• 1:03:19
  Kristin Darell: They just wanna hear what you have to say.
• 1:03:22
  Kristin Darell: So I used my A4 bits of paper to remind me what was coming next if I needed to, but I'd also realized quite quickly that because my presentations follow like a story that I'm telling the kids, I didn't need them that much in the end.
• 1:03:36
  Kristin Darell: But I also realized that you don't need a whole lot.
• 1:03:39
  Kristin Darell: So if you're not someone who feels really comfortable doing big slideshows and making them look fancy, they're not They are great, and they're a useful additional tool, but don't necessarily rely on them,'cause you cannot count on the fact that they will definitely be there.
• 1:03:54
  Kristin Darell: I've had times where video was quite an important part of what I was doing, getting the kids to explore the Taronga, like a Taronga interview and, you know, w- how we create a story from that, and the audio didn't work.
• 1:04:07
  Kristin Darell: So I had to then say,"All right, if I talk to you about this So we had to sort of adapt on the fly.
• 1:04:15
  Kristin Darell: Uh, and it's Your heart rate goes up, and you get really nervous, but the kids don't care, and they don't know.
• 1:04:21
  Kristin Darell: So, um, the biggest thing I would say, though, is remember this is about the kids.
• 1:04:26
  Kristin Darell: So- I, I have seen some presentations where they're for kids, but the presenter is talking to the teachers or the adults in the room, and the kids switch off.
• 1:04:39
  Kristin Darell: Their eyes glaze over and they're not interested anymore.
• 1:04:42
  Kristin Darell: It's, um, really important to watch the kids, because if the kids are fidgeting or wiggling or whispering or...
• 1:04:50
  Kristin Darell: It means you've lost them.
• 1:04:52
  Kristin Darell: Um, so sometimes with the younger ones or with the older ones, that can happen at around the 30-minute mark.
• 1:05:00
  Kristin Darell: So I find that at that point, especially if they're sitting on a hard floor in a hall, they, their bums get tired.
• 1:05:08
  Kristin Darell: They get numb and they wanna wiggle or move.
• 1:05:11
  Kristin Darell: So I work into my presentation, I watch the kids, and I can see that they're all getting restless, and I'm like,"Right, up we get." And we do a funny little, you know,"Put one hand in the air and wave it.
• 1:05:23
  Kristin Darell: The other hand in the air.
• 1:05:24
  Kristin Darell: Put one foot out.
• 1:05:25
  Kristin Darell: Now put your other foot out, but don't...
• 1:05:26
  Kristin Darell: You know, shake both feet together." And they're like,"You can't do that." You know, and you jump up and down.
• 1:05:32
  Kristin Darell: I get them to take a big breath in, a big breath out, big breath in, big breath out.
• 1:05:37
  Kristin Darell: Wiggle some more.
• 1:05:38
  Kristin Darell: Yell at the top of their voices.
• 1:05:40
  Kristin Darell: "All right, everyone sit down and be quiet." And then you've got them for the, the run home at the end of the talk.
• 1:05:45
  Kristin Darell: The times where I haven't done that- I've regretted it because you lose them, and then that tail end where you're really trying to bring it all together and say,"Now remember, you can do this," they're gone.
• 1:05:58
  Kristin Darell: So talk, definitely talk to the kids.
• 1:06:01
  Kristin Darell: Remember that they are your audience, not the teachers.
• 1:06:05
  Kristin Darell: Um, the teachers like do- hearing what you're saying to the kids, and it's important to share things the teachers can draw on later.
• 1:06:13
  Kristin Darell: So have that hidden vegetables in the bolognese, have those story structure comments and things where the teachers will go,"Yes, yes, tick, tick, tick." But remember, it's about the kids.
• 1:06:24
  Kristin Darell: You are there to inspire the kids, and what won't work is if you don't remember that the kids are who you're there for.
• 1:06:32
  Kristin Darell: And that's the same with a workshop or with an author talk to any age.
• 1:06:38
  Kristin Darell: So that's a really important thing.
