How do we invite Laurie to speak at our conference?

How do I bring Laurie to our school?

What kind of presentations does Laurie give?

What does Laurie charge?

What other details do we need to think about?

Where can we find resources about hosting authors?

Where has Laurie spoken before?

 

 

 

How do we invite Laurie to speak at our conference? What are her fees?

Contact Penguin Putnam Publicity. (Contact Info coming soon.)

Laurie is available to speak at conferences year-round. She is already fielding inquiries for the Fall of 2008. She can do any combination of workshops, panel discussions, book signings, Q & A sessions, and/or keynote speeches that you need. Her conference fee is $2,500/day, plus travel and accomodation expenses. Please confirm that reservations are made in a nonsmoking room, because Laurie has asthma. Laurie's home airport is Syracuse, NY.

 

Be patient and check this website after July, 2008. Laurie is taking a break from visiting schools until at least the 2009-2010 school year. Why? Family responsibilities and contractual obligations. She needs to write more books, faster.

 

Elementary

A day at an elementary school usually begins with a large group. Laurie shares a brief (15-minute) multimedia presentation with the students, then holds a question-and-answer session for another 30 minutes. This is a great way to introduce Laurie and her life as an author to the entire school.

She then gives three more presentations over the course of the day. These smaller-group presentations can be to individual classes or to combined grade levels. If grades are going to be combined, please keep the age range narrow. Putting together first and second grades is fine; putting together first and sixth grades creates obvious problems. Please confer with your staff to choose which smaller group workshops would be best for your students.

Elementary Workshops

1. The creation of a book from start to finish, focusing on picture books for younger students and novels for grades 3 and up.
2. The revision process.
3. Researching and writing about history (uses FEVER 1793 and THANK YOU, SARAH as examples).
4. Creating character and developing plot.
5. Question-and-answer session. This works best when students have prepared their questions in advance.

Small-group workshops are 45 minutes long. Please make sure there is a staff member in the classroom during all presentations.

In addition to her four presentations, Laurie would be happy to spend a pro bono twenty-minute session with your special needs students.

Note - because of the mature content, Laurie does not discuss her teen novels, SPEAK, CATALYST, or PROM in elementary schools.

 

Middle and High School

Experience has proven that middle and high school students get the most out of a visit when they have read Laurie's work ahead of time. This is a requirement. If students have not read at least one of her novels in a classroom setting, then it will not be possible to schedule an author visit.

Laurie will give four, 45-minute presentations. Maximum group size per presentation is sixty students. Please make sure there is a staff member in the room at all times.

Secondary Workshops

1. The creation of a novel from start to finish.
2. The revision process.
3. Researching and writing about history (uses FEVER 1793 and current projects as examples).
4. In-depth discussion about writing process, symbolism, character development, revision, and themes of FEVER 1793, SPEAK, CATALYST, or PROM.
5. Question-and-answer session. This works best when students have prepared their questions in advance.

In addition to her four presentations, Laurie would be happy to spend a pro bono twenty-minute session with your special needs or alternative education students.

Note - because SPEAK deals with the aftermath of sexual assault, your school's principal will be asked to indicate on the contract which grade levels Laurie is allowed to discuss the book with.

 

 

For schools up to seventy-five miles away from Laurie's home in Mexico, NY, the fee for a full day (four presentations) is $2200. The same fee applies to conferences. (Mexico, NY is forty miles north of Syracuse.)

For schools more than seventy-five miles away from Laurie's home, the fee for a full day is $2500, plus lodging, and mileage or transportation expenses. The same fee applies to conferences.

Because of travel time, Laurie requests a minimum of four days in one area for out-of-town school visits. These days do not have to be in the same school district, but they need to be within a reasonable driving distance from each other. This four-day minimum does not apply to trips made for conferences.

When traveling out of town, Laurie requests reservations in a reputable hotel or bed-and-breakfast. Because she often uses the early mornings and evenings to write, she is not able to spend the night in the homes of faculty. Please confirm that reservations are made in a nonsmoking room, because Laurie has asthma. Laurie will pay for her own meals and telephone calls.

 

 

 

Space

Having the right space makes a big difference to the quality of a presentation, but Laurie recognizes the limits that some buildings have. In a library or smaller room, she does not need a microphone. If she is speaking to a large audience in a big room, she needs a little help. The microphone can be either handheld or a lavalier (wireless). She is happy to work with any technology required by special needs students. It is very much appreciated if you have a cup of water on hand.

