Taking Your Book To School 2023

Description

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 1st 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 get:

The sessions are:

At the end of the course you should:

 Price

 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 16th October 2023 and one additional half-hour session (to be taken before 19th December 2023), both at a mutually convenient time.

Will there be any follow-up sessions?

Yes, there will be a class party on 13th 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.