• 1:06:40
  Kristin Darell: So, um, I haven't had any massive disasters, but I have had tech failures.
• 1:06:45
  Kristin Darell: It has freaked me out, and I have had to go back and really stop and go,"Okay." Now, I don't necessarily prepare a whole bunch of offline things.
• 1:06:53
  Kristin Darell: I just roll with it.
• 1:06:55
  Kristin Darell: If it happens, I'll just deal with it, and we have a lot of fun.
• 1:06:59
  Kristin Darell: Oh, the other thing I, I think works in those instances is I like to get kids up.
• 1:07:04
  Kristin Darell: So, for something, even if it's a small thing.
• 1:07:08
  Kristin Darell: Get a helper, get a volunteer, get a couple of them up.
• 1:07:11
  Kristin Darell: The minute you do that, the whole room comes alive because kids love to be involved.
• 1:07:16
  Kristin Darell: Um, sometimes I'll get, if it's a bigger thing like a script reading or something, I'll get teachers to pick the kids.
• 1:07:23
  Kristin Darell: If it's, um, something just more fun, um, then, um, you know, I'll just pull anyone up.
• 1:07:30
  Kristin Darell: Or kids that have made a big effort to contribute so far, um, give them a little reward.
• 1:07:36
  Kristin Darell: Um, and, um, I will also talk to the teachers ahead of time if it's something that I think is going to require some kids.
• 1:07:46
  Kristin Darell: So with my football series, I have turned one of the scenes into a play where we, I get the kids up, they act the scene out, and we leave it on a cliffhanger.
• 1:07:57
  Kristin Darell: And then it opens a conversation, what would you do in this situation?
• 1:08:01
  Kristin Darell: It finishes with one of the characters asking another a question,"What would you do?" And we talk about all different possible outcomes and how they could shape the story.
• 1:08:11
  Kristin Darell: So you wouldn't wanna throw that two or three-page script at a kid- Without any warning.
• 1:08:18
  Kristin Darell: So I will reach out ahead of time if that's the presentation I'm choosing to do.
• 1:08:22
  Kristin Darell: So in order to sort of make it work and make it run smoothly, as well as having all your gear prepared, I always email the schools with a good lead time to s- ask them,"What is your school interested in?
• 1:08:38
  Kristin Darell: What area of my work would you like me to focus on?" My presentations all have a common theme, that everyone has a story, um, and helping them find their story, but I can tailor it to whichever thing is gonna engage their cohort.
• 1:08:53
  Kristin Darell: And if I And then when the teachers come back and tell me, I will then suggest, what about this, what about that?
• 1:09:00
  Kristin Darell: And if the play reading thing is something that particularly appeals, I'll send that ahead of time so the teachers can share it with the kids and everybody knows what's going on.
• 1:09:09
  Kristin Darell: So that's really important.
• 1:09:11
  Kristin Darell: Um, the other thing that can become quite tricky is kids' questions.
• 1:09:15
  Kristin Darell: So inevitably when they ask you questions, some kids will give you a statement.
• 1:09:21
  Kristin Darell: That's fine.
• 1:09:22
  Kristin Darell: I think one of the funniest things that's ever happened to me is all the kids were just telling me great stories.
• 1:09:27
  Kristin Darell: Like, said,"Anyone have any questions?""Oh, I did this," and,"I did that." Um, and the teacher said,"Okay, everybody, just stop.
• 1:09:35
  Kristin Darell: It's, a question has a question mark on the end, so you need to, um, you know, be able to ask it as a question." And this one little boy had his hand up and, and I said,"Okay, what's your question?" He goes,"Did you know that this morning I went off and I did some soccer practice and I scored a goal?" And I thought, gold, and we all laughed because he did what we asked, he asked a question.
• 1:10:02
  Kristin Darell: And I said,"No, I did not know that." Um, so that was gold.
• 1:10:06
  Kristin Darell: Um, the other thing to be prepared for is kids can ask hard questions, and when you are in a room full of kids and they ask you a hard question, you gotta really think about how you're gonna handle it.