Equipment Needs

For multimedia presentations, Laurie will bring her own digital projector. She does not need a computer to run it. (Yes, she loves that machine very much!) She will need a cart for the projector, an extension cord, and a screen. It is helpful if the room can be darkened slightly, but is not necessary. For workshops, she needs a blackboard or a whiteboard she can scribble on.

Lunch

Laurie is very happy to eat lunch with your teachers and answer any and all questions they may have. She will try not to talk with her mouth full. She asks that you not schedule her to eat lunch with students, unless that period is considered as one of her four presentations for the day. Some schools provide lunch free of charge. Others leave authors to forage for themselves. Please indicate at the time of contract if Laurie should bring pack a sandwich and bring it with her.

Videotaping

Laurie does not grant permission for her presentations to be videotaped. Please make sure all classroom teachers are aware of this. Still photography is fine. If your school takes digital photographs, Laurie hopes you will e-mail her jpeg copies that she can post on this website.

Book sales and signing

You can order Laurie's books through her publishers, your local independent bookstore, or a chain store. When making arrangements for Laurie's visit, please indicate when you would like Laurie to autograph books for your students. She is happy to arrive early, stay late, or sign books during her free periods. It is helpful if each book has a slip of paper in it indicating whom the book should be signed for. Please make sure the students' name are printed and legible.

Laurie is often asked to sign autographs while at schools. When she does, sometimes massive crowds (i.e. mobs) of kids form. She asks that teachers help with crowd management if this happens.

 

We're glad you asked! The Web provides all kinds of useful tips. Here are our favorite sites:

Toni Buzzeo is the expert. She's a school librarian AND an author.

Sharron L. McElmeel has a wonderfully detailed site.

About.com has a few things to say, too.

Where has Laurie spoken before?

Here is a sampling. Check it out...

 

National

American Library Association Annual Convention

BookExpo America

International Reading Association Annual Convention

National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention

National Association of Independent Booksellers

 

State

Arizona English Teachers Association

Colorado Literature Association

Colorado Reading Teachers Association

Connecticut Educational Media Association

Illinois School Library Media Association

Kentucky Reading Association

Massachusetts Library Association

Michigan Library Association

Michigan Reading Association

New Jersey Educational Media Association

New Jersey School Librarian's Association

Oklahoma Library Association

(Oklahoma) State Superintendent's Encyclo-media Conference

Pennsylvania Library Association

(Pennsylvania) Keystone State Reading Association

Tennessee Association of School Librarians

Texas Library Association

Utah Education Association

 

Universities and Colleges

Arcadia University

Bloomsburg University Reading Conference

Brigham Young University

Cornell University

Moravian College

Onondaga Community College

SUNY Plattsburgh

Syracuse University (phone conference with YA Lit class)

University of Pittsburgh (at Greensburg) Children's Literature Conference

West Chester University

 

Secondary Schools

Cortland Jr./Sr. High School, Cortland, NY

Cicero-North Syracuse High School, Cicero, NY

Clint Small Middle School, Austin, TX

Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI

Harpeth Hall School, Nashville, TN

Holy Names High School, Seattle, WA

Kyrene del Pueblo Middle School, Chandler, AZ

Snyder Middle School, Bensalem, PA

Ursuline Academy, Wilmington, DE

Wilmington Friends, Wilmington, DE

Winchester High School, Winchester, MA

 

Elementary Schools

Bridle Path Elementary, Lansdale, PA

Gwynedd Mercy Academy, Springhouse, PA

Minetto Elementary, Minetto, NY

Simmons Elementary, Horsham, PA

Tootin Hills Elementary, West Simsbury, CT

Walton Farms Elementary, Lansdale, PA

Woodland Elementary, Norristown, PA

 

Miscellaneous Sightings

Appleton Public Library, Community Reads Program, Appleton, WI

Bucks County (PA) Intermediate Unit, Struggling Teen Reader Symposium

Central New York Reading Council

Maricopa County Library System, Phoenix, AZ

McConnell Children's Literature Conference, KY

New York Public Library - Educator's Day

Philadelphia Free Library, Teen Author Series

Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series, Syracuse, NY

Seven Valleys Reading Council

Simon Wiesenthal Center, Los Angeles, CA

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)

Tri-County Reading Council