Author visits can be a lucrative source of book sales, but it's wise to ask if such activity is even allowed at the school ahead of time. Most schools are delighted that you will be bringing books to sell and sign for the children while you are there. If you send order forms or other paperwork prior to your arrival, teachers often collect the money for you and everything can be extremely well organized. However, some schools do have very strict policies about selling anything to the students and prohibit promotion for commercial purposes. Make sure you always ask in advance to avoid any uncomfortable situations when you are at the school.
Once a visit is confirmed, I send out order forms for the books, which most schools send home with the students just prior to my arrival. Consequently, parents can see what sort of books are available, even visit my my website, so that those children interested in getting signed copies remember to bring the correct payment while I am at the school and so avoid disappointment. However, I make it very clear that this is entirely at the discretion of the school. I do not expect to have a firm number of orders for books before I travel and always take a good supply of each title with me.
Kids Workshop
At the time of writing, I have five titles in print, but there are still no guarantees in terms of book sales during school visits. Sometimes your sales may be in the hundreds and on other occasions you may only sell ten copies or less. As a result, book sales during author visits should often be considered a nice bonus, rather than expecting them to be highly successful every time.
Author Visits, Presentations and Workshops by Children's Writers - Part Four Kids Workshop
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