Online course: Taking your book to school

So, you’ve written a children's book and now you’re wondering how to get it from your shelf to the classroom and into the hands of children …

Schools are the gatekeepers of your target market: children and their parents and carers. If you are an author or illustrator of books for children, teachers and school visits should be on your radar.

In this live course, I share my insights from my experience as a school librarian and governors’ clerk, into how teachers use children's books in the classroom, what they are looking for in school visits and how to prepare for them.

Starts 1^st November 2023

Who do I talk to, to get my book into school?

Will I get paid for my school visit?

How can I talk to 400 children?

This course aims to answer these questions (and more) and prepare you for author visits to UK schools.

I’m Isobel Kent, an editor and proofreader of inclusive books for children and I teach children’s authors how to get their books into UK schools. As a former school librarian and governors’ clerk, I know what teachers want and need in the classroom, where they look and how to unlock the budget for books and school visits.

When I was a school librarian, I rarely acted on the cold emails sent to me by children’s authors, because they weren’t what I was looking for. In this course, we examine where teachers and school librarians look for children’s authors for school visits and how they use books to support the curriculum, so that you can engage with schools in whatever way suits you.

This is for you if:

You have published a book for children
You have published traditionally or independently[1]
You write picture books, middle grade or young adult – fiction, non-fiction or poetry
You want to start or do more in-person author visits to schools in the UK.

You get:

Six taught modules (online) and a class party at the end (for Q and A) in small groups once a week, designed to prepare you for school visits. These are delivered on Zoom for 45-60 minutes and will be available to watch afterwards if you are unable to make the live session.

The sessions are:

Knowing what you’re selling
Getting booked
Preparing the school for your visit
What to expect when you arrive at school and the presentation
Marketing and follow up
Public speaking workshop with voice coach Cat Clancy.

A follow-up task after each session with individual feedback and proofreading support.
Two half-hour 1:1 calls by videoconference with me: a welcome call to set your personal goals for the course and a second one to use during the course up to 19^th December.
Free access to the self-guided workshop, Understanding Your Ideal Teacher-Customer.
Bonus session and Q and A with confidence coach, Vie Portland.
Bonus webinar with me and Vie Portland on How to make your school visit more inclusive
A free check-in session in February 2024, to prepare you for World Book Day visits.
Email support and a private Facebook group community, where you can brainstorm, share ideas and practise your skills in a safe space.
Bonus reactive material that I will add depending on the group’s needs.
Access to course materials for 12 months.

At the end of the course you should:

Know how your book can support a school’s priorities
Know how to contact a school
Know how to prepare a school for your visit
Feel more confident about talking to large groups of children about your book and your work
Have some ideas around how to engage children with your book
Have some ideas to ensure that you stay in the minds of the teachers and children after your visit
Come away with transferable skills that you can use for book tours, library visits, interviews and events
Know a few more authors on the same journey.

Price

That’s a live community, six modules including voice coaching, two one-to-one sessions, a session with a confidence coach, a free check-in session and a host of bonus material for £450. That’s the price of a one-day school visit.

Q and A:

How much time will this take?

You will need to set aside around two hours per week: one is for the group session and one is for the task. Some tasks may take longer, depending on your experience. The 1:1 sessions are on top of this.

When are the 1:1 sessions?

There is one optional half-hour session in the week commencing 16^th October 2023 and one additional half-hour session (to be taken before 19^th December 2023), both at a mutually convenient time.

Will there be any follow-up sessions?

Yes, there will be a class party on 13^th December and a check-in session in February 2024, just before World Book Day, so that things are fresh in your mind. Monthly working lunches continue in my Facebook group, ‘Doing the School Run with your Children’s Book’ so there are opportunities to catch up with friends from the course.

Can I book extra sessions?

Yes – these are at my hourly rate of £70 per hour. Please contact Catriona Clancy and Vie Portland direct for further sessions with them.

When are the training sessions?

They are on Wednesdays at midday so that you can watch in your lunch break, and are available to catch up (or watch again) at a time that suits you. The 1:1 slots are at a mutually convenient time and supplementary material will be pre-recorded so that you can watch it at any time.

Does it matter if I’m not in the live sessions?

You won’t fall behind and can watch replays, but we will miss you! In my experience, a good course is partly down to a good community, so I will make sure that the Facebook group is active and supportive so that you don’t miss out and that others will get to meet you too.

Will there be a second chance?

This course usually runs in the autumn and I don’t have any plans to run it again until November 2024. There may be an opportunity for you to be involved as an affiliate next time.

[1] If you have published independently, I may ask to review your book to check that is appropriate for UK schools.

Please note that purchasing this course means that you have read and agree to the terms and conditions as laid out in the Group Programme Agreement.

Taking Your Book To School 2023