• 1:10:18
  Kristin Darell: You can't dismiss it, because that kid is, uh, is putting themselves out there to ask you a tough question.
• 1:10:24
  Kristin Darell: You don't wanna ignore that kid, but you don't wanna give them an answer that isn't real, in my opinion.
• 1:10:30
  Kristin Darell: It's my opinion.
• 1:10:31
  Kristin Darell: Um, so you get lots of funny questions.
• 1:10:33
  Kristin Darell: You get kids telling you they've got nits.
• 1:10:35
  Kristin Darell: You get all sorts of stuff, so you just gotta roll with that.
• 1:10:38
  Kristin Darell: But you also, um, this hard question I got once which stopped me in my tracks, it was about a, I think the kid was in about year four, said to me, um,"You're an, you've done lots of things,"'cause I share my journey into becoming an author, which was a long and windy road through ski instructing, journalism, and into children's writing sort of m- relatively mid-life.
• 1:11:01
  Kristin Darell: Um, this kid said,"You've done lots and lots of things.
• 1:11:05
  Kristin Darell: Um, is there anything you regret doing or anything you would've done differently?" And I stopped, and I had a choice at that moment.
• 1:11:16
  Kristin Darell: I could say to that kid,"No, I love my life and everything is amazing." And it's true, it is.
• 1:11:24
  Kristin Darell: But do I re- I, I sto- I gave him the courtesy of stopping just for a second, and I went,"Wow, what an am- amazing question.
• 1:11:33
  Kristin Darell: You have got me thinking in a way I have not thought about things before." And I said,"You know what?
• 1:11:38
  Kristin Darell: I'm gonna be really honest with you.
• 1:11:40
  Kristin Darell: When I started as a journalist 25 years or more ago..." Well, actually, it's 30 now.
• 1:11:46
  Kristin Darell: That's scary.
• 1:11:46
  Kristin Darell: But I, at the time, knew I wanted to be a writer, but I'd never had an author visit, so it never occurred to me that I could be an author.
• 1:11:55
  Kristin Darell: So I said to the kid that, I told them, him that, and I said,"So if I had one regret, it would perhaps be that someone had said to me 30 years ago,'You can be an author.'" But in sa- So I regret that I didn't have the chance to start doing this amazing job 30 years earlier, but would I be the author I am today, telling the stories I am today, in the way I'm telling them today, if I wasn't, hadn't been a journalist for 20 years, if I hadn't been a copywriter, if I hadn't had the experiences in zoos, if I wasn't a mom of two teenage girls?
• 1:12:36
  Kristin Darell: Would I be able to write the stories I can?
• 1:12:39
  Kristin Darell: No.
• 1:12:40
  Kristin Darell: Would I have written different stories?
• 1:12:41
  Kristin Darell: Yes.
• 1:12:42
  Kristin Darell: Would I still be an author now?
• 1:12:44
  Kristin Darell: Who knows?
• 1:12:45
  Kristin Darell: So that st- And it, all of the kids, it sparked all these other questions about choices and life and journeys, because I took a moment to answer a tough question in a real way.
• 1:12:56
  Kristin Darell: So be ready for that, because kids are gonna ask you stuff, and you're not gonna be ready for it.
• 1:13:02
  Kristin Darell: So that's, um, I think probably the main thing that I would be wary of.
• 1:13:07
  Kristin Darell: Just be really prepared that anything can happen.
• 1:13:10
  Kristin Darell: It feels like only five minutes ago that I was a debut author, and it was only four years ago.
• 1:13:15
  Kristin Darell: And getting into schools can be tough.
• 1:13:17
  Kristin Darell: School budgets are being cut, librarians' jobs are at threat.
• 1:13:21
  Kristin Darell: Um, some schools aren't even having libraries, which is just gobsmackingly unbelievable to me.
• 1:13:26
  Kristin Darell: Every school needs a library with a qualified librarian or teacher librarian in there.
