School Assemblies - Authors and Writing Programs

Everyone who reads children’s books to their kids becomes enamored of one or more of the books we read. Many among us become secret fans of the authors of these wonderful books. So it is natural when one learns that a favorite author is available to visit the school that we feel we must jump at the chance! And especially so when the school librarian is among those cheering on the prospect of the visit. 

While I was scheduling programs for my kids school I would receive requests from staff or other parents once or twice a year, and, when I could, I would try to comply. In the process I learned a few things.

One, authors are almost always really expensive! Two, they are often (though not always) really hard to schedule. And three, they are not often worth the time, money and effort (though there are exceptions.) 

While most school assemblies are in the $400 to $800 range, I found authors to routinely cost far more. We once paid over $1200 for an author (for a 45 minute program) and I know of others that are far, far more expensive. That is much more than the entire years’ budget for assemblies for some schools. 

I cannot explain why they are so expensive. It would, I suppose be understandable if, in addition to being great writers, they were also explosively talented at entertaining and enthralling an audience of school children, but alas, in my experience at least, that was seldom the case. Perhaps because the craft of writing is usually practiced in solitude it attracts those who are comfortable in a private world and less so in public, but, again, I cannot say with any certitude. And, indeed their are exceptions and some visiting authors are very good in front of an audience. However, knowing the cost of other programs available to schools I can only surmise that authors charge so much because, simply put, they can! Their fame allows them to charge high fees because adoring fans (librarians and moms - you know who you are!) desperately want a chance to meet their hero and get a signed copy of their hero’s cherished book. In fact, in addition to large fees, authors almost always also insist on a time after the assembly to be set aside for them to sell copies of their books, which will then be autographed. To this financially frugal writer, it seems a little extravagant for a school to shell out that much hard earned money so that someone can take home an autographed book. 

I suppose this is because I am skeptical of the actual educational value of these visits. Perhaps it encourages some kids to read more than before, but, at the risk of infuriating librarians everywhere, I am not convinced that this is the most cost effective way of accomplishing that goal. In addition, authors usually compound the expense by demanding travel and accommodations be covered for them on top of their high fees. Making matters even worse, it was our experience that it was almost always difficult to reach the author, and usually contact could only be made through a literary agent. Finally, in some extreme circumstances, we found some authors even had the audacity to require a school wanting to earn the honor of being allowed to spend a small fortune to bask in their presence, to first line up multiple other equally deranged local schools also wishing to grovel for an audience and willing to also shell out their own small fortune. In other words, in order to secure a date for my school I had to do the author’s marketing for them! In one case we even had to provide the author with a personal driver and car while they were in town! Sheesh! 

If you are going to put yourself through this, my only recommendation  (other than a thorough psychiatric evaluation) would be that you make sure to get a very strong recommendation from a very trusted source as to the talent and educational value of the particular author in question (preferably long before you begin trying to schedule your visit).  And be prepared to wait. Often, author’s visits must be scheduled many months and sometimes even years in advance!

Professional performers, on the other hand,  labor for years to develop skills that will magically mesmerize an audience. Performing requires a completely different set of skills from that required of a writer. If the goal is to encourage writing and a love of creativity, I favor a different approach found in performer driven programs such as Young Authors Day. Here, Toma the Mime first entertains children through clever and creative story telling techniques while simultaneously coaching them in the elements needed for solid plot development. He then challenges them to write their own stories. The students are rewarded in the afternoon when Toma performs their stories for them. Here, the hands on involvement of the students invests them emotionally in the final outcome, and fosters an interest in writing that the teachers can develop further over the ensuing weeks and months. 

Other, similar programs exist, such as Reading! More Than Words! and, in our opinion, offer a far superior alternative to overpriced author visits. My apologies to all the authors out there... I still LOVE your books! :-)