• 1:13:32
  Kristin Darell: Um, but they're under pressure, so they need to pick people.
• 1:13:35
  Kristin Darell: If they can choose one author in for the whole year, they wanna know that that author is going to deliver.
• 1:13:42
  Kristin Darell: So some of the biggest things I would recommend getting in initially is networking.
• 1:13:48
  Kristin Darell: Get out there, get to other events, get to book launches.
• 1:13:52
  Kristin Darell: Um, teacher librarians are some of the most amazing people, and they show up at book launches.
• 1:14:00
  Kristin Darell: Introduce yourself, say hi, um, talk about what you do.
• 1:14:05
  Kristin Darell: Um, pitch yourself to them in a way, because if they know you personally, they're gonna have more faith in you.
• 1:14:11
  Kristin Darell: If they've s- talked to you, they'll see the sort of person that you are.
• 1:14:15
  Kristin Darell: So networking, getting out and about.
• 1:14:17
  Kristin Darell: I know we're all busy.
• 1:14:18
  Kristin Darell: It can be really tough to juggle writing, creativity, families, other jobs, you know, whatever it is.
• 1:14:27
  Kristin Darell: But wherever you can, get out.
• 1:14:28
  Kristin Darell: Get into conferences as well.
• 1:14:30
  Kristin Darell: Go visit people, talk to people, and get some sort of presence online.
• 1:14:35
  Kristin Darell: So I really don't like social media.
• 1:14:39
  Kristin Darell: It is a grind.
• 1:14:41
  Kristin Darell: I grind my teeth having to do it.
• 1:14:43
  Kristin Darell: But by putting as little reels or videos of yourself talking about yourself, what you're passionate about, um, a little bit about your books, even a teaser of the sorts of things you would talk to kids about, this is what I love, then they will get a sense of how you can present.
• 1:15:00
  Kristin Darell: It's one thing to put it up as static images with text and reels.
• 1:15:04
  Kristin Darell: I...
• 1:15:05
  Kristin Darell: Sorry, with text.
• 1:15:06
  Kristin Darell: Um, that's great, but it doesn't give them a sense of you as an orator or a presenter or someone who can talk.
• 1:15:13
  Kristin Darell: So get out there with the reels, put them in.
• 1:15:17
  Kristin Darell: You don't have to do lots, just a few Um, that's something I would really recommend.
• 1:15:22
  Kristin Darell: If you can get into a local school or a local library, um, I don't like to advocate doing lots of work for free, but the reality is at the beginning, you have to give some for free.
• 1:15:34
  Kristin Darell: Um, I take the view that when my books first come out, I like to do some publicity, um, visits.
• 1:15:40
  Kristin Darell: So maybe the side effect is you get a bookseller like Larrikin House or somebody come along to sell the books in the school, but you give the presentation for free, right?
• 1:15:49
  Kristin Darell: The things that that gives you is, one, experience.
• 1:15:52
  Kristin Darell: Um, you're not being paid, so there's less sort of stress about that.
• 1:15:57
  Kristin Darell: Um, but there is still a benefit to you if the kids get your books, which is great.
• 1:16:01
  Kristin Darell: Um, but the, a teacher librarian will then see how you present, get a testimonial from them.
• 1:16:08
  Kristin Darell: Ask them,"Please, if you have a network of teacher librarians, if you have liked what I did today, I would really appreciate it if you would share that with the, your network, because that would mean a lot to me as a new author.
• 1:16:22
  Kristin Darell: Um, I wanna share my message with more kids in more schools, and I'd really appreciate it." And be patient, because the reality is, year one, it's, you're gonna get a handful.
• 1:16:33
  Kristin Darell: But if you do it right, you get those testimonials, you get out there, you do some for free, support other authors, get to know people, it will grow a little bit every year, and it becomes an exponential flow.
• 1:16:47
  Kristin Darell: The more you get into, the more recommendations you'll get, the more, the more visits you'll do, which then exponentially grows that network.
• 1:16:56
  Kristin Darell: Start with your local area.
• 1:16:58
  Kristin Darell: Y- if you have kids, go to your local school, offer a visit at your, the school that already knows you.
• 1:17:04
  Kristin Darell: If you, um, have people you know, ask other authors,"Do you mind putting in a recommendation for me?" If you know them well, and if you've got a testimonial, um...
• 1:17:14
  Kristin Darell: Because sometimes I might get, I might already be, be booked on a day, and I get a request.
• 1:17:19
  Kristin Darell: If I know someone's out there, if I feel comfortable that I can recommend them, I'll happily do it, if I know they're free.
• 1:17:25
  Kristin Darell: So lean on your colleagues, lean on your networks.
• 1:17:29
  Kristin Darell: You will need to probably do a few for free just to, um- Get your experience and get some reputational rungs, um, because they do put a lot of faith in you if you're the only one they're getting.
• 1:17:43
  Kristin Darell: Um, and get out there and show your face in whatever way you can, in person.
• 1:17:49
  Kristin Darell: I like to host other authors too.
• 1:17:50
  Kristin Darell: So I love to get out there and interview other authors at book launches.
• 1:17:55
  Kristin Darell: Offer to launch people's books for them.
• 1:17:57
  Kristin Darell: Offer to do a Q&A with someone in your local area.
• 1:18:01
  Kristin Darell: Um, you know, s- uh, tell your publisher, you know,"Oh, you know, if you've got any oth- one doing a- a...
• 1:18:08
  Kristin Darell: launch a kids book, if they need someone, I'm happy to do it." You know?
• 1:18:11
  Kristin Darell: You do that for free.
• 1:18:12
  Kristin Darell: You don't get paid for that.
• 1:18:13
  Kristin Darell: But again, it puts you out there.
• 1:18:15
  Kristin Darell: People see how you engage and present.
• 1:18:18
  Kristin Darell: So it's hard.
• 1:18:20
  Kristin Darell: Um, you've gotta be patient.
• 1:18:22
  Kristin Darell: Um, I'm still building.
• 1:18:24
  Kristin Darell: You know, I've...
• 1:18:24
  Kristin Darell: I'm better known now in my s- in Sydney, where I am a local author, but Melbourne, Queensland, it's tricky.
• 1:18:32
  Kristin Darell: It's hard because they go with local people.
• 1:18:35
  Kristin Darell: So start with your local area, um, and go from there, because it will grow.
• 1:18:40
  Kristin Darell: And just be patient, um, because it will happen.
• 1:18:43
  Kristin Darell: And be grateful for every opportunity you get, because every time I get in front of kids, it just lifts me in a way that nothing else ever will.
• 1:18:52
  Kristin Darell: And my final tip, I would say, um, for school visits, is have a snack kit, a health kit prepared, because you don't always get time to eat.
• 1:19:02
  Kristin Darell: Even if they offer you food at the school, you often don't get time to eat it.
• 1:19:06
  Kristin Darell: Um, I always have water, always have a muesli bar or two, or whatever your, you know, energy poison is.
• 1:19:13
  Kristin Darell: A chocolate bar, I can't eat chocolate, so for me it's a muesli bar.
• 1:19:16
  Kristin Darell: Um, and have something, a throat lozenge, because even if you don't have a sore throat, it just keeps things relaxed in your voice.
• 1:19:24
  Kristin Darell: Um, so just have your own self-care kit, because it is amazing, stimulating, exciting, and rewarding, and exhausting.
• 1:19:34
  Kristin Darell: So be kind to yourself when you're doing author visits, because it will take it out of you, um, and you, you know, and you need to look after yourself so you can do more
• 1:19:49
  Tina Strachan: Thank you for listening to another episode of The Book Deal Podcast.
• 1:19:52
  Tina Strachan: If you are enjoying the pod, we'd really appreciate you following or sharing the show in your podcast directory, checking us out on Instagram and Facebook, or supporting us through our Patreon community at patreon.com/thebookdealpodcast